Page 83 of Look for Me

There was Dad, sitting in a Corvette in the large garage, surrounded by at least eight other classic and muscle cars he had purchased at one point or another, including the Shelby that Martin had sold to him.

How many cars does Dad have time to drive?

“The price, Dad.” It was all Martin could think to say.

“Life is short. I could sell a few of those cars over there.” Dad waved.

“Because you want a lime green Corvette.” Martin knew that red was Dad’s favorite color, but it was only paint.

“I would be lying if I say I don’t want it, but you know it’s because I can repaint it red. How about we split this fifty-fifty?”

Martin hadn’t told Dad about the educational fund he had set up for Corinne’s children. Dad would question the wisdom of giving away money to someone else’s kids when their mother had no intention of marrying Martin.

Well, Martin couldn’t be sure it had been a resounding no. Corinne hadn’t given him a definitive answer before she vanished from the beach right before his very eyes. How did she do it? How did she blend into the crowd and disappear from his life?

The sun must’ve been in Martin’s eyes that Saturday afternoon because for the life of him, he could not spot her anywhere. Perhaps she had been trained to blend into the crowd.

One year and three months later, Corinne’s face was beginning to fade from Martin’s memory. How many times had he wished he had taken a photograph of her when they were still in Key Largo? When he took out his phone to search for the verses from Psalm that she’d shared with him, he could have taken a picture of her.

Too late now.

When he asked Pete and Angelina for a photograph, they were just as surprised as Martin to find that most, if not all, of the photographs of Corinne at church events were either blurry, partially obscured, or too far away.

In essence, Corinne had purposely stayed away from center stage, from the spotlight.

Martin felt sorry for her, having to hide like that. If he had known that she was in WITSEC, he might have left her alone, considering she wouldn’t be in the program had her life not been in danger.

However, pity wasn’t why he had decided to save money for her children. It was…

Love?

To date, Martin had put in the equivalent of two muscle cars and one classic car into the fund. He had put away a few hundred dollars more each month.

“You want it?” Dad asked. “How about we sit in it for a while?”

“Knowing the engine needs work and we can’t take it outside for a spin?”

Dad motioned for him to get in. “We’ll take a selfie.”

“That, I can afford.” Martin laughed.

As he opened the passenger side door, he heard someone call his name. It echoed in the big space.

Martin…Martin…Martin…

Martin turned to see who needed him, and there was Pete, walking through the garage entrance and carrying a child.

Martin blinked.

The girl looked familiar.

Martin held on to the car door for support.

A stroller emerged in the sunshine, and behind the stroller…

Was Corinne Anderson.

In real life.

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