When We Were Young

LVII: cowboy like me

"Shouldn't we be eating something local, like seafood?"

I pop a fry in my mouth and roll over to my stomach. "We ate fish and chips yesterday? Plus, McDonald's fries are just too good to pass on."

Gray zips up the bag that he had brought and moves to lie next to me on the bed. He unwraps a burger that he had ordered.

"So Theodore Descartes," I imitate Alexandre's accent. "Sounds fancy."

"Yeah, way too fancy for me." Gray takes a large bite.

I bite my tongue, preventing myself from commenting on Gray's self-deprecation. This man may have a fancy name, but he's not above Gray in any way, especially not after he left him and his mother. That's a can of worms I don't want to open right now.

"Only one way to find out!" I pull my phone out and open the Safari app, quickly typing in the name. Gray peers eagerly over my shoulder.

The first result is a news reporter from Quebec, who looks to be about three hundred years old based on the picture they display on their site. Seriously, they did him dirty. It is definitely not that old man.

A few results down, the site of a real estate agency pops up, with one of their agents named Theodore Descartes. Upon clicking on the result, a headshot of a middle-aged man with wrinkles around his smiling eyes appears. He looks like the boy in the photograph, only older, with the same sleek black hair and tanned skin, this time revealing his deep brown eyes as well.

I nudge Gray excitedly, but he is already reading the blurb below the headshot, eyes scanning rapidly.

Theodore has been working with Timber Real Estate for ten years now. He has a Bachelor of Arts from Universite Jean Monnet in the Rhone-Alpes of France and Masters of Business Administration from Wilhem University, where he played varsity baseball. Now, Theodore specializes in houses in the Turnacot region.

There is also an address, phone number, and fax number at the bottom of the page.

"This has to be him." Gray's stare does not leave my phone screen.

"His office is in Nova Scotia," I point out. "There's no way we can go there. Do you want to call?" I prod, not sure if he feels ready to do that yet. After all, calling would mean that he would potentially be finding out a life-changing thing about himself.

It takes him a moment to think, but after a deep breath in, he nods. I hand over my phone and watch him as he presses down on the phone number, then on the call button, then puts my phone on speaker, sharing the experience with me.

I grab onto his forearm, letting him know that I was here with him.

"Hi, Theo Descartes' office, how may I assist you?" a female voice answers.

"Um," Gray hesitates. "Is Theodore in today?"

"Unfortunately not, he's actually away on a family vacation until Tuesday."

A family vacation... Gray could have a whole set of sisters and/or brothers out there that he has yet to meet. Though this induces hope, it is also hard to to feel a bit of sadness at the time that Gray has missed out on with his family.

"But, I can take a message if you'd like? Are you one of our clients?" The voice continues.

"No, no I'm not. I just... I need to speak with him. Could you tell him that this is about Lily Wallace and give him my phone number?" Gray repeats his own number for the lady on the other end of the line.

Shuffling is heard from her end as she is writing down what Gray is saying.

The two of them exchange goodbyes and other pleasantries before hanging up.