Just his presence and demeanor made me smile.
"Hey, there's a birthday thing tonight," he said. "My Aunt Laney has a birthday today, and so do her two twins—they're both about my age, Jenny and Josh. Plus, two other peoples' birthdays are in the next couple of weeks. So, a bunch of us are getting together to celebrate tonight. My Aunt Abby, a different aunt, is having us all over to her house. I was thinking you might want to go by there with me."
Chapter 5
I came extremely close to accompanying Will Castro to his family birthday celebration. He was the most fascinating guy I had ever met, and I almost made the mistake of getting swept off of my feet by him that afternoon. It was insanely difficult for me to turn down his invitation, but I knew I had to stay on track.
For one, I had plans to check out the restaurant. I felt compelled to dig deeper into the information Helen Elliot had given me. I needed to know if Michael Elliot was my father, and I wanted to see what this family was all about.
Plus, Will was a butterfly boy, like Jennifer had said. Believe me, the butterflies were real and they were wonderful, and I would have loved to give in to them, but I knew I couldn't. That sort of excitement was temporary, and this information about the Elliots, well, it could be life-changing.
I loved meeting Will, and I told him so, but I regretfully declined his invitation to the birthday party. We did sit in that diner and talk for a while, though. I stayed with Will even longer than I did with Mister Mitchell. I didn't mean to stay there so long, but our conversation flowed, and time flew because we were having fun. We exchanged phone numbers, but I was almost certain we wouldn't use them—especially after what Jennifer had told me.
By the time I left Carson's Diner, it was almost dinner time. I went straight to the Elliot's restaurant, which was easy to find. It was even grander than I expected, and I knew I would have a hard time working up the nerve to walk in there. I meandered on the beach for a while, thinking about everything and trying to pump myself up to go inside. I wondered if it was true that Michael Elliott was my father. If so, then my mother obviously knew it. And she was either lying to my father, or he knew and they were both lying to me.
I had already gone through all types of scenarios and feelings, but new thoughts kept coming up as I walked on the beach. I was haunted by emotion, doubt, and insecurity. And then I thought of Will, and I had to smile. I remembered specific exchanges we had at the diner. He was easy to be around, and I smiled thinking it must be a family trait since his father's nickname was Easy.
My encounter with Will Castro turned out to be a blessing. Thinking of him and the random fun I had with him was what gave me the distraction I needed to work up the nerve to go into that restaurant.
It had gotten busier there since I first arrived, so I decided to go in before all the tables filled up. There was a huge deck outside with plants and palm trees and a lot of wood décor. As I approached, I realized that it felt a bit like I was getting onto a ship. I liked this place, and I couldn’t help but grin in spite of my raging nerves.
It was already busy in there. I could see that a lot of the tables were full, and there were a few people in the lobby. Two young women were at the hostess stand, along with an older gentleman. I instantly assumed the man must be Helen's husband. This would mean he must be my biological grandfather. I reminded myself that I didn't even know if any of this was true.
"Welcome to Elliot's!" the man said with a sweet old-man smile.
"How many tonight?" one of the girls asked.
"Oh, uh, it's just me. One, please."
"Oh, okay," she said. "You're welcome to sit at the bar, or I could get you a table."
"I'll take a table, please," I said, since I wanted to look out and see the atmosphere in the restaurant and not the bar.
"I'll take her," the old man said. He leaned in and grabbed