Let It Be Me by Becky Wade (top young adult novels .TXT) 📕

slid a green bean casserole into her oven. She had a blessed gap of time before she’d need to transport her casserole and brother to Tess and Rudy’s for the big meal.

She sank onto a kitchen chair and scrolled through new email on her phone. With a jolt, she saw that she’d received two emails in response to her death certificate requests.

She opened the first one. No death certificate for Bonnie O’Reilly had been found.

That might mean that Bonnie O’Reilly was still living, or that might mean that Leah’s lack of details regarding Bonnie had ended in a failed search.

She clicked the second email. A death certificate had been located for Ian Monroe O’Reilly.

What?

She followed the link provided. A PDF of Ian’s death certificate expanded on the screen.

Ian’s mother was listed as Bonnie Theresa Byrne O’Reilly. “Blimey,” she breathed, astonished. Bonnie’s birthplace: Oxford, Alabama. Ian’s father: Malcolm Francis O’Reilly. Ian had been born and had died in Atlanta. Cause of death: overdose from heroin and alcohol. Age: twenty-eight . . . the exact same age that Leah was now.

She blinked at the death certificate. Had Ian’s overdose been the unintentional outcome of mixing too much heroin with too much alcohol? Or had he purposely taken that cocktail with the intention of committing suicide?

At last, she’d found Bonnie O’Reilly. Unfortunately, though, this information had flowed to her through Bonnie’s son’s death certificate.

Leah retrieved her computer and brought up YourHeritage.com. This time, she ran a search for census records equipped with Bonnie’s full name and place of birth.

The site highlighted the Byrne family in the 1940 census.

Bonnie’s parents were named Sean and Ellen. Like Bonnie, Sean and Ellen had been born in Oxford. At the time of this census, Bonnie had been just a few months old. Her elder sister, Orla, had been two. Sean worked construction. Ellen worked as a seamstress.

Additional hunting yielded Bonnie’s marriage record. Bonnie married Malcolm O’Reilly in Alpharetta, Georgia, when she was twenty-two.

Adroitly, Leah ran through the now-familiar routine, looking for Bonnie Byrne O’Reilly and Malcolm Francis O’Reilly via Google and social media sites.

Nothing.

She’d found Bonnie in one sense but still had no idea how to parlay that into a meeting with the woman in the here-and-now.

Sebastian made it to Misty River’s football stadium by halftime on Friday night. He’d been so eager to see Leah that he’d gone to work at five this morning so he’d be able to wrap things up early and arrive in time to catch part of Dylan’s game.

As he maneuvered through the sea of bodies behind the bleachers, he caught sight of blond hair in the crowd.

Leah came into view, walking in his direction, carrying a bag of popcorn in one hand and a disposable cup in the other.

He’d rushed here from Atlanta for her. He’d taken a week of vacation for her. Seeing her proved those decisions right.

When she spotted him, her blue eyes rounded. Smile growing, she neared, then came to a stop before him. “You’re early.”

“I like to be early.”

“I like that you like to be early. I didn’t think I was going to get to see you until after the game. Had I known you were on-site, Connor and I wouldn’t have spent so long in the concession line.”

For the first time, he realized that someone was with her. Connor.

“I just got here,” Sebastian said.

“How’ve you been?” Connor asked.

“Really well.”

Ben hadn’t listed Connor as one of the school employees who had a crush on Leah. But, in this moment, that didn’t put Sebastian’s mind at ease. It could be that Leah viewed Connor as a friend but that Connor, like Ben, viewed Leah as more.

“I was just talking with Ben earlier this week,” Connor said, “about what you guys went through back in El Salvador.”

“He’s a good one to talk to about it.” Unlike me.

“I grew up here, so I have clear memories of watching the news coverage. For days, my mom was either praying about it or sitting in front of the TV set, waiting for updates.”

“Thank your mom for me,” Sebastian said.

“I’ll do that.”

Leah gave Sebastian a questioning look. “Are you going to sit with me this time or with the Colemans?”

“With you this time.”

“Good. Let’s get settled before the second half starts.”

They said good-bye to Connor. To lighten her load, Sebastian carried the popcorn as they walked up the ramp.

She had on the same jersey he’d seen her in at the last football game. Because of the colder late-November temperatures, she wore a white shirt beneath. She’d stuck the round pin of Dylan to a jean jacket.

“I’m jealous,” he said.

She stopped at the bottom rail of the bleachers. “Why?”

“Connor has something I want. He gets to be around you all week.”

“Ah. Well, the answer’s simple. Quit your job and become a teacher at Misty River High.”

“Don’t tempt me.”

“Don’t tempt me with all this—” she waved a hand at his face— “handsomeness. Honestly, Sebastian. It’s too much.”

“I want to make out with you.”

“No. We’re surrounded by hundreds of people.”

She was right. They were standing in view of the spectators. One of them would be Ben, and Sebastian wouldn’t do that to his friend. It’s just that it was way harder than expected not to touch her. He hadn’t seen her in days.

He followed her up the bleacher stairs.

She pointed to the side. “I’m sitting over here with Tess and Rudy.”

“I’ll say hi to the Colemans, then I’ll join you.”

“Excellent.”

He passed back her popcorn and made his way to the Coleman family section. They welcomed him with their usual loud enthusiasm.

“You’re joining us for church and Sunday dinner at the house, right?” CeCe demanded.

“Yes, ma’am.”

“If you stand me up, I’ll be after you with a shotgun.”

“I’ll be there.”

Hadley Jane jumped into his arms. “I haven’t seen you in so long, Sebastian.”

“It’s been too long,” he agreed. She stayed in his arms while he greeted the rest of the family. Eventually, he reached Ben. They hugged, causing the little girl to giggle when she was