Page 119 of My Heart Will Find You

She was very tired. In theory, she’d been asleep during the long dream, but her body didn’t seem to think so. She pulled Henry’s lap blanket over her and went to sleep.

Etta’s phone was ringing.

At first, she didn’t know what the sound was. It was hard to wake up. Her body was stiff and sore. Her cell phone was on the table next to “that book,” the thing that proved that what she loved was gone.

She fumbled for the phone and almost dropped it. For a second she couldn’t remember how to answer it. Oh yeah. Accept. “Hello,” she said groggily.

“Etta!” Zack said. “You’re awake. Finally! Are you okay?”

“Yes,” she said, but it didn’t sound like she believed it. “Henry’s not here. Is he with you?”

“He is, and we’re on our way to Denver.”

“Good. Wait! Henry’s not well. He can’t travel.”

“I know that but I couldn’t stop him. Did you see the big book on the coffee table?”

“Yes. It’s beautiful.” She didn’t want to tell him her true feelings about it.

“I don’t know where it came from. Henry and I were sitting vigil over you. I tried to wake you up but I couldn’t. I wanted to call an ambulance but Henry said no. Anyway, I went down to get food and saw the book and took it up to him. He looked through it for a few minutes, then he went crazy. I thought he was going to have a heart attack. He said he was going to drive himself to Denver.”

“He can’t do that!”

“That’s why I’m driving him there. I called Freddy to come look after you but I couldn’t tell her you were in some sort of coma, so she felt it was safe to leave you alone while you were sleeping.”

“It’s okay. I’m fine. Did Henry tell you why he had to go to Denver?”

“Not really. He just mumbled, ‘If it happened then, it will happen now.’”

“Oh,” Etta said. “He must be worried about Ben and Caro and the baby.”

“Maybe,” Zack said. “But I think it was something he read in the book.”

Etta didn’t respond to that. “Where are you now?”

“At a big service plaza just outside Denver. Henry’s inside and taking his time. I guess you saw in the book that Garrett is now a Kansas Historical Site. They reenact gunfights there.”

“There weren’t any gunfights. Their boots would have stuck in the mud and manure.”

“You’re too realistic,” he said. “What happened to Max in your story?”

She took a breath. “He was shot with an arrow.”

“Fatally?”

“Yes.”

“I think that’s what’s freaking Henry out. This is none of my business, but true story or not, I think you two need to change the names of the characters.”

“Change the names? Why?”

“Because you’re the author and your name is Etta and well, Max is Max.”

“What does that mean?” she asked.

“I thought it was odd that you and Henry used Max’s name. And Ben’s. And your sister’s real name. You need to fictionalize the whole book.”

“I’m confused.” Etta’s voice was rising. “What do the names matter?”

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