“I found someone in the Yellow Pages, an agency, a missing-persons agency,” he stressed.
Dr. Burton didn’t flinch. “Yes?”
“I got in touch with this woman and we spoke at length about her helping me to find Donal. We arranged to meet last Sunday in Limerick.”
“Yes?” He leaned back in his chair, slowly, poker-faced.
“Funny thing is, we passed each other at a gas station on the way and then she never turned up at the meeting point.” He shook his head. “I really believed and still believe this person has the ability to find him.”
“Really?” Dr. Burton’s tone was dry.
“Yes, really. So I started looking for her.”
“The missing-persons person?” he stated, deadpan.
“Yes.”
“And did you find her?”
“No, but I found her car and I found my brother’s files in her car, and her phone, her datebook, her wallet, and a bag full of labeled clothes all with her name on them. She labels everything.”
Dr. Burton began to fidget in his chair.
“I was so worried about her. I am still worried about her because I believe this woman has the ability to find my brother.”
“So you’re fixing your obsession onto this other woman,” Dr. Burton said a bit too coldly.
Jack shook his head. “She said to me on the phone once that the one thing that would be more frustrating than not being able to find someone would be not being found. It’s her wish to be found.”
“Perhaps she just wandered off for a few days.”
“The garda I contacted said the very same thing.” Dr. Burton’s eyebrows rose at the mention of involving the police. “I contacted a lot of people who know her and they also said the same thing.” Jack shrugged.
“Well, then, you should listen to those people. Leave it alone, Jack. Try to concentrate on dealing with your brother’s disappearance before you start worrying about another one. If she’s been gone a few days and hasn’t been in touch, maybe it’s for a reason.”
“I wasn’t bothering her, Doctor, if that’s what you’re implying. There are a few of us that are worried so we’ve arranged to meet up and do something about it.”
“Maybe she does this a lot,” he said. “Maybe there’s nothing at all wrong with her and she’s gone off on her own for a few days.”
“Yeah, maybe. But it’s been four days since I’ve seen her and more days since anybody else has, unless I find somebody that tells me differently. If that’s the case, then I’ll back off and get on with my own life, but I don’t think she’s wandering, as so many people have said.” He spoke gently. “I just would really love to find her, to thank her for the encouragement she’s given me, for the hope of finding Donal that she has helped me to feel. That hope she’s given me has allowed me to realize that I could find her too.”
“What makes you think that she’s missing?”
“I’m listening to my heart on this one.”
Dr. Burton smiled grimly at having his words thrown back in his face.
“And in case my heart isn’t proof enough for you, there’s also this.” Jack reached into his pocket and gently placed Sandy’s silver watch on the table.
31
It had been three years since I’d seen Mr. Burton. From a distance I could tell that time had aged him well. From a distance it appeared that time hadn’t aged either of us. From a distance everything was perfect and nothing was altered.
I had changed my clothes six times before leaving the bedsit. Feeling mildly pleased with my appearance, I had made my way to Leeson Street for the fourth time that month. I had danced in the halls when I had received his business card. I had skipped down the stairs like a fourteen-year-old on a Monday morning, knowing what and who lay ahead of me that day. I had run from Harold’s Cross to Leeson Street, I had taken the steps up to the grand Georgian door in twos, and I had then frozen as my finger hovered above the intercom button and had quickly retreated to the other side of the road. Close up, it was a completely different picture.
I was no longer the schoolgirl coming to him for help. Now I didn’t know who I was, running from help. I sat across the road on two more occasions, unable to cross over, instead watching as he arrived in the mornings, left in the evenings, and everything else in between.
I sat on the concrete steps on the fourth visit, elbows on my knees, fists under my chin, staring at all the feet and legs rushing by on the sidewalk. A pair of tan shoes beneath a pair of blue jeans crossed the road. They walked toward me. I expected them to pass me by and enter through the door behind me, but they didn’t. One step, two steps, three steps up they stopped and sat down beside me.
“Hi,” the voice said softly.
I was afraid to look up but I did. I came face to face with him, blue eyes as bright as the day I first laid mine on him.
“Mr. Burton.” I smiled.
He shook his head. “How many times do I have to tell you not to call me that?”
I was about to call him Gregory when he said, “It’s Doctor Burton now.”
“Congratulations, Doctor Burton,” I smiled. I examined his face, taking all of him in.
“Do you think this week you could move away from these steps and make it inside the building? I was getting tired of watching you from a distance.”
“Funny, I was just thinking that sometimes it’s easier to see things from a distance.”
“Yes, but it’s impossible to hear.”
I laughed.
“I like the name of the building.” I looked over at the brass plate with the SCATHACH HOUSE engraving.
“I came across it advertised for rental in the paper. I thought it was perfect. A good-luck sign, perhaps.”
“Perhaps. I don’t suppose you’re any closer to that bridge we discussed.”
He smiled and searched my face, took all of me in, and shivers ran through me.
“If you let me take you out for lunch, we could see where we are. That’s if your boyfriend doesn’t mind.”
“Boyfriend?” I asked, confused.
“The follically unchallenged young male who answered the door to your place a few weeks back.”
“Oh, him.” I shook my head. “That was just…” I paused, unable to remember his name, “Thomas,” I lied. “We’re not together.”
Mr. Burton laughed, stood up, and held out his hand to help me up. “My dear Sandy, I think you’ll find his name was Steve, but not to worry, the more men’s names you forget, the better it is for me.” He placed his hand lightly on the small of my back and I felt a jolt of electricity race through my body. He guided me across the road. “Can we go into my office for just a moment? There’s something I want to give you first.”
He introduced me proudly to his receptionist, Carol, and brought me into his office. It smelled of him, it looked like him, everything about it was Mr. Burton, Mr. Burton, oh, Mr. Burton. I felt like I was wrapped in a gigantic hug, embraced in his arms as soon as I stepped in and sat on his couch.
“It’s a bit better than the one we used to have, isn’t it?” He smiled, retrieving something from a desk drawer and bringing it over.
“It’s beautiful.” I looked around and breathed in his scent.
Suddenly he was nervous. He sat opposite me. “I was supposed to give this to you last month when I called round, for your birthday. I hope you like it.” He slid the box across the veneer cherry table. The box was long, red, and velvet. I took it in my hands as though it were the most fragile thing I’d ever held, and I rubbed my fingers along the soft furry velvet. I looked at him; he was nervously eyeing the box. I opened it slowly and held my breath. A silver watch glistened inside.
“Oh, Mr. Bur-” I started to say, and he grabbed my hand, stopping me.
“Please, Sandy. It’s Gregory now, OK?”
It’s Gregory now. It’s Gregory now. It’s Gregory now. A choir of cherubs sang in my ear.