CHAPTER TWENTY-One

Grace had never tried to dreamwalk on demand. Typically, it happened when she went into a normal sleep. She was concerned that she would disappoint everyone and fail to connect with Andy.

Was it that concern that made it impossible for her to relax enough to sleep? She tossed, turned, and finally went out onto the private porch off the main suite and curled up on the couch.

The sounds of life lulled her and soon, she felt sleep reach for her. Please let me find him, was her last thought before reality shifted and deposited her into another place.

The space she found herself in was dark and had an unpleasant odor. Mildew and dirty socks. That's what it smelled like.

Grace strained to see in the darkness, and shapes began to swim into view as her eyes adapted. It was worse than she imagined. Did someone actually live here?

"Is that you, Mrs. Grace?"

The sound of his voice had Grace turning one hundred and eighty degrees. Behind her stood Andy. Like the rest of him, his face was dirty, making it hard to determine if he was hurt.

"How did you get here? They locked me in –" He looked around. "Where are we?"

"In a dream," Grace answered.

"Whose dream?"

"Yours."

Andy frowned. "This is a bad dream. Why are you here? He stuck me with a needle. It hurt. And it made me go to sleep, and when I woke up, I was sick and threw up all over the place, and he got really mad and started for me, and I was scared, so I threw up on his foot. He yelled more and stomped off and hollered at the lady to lock me up in the spare room."

"You have a good memory. Do you know where you are or who the lady is? And where exactly are we?"

Within a blink, they stood in an average-looking bedroom with enough room for a twin bed, a chest of drawers, and a small desk. There was one window. It was clean but not outfitted with expensive furniture, and the walls were bare. Only the holes in the walls that were never patched bore testimony that, at one time, someone lived here who found meaning in something and hung it on the wall.

"I think it was her kid," Andy said, and when she looked at him, he smiled. "You said it was a dream, right?"

"Yes."

"Okay, so like Mr. Brady Blackstone said, in your dreams you can be anything you want. Good or bad. The power of your dreams can make them happen in the real world, so you have to be careful about where you put your power. If you choose the bad side, then you lose more than you can ever win because you lose the people who love you."

"That's a lot to remember, Andy."

"I know. My Gigi used to say I had a photographic memory. I had to ask Mr. Joe to spell it for me when I was six, so I could Google it."

"Joe?"

"Yeah, Mr. Joe, the angel. He saved me when I was a baby. Did you know that? I had cancer. My mom said she was holding me, trying to will the cancer out of me, and he showed up and put his arms around us, and she saw his wings. He took the cancer away."

"And he helped you to look up photographic memory?"

"No, he just spelled it."

"Is that the only time you've visited with Mr. Joe?"

"Course not. He's my best friend besides Mom and Gigi, Uncle Billy and Danny Griffin, my friend at school. And Mr. Brady Blackstone. He and Mr. Joe are like my number one best friends."

"I wasn't aware you and Brady had become best friends."

"Yep. Mr. Brady needs us. Me and mom."

"Why does he need you?"

"Because he needs something really big to make up for everything he's giving up to come home."

"And you know what that something is?"

Andy chuckled. "Course I do. Love. My mom says it all boils down to love. The more you love something or someone, the more of yourself you're willing to give or sacrifice to keep that person safe and healthy. Even your life. If you love someone enough, the gift is never too much of a sacrifice."

"And you understand what that means as well?"

"Sure, Mrs.Grace. It means you'll give your life so they can live."

Grace was stunned. Not simply that she was in a dreamscape, but with a child who seemed like one of the oldest souls she'd ever encountered. Andy had a child's body and a remarkably mature genius mind.

"Andy, your mother needs to find you. You shouldn't be where you are with that man. He's not a good or kind man, and he may try to harm you. That scares your mom. It scares all of us, so we need to find a way to locate you. Can you tell me anything about the place you are that would help them find you?"

The grin that appeared on Andy's face was like a ray of sun after a bad storm. "Tell mom to call down the birds. The house is green. Bright green. Like a lime. She's not happy, but she tries to pretend she is, so she paints it in happy colors."

"That's an astute observation. I have to go now, Andy. Are you physically unharmed? Your mother will want to know."

"He hasn't hit me. I think he wants to, but I said Mr. Clay might not give him all he wants if he hurts me. He can be pretty stubborn like that."

"Smart boy," she smiled at him. "Do you have a message for anyone?"

"Yes, ma'am. Tell Mom to call the birds. And tell my friend, Mr. Brady, I sure could use his help right now. I'm smarter than this guy, but he's bigger and meaner."

"I understand," Grace said and pulled him into her arms. "Help is on the way. You just keep outsmarting him until Brady gets there."

"Okay, Mrs. Grace." Andy hugged her tight. "Thank you for visiting me in a dream. Maybe next time we could be somewhere we can see the stars."

"You got it," Grace replied, kissed the top of his head and blinked.

Awake. Grace rose and hurried to the kitchen. "He said he's fine. He hasn't been hurt except for a needle the man stuck in him that made him go to sleep and be sick when he woke up. He said he's smarter, but the man is bigger and meaner, so he needs help from his friend Mr. Brady. So, he needs his mom to call down the birds and tell them the house is green. Bright green like a lime."

Tears flooded from Hope's eyes. Andy was alive, and he was okay. She could hear his voice in Grace's recitation of the dream. She knew Grace had made contact, and the relief was close to overwhelming.

Gratitude had her heading for the door. "On it."

"Can we watch?" Clay asked and looked around. "I've never seen someone call down the birds. I can't be the only one who's curious.

"And Hope, you're Andy's mother, and there will never be another relationship for either of you that will match what you have. But you're not the only person in this room that loves Andy. He's one of a kind. A real all for one and one for all, little man."

Hope stopped at the door and looked back over her shoulder. "You're right. Andy would want it to be all of us. These last weeks have been a dream come true for him. He's made friends and stood on his own, and he discovered that sometimes being smart is just as cool as being athletic.

"And you," she looked at Brady. "Will you stand with me?"

"For you or Andy?"

"Does it matter which?"

"Yeah, it does." In three long strides, he was towering over her. "I need it to be for both."

"Why?"

"Because we're going to be a family, which means it has to be all for one and one for all. That's the only way it works." He cut a look at Clay. "Right, Pop?"

"Absolutely," Clay said with a smile.

Hope smiled as well. "A family?"

"Yep." His expression said it all. They were already his family.

"Well, in that case, we best get to it."

This time, the emotion she evoked brought a flirtatious smile to his face, a smile that once more mesmerized her as thoroughly as the first he gave her.

"Yes, ma'am. I'm with you."