She stepped out of her car and yelled, “Blayne!” waving so he’d see her when he turned around.
Even in the darkness of twilight, she could see the smile blossom on his face. As he reached her, he said, “Wow. Twice in one day. It feels like my birthday.”
She rolled her eyes and smiled back at him. “I just thought maybe we could go for a ride.”
His eyebrow rose up and his smile faltered. “A ride? Just out of the blue?”
“Yes.” She tilted her head. “A ride. There’s something I want to talk to you about.”
“Uh oh. That sounds ominous. If we were dating, I’d think this was The Breakup.”
A nervous laugh flew from her lips. “Nothing ominous. I promise.” At least she hoped he wouldn’t see her snooping as a bad thing. Now her smile faltered. Would he? There was no turning back.
“Okay then. Let’s go for a ride.” He turned toward the passenger side of her car, but stopped mid-stride. “Or, to save your gas, would you like to go for a walk instead?”
“Aren’t you tired after working all day?”
“Not too tired to go for a walk with you. And you can show me the highlights of this campus, since I never leave the construction site when I’m here.”
“Okay, let me grab my scarf and gloves. We can walk along Cherry Creek.” She bent into her car to grab the items from the middle console.
Cherry Creek was close by the business building. They walked slowly and in silence for several minutes.
“Well,” Blayne broke the silence, “what non-ominous news do you have to tell me?”
How should she start?
She had no idea, so she just plunged in. “I saw Mama C today when I went back downtown to mail your birth certificate back.”
“Oh?” He raised an eyebrow.
She swallowed. “Um, yeah. She was leaving a bank right next to the post office I was at.” Keep going, she thought. “She threw some papers away and I…I…” Kaylee huffed out a breath and raised her hands in surrender. “I snooped.”
“You dug through the trash?” His eyebrow raised even higher, nearly touching his hairline.
Kaylee looked down. “I’m not proud of it, but, yes.”
“Do I even want to know what you found out?” There was both a touch of curiosity and a touch of irritation in his voice.
“I don’t know. Do you?”
Halting, Blayne reached for her arm to stop her beside him. He turned to her. “You know how private a person Mama C is. I know you’re curious about her past, so am I. But I don’t want to break her trust—she’s the only reason I’m still alive.” His forehead knotted and his eyes narrowed as if he’d just had a thought that angered him. “Is this personal information going to make it into your thesis? Is that all you care about here? No thought for her wishes, college girl?”
Kaylee shook her head so hard her ponytail slapped her in the face. “No. I’m only using the information she willingly gave me for that. I already have that part of it written up.” Blayne didn’t relax his face. Kaylee grew frustrated that he didn’t believe her. “I mean it, Blayne! I just want to help her.”
“And, will this new information ‘help her’?”
“I think it can. That’s why I wanted to tell you, to see what your opinion is.”
Finally, his face softened somewhat. “Okay, tell me then.”
She took a breath to shake off her frustration. “She threw away two check stubs—one that I’m pretty sure is Social Security, the other from a New York teacher’s retirement fund.”
“Okay, you found out where her money is coming from. How will this help her?” His expression and voice stayed neutral.
She couldn’t help but let a little excitement show. “I found out more than that. She’s getting older, Blayne. I’m worried about her health out on the streets. What if she has some family somewhere who would take her in? I bet she has access to health insurance from Medicare and maybe even through her teacher’s retirement—that’s something she can fall back on if…if her health demands she get out of the elements.”
Concern laced his voice. “What do you know about her health? Do you think she’s sick?”
“I don’t know for sure. She has been coughing a lot lately and I’m worried about her. She just brushes me off when I say something.”
He nodded and ran a hand through his hair, gazing down at the stream, the edges trimmed with a thin layer of ice. “I’ve noticed that, too.” He swallowed a couple of times. “What else did you find out?”
Glad they were on the same page, Kaylee felt better about spilling the rest. “Once I knew her full name, and that she came from New York City and used to be a teacher, I did an internet search with those three things.” She cleared her throat, trying to rid it of the emotion building up there. Her voice didn’t respond, coming out all wavery, tears forming in the corners of her eyes. “She…there was a fire. She was on her way to work and her apartment caught on fire.” She reached out and gripped Blayne’s hand, needing human contact. “Her husband and only child, a son, were killed in the fire.” Losing all control, she dropped his hand and turned away from him, a sob rocking her chest.
She wiped at her eyes, afraid to turn around. It had been several seconds and Blayne hadn’t uttered a sound. His steel-toed boots clomped as he stepped closer. Kaylee flinched when he laid his hands on her shoulders. Without thinking, she leaned back against him, needing the comfort the closeness would bring. His strong arms enveloped
