Page 29 of Wandering Souls

He swore under his breath, then shook his head. “Sorry.”

“On the bright side, they haven’t moved since the last X-ray.”

“Can you have them taken out?”

With a shake of her head, she made to go to the door but Hollywood stopped her with a gentle touch to her arm.

“You must be terrified.”

If she admitted that, she’d want to curl up in the fetal position and cry. “There’s no certainty, Hollywood. They may never move and I could live a long life.”

He frowned. “You forgot happy.”

Confused, she narrowed her eyes at him. “Happy?”

With a deep breath, he stood tall and held out an elbow for her. “Yeah, a longhappylife, Abi. And you will, not could. Have faith.”

She slipped her arm through the crook of his elbow and smiled at his choice to focus on the good. “I do, Hollywood. I do. Now enough about me, tell me, what’s for dinner?”

In the main house, Mia greeted her with a warm hug before showing her through the wide corridor to the dining room. Her soles thumped the hardwood floors, making Abi wish she’d changed her footwear, but the grandeur of the home held her in awe. She felt underdressed in the formal space but seeing her gracious hosts in casual clothing banished her worry. The aromas of roasting meat and sautéing onion filled the air as Hollywood offered her a drink.

“No alcohol, thank you.”

He grinned. “We’re alcohol free in this house.” He held up a bottle of sparkling apple cider. “Now will you have some?”

“In that case, please.”

On the far wall, a gallery of photos hung in matching frames. Abi stepped closer, seeing images of Hollywood and Mia in various scenes. She spied a photo of Hollywood and Magnus posing for the camera in their coveralls, covered in dirt. In another, the men she’d seen at breakfast were helping Hollywood build one of the cottages.

To the left, she found a picture of Hollywood posing with a married couple. The man with the scarred face and the doctor she’d met at the hospital, Stevie, wore enormous smiles as they all stood with arms around shoulders. Further along the row of photos, she saw an image of a man standing in front of a big, black plane. To get the whole aircraft in, the photographer had to stand so far back that trying to distinguish the features of the man was almost impossible.

“Ah, the great wall of photos.” Hollywood stepped up beside her, a bowl of steaming green beans in his hands. “See anyone you know?”

She pointed to the married couple. “I met her at the hospital today. Stevie?”

He nodded. “And that’s her husband, Riley. He was with us in East Timor, along with...” he scoured the frames. “Ah, here. The man with the curly brown hair is Gabe, and the big Maori is Ben.”

The four of them stood arm in arm, dressed in their combat fatigues, complete with war paint on their face. So young, so innocent, their smiles told of big dreams and high hopes. In the photo, Riley didn’t have a scar. And there was no Magnus.

“Was that taken before East Timor?”

He nodded. “Young and dumb, we were. Thought we could save the world.”

“There’s only four of you.”

He pulled a face. “Long story for another day, perhaps.”

Hollywood turned to set the bowl in the center of the table before returning to point at another photo. “This is Gabe and his wife, Kate. She gave birth to twins earlier this year. And here, this is Ben with his fiancé, Beth.”

Rivalling the Hulk, Ben stood with a tall, gorgeous woman. Two kids stood in front of them, the four of them dressed for a formal occasion.

“Who are they?”

“Holly and Matthew. Two orphans that Ben and Beth have taken in. The kids don’t know it yet, but they want to formally adopt them.”

Letting her eyes wander over the variety of images, she came back to the picture of Stevie and Riley. Ray had said she looked like Stevie, and the resemblance between them was remarkable. They were about the same height, with similar colorings, and the likeness in their facial features was almost breathtaking.

“I can’t believe you’re all still together after East Timor.”

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