He Traded a Watch for Lunch, Then Heard His Father’s Name
Chapter 2 - The Name He Was Never Supposed To Hear
The boy’s name was Noah.
He sat frozen for several seconds after Margaret and Michael disappeared through the diner door.
Then he ran after them.
By the time he reached the parking lot, Michael was opening the passenger door of a black SUV while Margaret whispered something urgently beside him.
“Michael!”
Both of them turned.
Noah stopped several feet away, breathing hard.
He held the watch up.
“My mom said this belonged to my dad.”
Michael stared at it.
Margaret stepped between them.
“He’s confused.”
Noah shook his head.
“My mom never lies.”
Michael looked at Margaret.
“Mom, what is going on?”
“Nothing.”
“Then why did you know the watch?”
Margaret’s jaw tightened.
Michael walked toward Noah.
The closer he came, the harder it became not to notice the resemblance. The same gray-blue eyes. The same small notch in the left eyebrow. Even the way Noah tilted his head when frightened looked strangely familiar.
“What’s your mother’s name?” Michael asked.
Noah hesitated.
“Emily Carter.”
Michael went still.
Margaret closed her eyes.
Michael turned toward her.
“You told me Emily left the country.”
“She did.”
“No,” Noah said. “She lives at the Riverside Motel.”
Michael looked back at him.
Noah swallowed.
“She’s sick. That’s why I needed food. She hasn’t eaten since yesterday.”
Something changed in Michael’s face.
“Take me to her.”
Margaret grabbed his arm.
“No.”
He looked at her hand.
“Why?”
“She doesn’t want you there.”
Noah’s voice cracked.
“She talks about him all the time.”
Michael looked at the boy.
“About me?”
Noah nodded.
“She says my dad would have come if he knew.”
Margaret’s hand slipped from Michael’s arm.
And for the first time, Michael saw fear in his mother’s face.
Not fear of Emily.
Fear of the truth.
