Rachel acted exasperated and gestured to me.
“She gave it to me when she was eight. I was twelve.”
Finally, Sarah’s eyes lit up with surprise, “He really is Hero!”
Turning to me, she said, “You’re Hero!”
I said, “And I asked her to marry me.”
Sarah’s eyes grew wider, “Oh my God, that is awesome!” She gave Rachel a big hug. “I am so happy for you.”
Rachel hugged her back.
“Oh my God, Rachel, how did you find him?”
I told her the brief version of the story about knowing my mom and some major details. I wasn’t sure if Sarah could sit through the story about Jessica, so I just left her with the short story.
Sarah was happy enough that her friend found her Hero and they were getting married. Sarah was jumping about and dancing. Rachel tried to join in with some of Sarah’s dancing. We tried to show some of the dance moves we worked on. Sarah was happy enough to have people to dance with but didn’t have the patience with “how to” dance videos. Instead, we just celebrated and enjoyed Sarah’s excitement and wackiness.
We sat down to have lunch; at least Rachel and I sat. Sarah was just running around the table talking about how grand the wedding should be with flowers and a beautiful flowing gown for Rachel.
“When will the wedding be?” Sarah asked.
Rachel and I looked at each other; we had not discussed that yet. We decided to worry about it later.
After lunch, we tried to watch a romantic comedy with Sarah. She was so excited because she didn’t like the sci-fi stuff we liked to watch.
Once the movie started, Rachel and I took our normal position on the couch. Sarah sat next to Rachel. Then she sat on Rachel’s lap and rested her feet on my lap. After Sarah squirmed around enough, Rachel pushed her off her lap.
Sarah tried to sit on my lap and put her feet in Rachel’s lap. After shifting her feet around enough times, Rachel got annoyed and started tickling her feet. Sarah slid down to the floor and sat between my legs. A few minutes later, she was resting her head on my leg. Then she was rubbing her head along my legs, at which point, Rachel flicked her ear.
Sarah moved away from us, laid down in front of the TV, propping herself up on her elbows to watch the movie and kicking her feet in the air. She lasted in that position for longer than any other position. Then looking over her shoulder to see us, she asked, “Have they already bonked each other yet?”
Rachel nodded her head with an amused look on her face. Sarah rolled over onto her back in defeat. “This movie is soooooooo boring. Can we watch something more exciting?”
I said, “Watching you was plenty exciting enough. I missed many of the good parts.”
Sarah sat up, “Really? Maybe I can be an actress someday?”
With that, Sarah jumped up and started to ‘entertain’ us. She ignored us and began acting and entertaining herself. Rachel and I were just chuckling to ourselves as we slipped into the kitchen to clean up when suddenly, the front door opened.
“Wayne!” Sarah excitedly said, as she rushed over to him. “Guess what! I am going to be an actress.”
Wayne said, “Well, hello to you, too.” He could tell it was already one of those days with her.
“Jake said I had a talent for acting.”
I called from the kitchen, “No, I said you were acting up.”
“Don’t listen to them. They are impossible to deal with now that they are engaged.”
“Engaged?!” he exclaimed excitedly.
Rachel ran over to him and showed him the ring, the toy ring I had given her so long ago. Wayne looked at it and asked, “Is that it, the one you told me about?”
Rachel nodded with a look of joy on her face. Wayne hugged her, picked her off the floor, and whirled her around. “I am so happy for you.”
I had walked over by then, and Wayne looked at me and gave me a big hug, too. After he let go, Rachel had her arms around me and leaned into me.
Wayne said, “This is quite a surprise, but a good one. You two will be great together.”
Turning to face Rachel, he said, “So you told him?”
She looked at my face and said, “His heart finally recognized me.”
“Wait. You told Wayne already?” I said, wondering what was going on.
“He is my brother.” Rachel said, matter-of-factly. She took our hands and led us to our room, so we could sit down and talk.
Wayne explained, “She was worried about you and asked for my advice. I suggested that she should tell you about who you are to each other.”
“Worried?” I asked.
“Yes. Something was bothering you. I noticed it, too. Rachel didn’t know what it was exactly. She had been trying to comfort you, but she was still worried about you.”
Rachel took my hand in hers and caressed my arm. Though the grief of losing Jessica began to weigh me down again, I looked into Rachel’s eyes and knew she would be right beside me. I looked over to Wayne and, with a concerned look, asked, “What has been going on?”
I looked down as I said to Wayne, “My best friend, Jessica, was abducted by some cruel boyfriend. Now, we have no idea where she is, or what kind of hell he is putting her through.”
“Dear God!” exclaimed Wayne. “You have been carrying this around yourself the whole time.”
I looked over into Rachel’s eyes and said to Wayne, “No, but I didn’t realize she was helping me.”
I began to explain to Wayne who Jessica was and what had happened to her. I started by telling the details of the abduction. Wayne had lost a sister and family. He understood what it was like to lose someone.
I could see his grief in his eyes as I talked about mine. Then I saw flashes of righteous anger toward Don, who had taken her away.
“Let me know when you find that S.O.B. He should treat a lady better than that.”
I saw him clench his fist and could hear the anger in his voice.
“He is a coward. He will do anything to avoid a fight. That is the problem. If confronted, he will run away. He did run away. We are afraid that when we do find him, he will run again.”
“I will be there for you if you need any help.”
Rachel went to him and put her arm around him, trying to soothe him. She looked at me and said, “Tell him about Jessica.”
I began to describe my friendship with Jessica. Rachel helped me by asking a few questions and guiding me to the good parts about her. Soon, it was like Jessica’s Day again, when Rachel and I remembered the good things about Jessica.
Wayne’s anger cooled as we talked about the wonderful things about Jessica. Soon, we were talking and joking about the fun stories about us. I don’t know how long we talked, but we seemed to have gone through a whole range of emotions talking about her.
“Thanks for listening, bro,” I said.
“Thank my sister; she is the real hero here.”
“No, he is Hero,” a voice from the doorway said. We looked to see Sarah standing there. “Jake is the Hero. That is what Rachel always called him.”
“How long have you been listening?” Wayne said.
“I heard the part about some jerk kidnapped Jake’s best friend. That was terribly sad, and I was dying inside just hearing all of it.”
“You just stood there for an hour listening?” I asked in disbelief.
“Well, I wasn’t going to sit down; that would have been real torture.”
Rachel motioned for her to come into the room. Rachel patted a place on the bed for her. Sarah climbed up on the bed next to Rachel.