The Town (Book 1, Lonstino & Greenwood Series)

Chapter 30 - Hope

GREG

After Ximena relayed to me the events at the fairgrounds, I went to have breakfast at the café to hear the full details from Charlie. The situation left me feeling uncomfortable. We all know that Caleb isn't smart or sober enough to come up with this by himself. It made me wonder if someone from Jaden's past has been tracking him, and Caleb is low scum enough that he would do anything just to get Jaden in trouble. 

I try to distract myself by looking outside the window of this restaurant. I don't know how Vivian Thomas looks so I follow each woman that walks by with my gaze to see if they come inside. I gave our names to the host, just in case she feels as lost as me. We agreed to meet away from Lonstino as I don't want anyone speculating about us. When I called her to make the appointment, she was about to enter a meeting and we could barely talk, but she remembered the letter from Sophia. I hope that today I have the chance to ask all the questions that have been swimming in my head since I found out about Oliver. 

"Is your name Greg Walker?" Someone asks next to me.

A tall, curvy woman with glasses stands by me and I wonder from which direction she came from. She stares at me and I realize that I haven't answered her question.

"Oh, yes, I'm Greg Walker. Vivian?" I ask and she smiles. I stand up to shake her hand.

"A pleasure to meet you."

"Likewise. Thank you for meeting me here," I pull out a chair for her.

"I understand. I come from Sea Glass Beach, and it seem as if small town and villages thrive on gossip. Is your wife joining us?" She says after noticing the table has only two place settings.

"The reason why I'm here instead of her is that she passed away in a car accident on the day she received your letter."

In the last weeks I've had to repeat my story to each person I've been in contact with, somehow it's making the pain of the memory less.

"I'm sorry to hear that Mr. Walker."

"You can call me Greg, and no need to apologize. I had to be brief on the phone and assumed we would talk about it anyway."

"I sent that letter years ago. Did you know anything about it?"

"Sophia never told me she had given birth or that she was looking for her son. I'd been procrastinating sorting through her stuff for a long time and when I finally did I found the correspondence thread in her purse. Yours was the most recent letter. I emailed the organization and they said you work as a counselor at my old high school."

"Why are you looking for Oliver?" 

"I owe it to her, to finish what she started. Her situation was unfair and she wasn't in the position to fight it back because of her health and she didn't have the means. Back then she didn't have any family that could support her in her situation and the medical procedure after delivering left her unable to conceive. If Oliver has been adopted already and is happy, I won't take action. But if he is still waiting to be adopted, then I want to make him my son and let him know how much his mom loved him."

I take a big breath to pull back the tears forming. 

"I believe that what you are doing is honorable, but it will be complicated. I left the organisation a year ago and he was still living there. He's a handsome boy and smart, but the years spent at the institution have made him hard. Most couples who want to adopt look for babies so they don't see children in Oliver's age range as an option. There is a possibility that he is still there which is unfortunate. I have something to show you. It's from the last Christmas I spent working there," she hands me a photo where she is surrounded by a few kids.