When I Found You (42 page)

He herded them through the front doors of the hotel, held open for them by uniformed doormen. Out on to the pavement, where two black stretches waited at the valet curb, their doors also held open by uniformed employees.

Mike, one of the trainers, said, “So we’ll split into four and five. And Nathan can go in Danny’s limo.”

“No,” Danny said. All eyes turned to him. “I want to go in a limo with Nathan. Just Nathan.”

Vick rolled his eyes.

Nat said, “You should go with your trainers, Danny.”

Danny put a hand on Nat’s chest and pushed him back a few steps, away from the ears of the crowd.

“Thing is,” he said quietly, his face close to Nat’s, “I still sort of think of you as my trainer.”

“Oh, come on. Don’t make me laugh. You’re in such a different league now. We’re not even orbiting the same planets.”

“I don’t mean it like that. Just that we go way back.”

Nat sighed. Walked around Danny and up to where Vick was waiting, tapping his foot on the curb.

“He’s just nervous,” Nat said.

“Fine. Whatever. Who cares? Both cars go to the same place.” Then, more loudly, to Danny, “We’ll see you there, kid.”

“I’m not a kid!” Danny shouted back. “I’m twenty-four years old.”

“Twenty-four years old
is
a kid,” Vick said, and ducked inside the first limo.

•  •  •

“I want to sit on this backwards side,” Danny said, settling on the seat facing the rear of the limo, his back to the driver. “I like to watch the world go by backwards.”

“Now why is that?”

“I dunno. Just do. How often do you get to see the world go by backwards?”

Nat shifted from his forward-facing seat and sat beside Danny, watching the Las Vegas strip flash by in reverse. “Yeah. I guess I see what you mean,” he said.

“This sure is one lit-up town.”

“Never been to Vegas before?”

“Now how would I’ve ever been to Vegas?”

“I don’t know. Maybe your grandmother was a gambler.”

“My grandma wasn’t no gambler.”

“No offense intended.”

“No offense taken. But she wasn’t.” He leaned his head back and watched the lights stream by. Looking nearly hypnotized. Then he said, “Wish she was still here to see this.”

“Yeah. I know what you mean. I wish Nathan were still here.”

“And Little Manny.”

“Yeah. And Little Manny.”

“Is Carol gonna watch from home?”

“Are you kidding? She wouldn’t miss it. She’s watching
and
taping.”

“If my grandma and your Nathan and Little Manny had lived to see this, even if they was too old and sick to come, they coulda watched it on the TV.”

“If they had cable, yeah.”

“If my grandma was alive, she’d
get
cable. She’d
buy
her some HBO to see this.”

“Maybe she’ll still see,” Nat said. “Even so.”

“Think so?”

“I don’t know. Truthfully, I got no idea. But why not think the best in a situation? Since we don’t know.”

“Yeah. Maybe. I hope so. Speaking of which. Speaking of what we don’t know. What you think gonna happen come midnight tonight? Think planes’ll fall out of the sky, and shit? And there won’t be no lights, and no water, and all the nuclear plants’ll melt down or something? Think the whole world’ll fall apart over that computer Y2K shit?”

Nat smiled inwardly to himself. He knew this was a month’s worth of words for Danny. And he also knew it meant Danny was nervous.

“No,” he said. “I don’t.”

“Why not?”

“I don’t know. I just don’t. I just don’t think it’ll be that big a deal.”

“You don’t think people’ll go to their ATM money machines and find ’em all screwed up and shut down? You be willing to bet that won’t happen?”

“I’m not a betting man, Danny.”

“What? You don’t have some dollars on me to win tonight?”

“Well. Yeah. Sure I do. Of course I do. But that’s not the same. That’s not really gambling. That’s a sure thing.”

Danny grinned widely.

Then something caught his eye out the window, and he pitched forward, his fingers marking the glass with his nervous perspiration.

“Look at that, Nathan! Look!”

Nat leaned over and tried to see around him. Just before the driver turned into the circular hotel driveway, Nat caught a glimpse of what Danny had seen.

Danny had his name up in neon on the hotel sign. It said:

MANDALAY BAY RESORT AND CASINO PRESENTS
LIVE TONIGHT
DIEGO GARCIA vs DANIEL LATHROP

There was another line underneath, but the limo was circling the fountain now, and the sign spun out of Nat’s view.

“Holy shit,” Danny said. Sounding truly scared. “That makes my legs feel all gooey inside. You believe what we just saw?”

“What? You didn’t think they’d put it on the sign?”

“No. I knew they would. But do you
believe
it?”

“Yup. This is the big time, Danny. You’re going to the show.”

•  •  •

“You got any last words for me, Nathan?”

“You’re not dying, Danny. But, yeah. I do.”

He took Danny by the elbow and pulled him off into the corner of the huge dressing room. Away from the entourage crowd.

“First of all, I’m so freaking jealous of you I could die right here on the spot. And also I’m so happy for you I could die all over again. That’s twice in one night. But not necessarily in that order. But the main thing I want to tell you is that I’m proud of you tonight.”

Danny furrowed his brow, frowning. “What if I don’t win?”

“It’s not contingent on your winning.”

“I don’t know what that word means.”

“Contingent? It just means it doesn’t depend on it. That’s why I’m telling you now. Because I’m proud of you now. I’m proud of you for getting this far. And for who you are. And how you did this.”

A rapping on the door.

A voice on the other side called, “Two minutes.”

They both stared at the door for another moment. As if expecting it to do something.

Then Danny said, “Thanks, Nathan. Wish you could be in that corner with me.”

“But you know I can’t. But I’ll be right behind you. The whole time. But I don’t want you to think about that. Just know I’m back there, but give all your attention to Mike. In-between rounds, when you’re in your corner, there’s nobody else in the world except Mike. When the bell rings again, there’s nobody else in the world except Garcia. I’m right behind you. But don’t split your focus.”

“OK, Nathan. I won’t. Nathan? Is it OK if I’m really scared?”

“If you weren’t, I’d figure you didn’t know the half of what was going on here. But you’ll be good. I’m going out there now. And I’m going to watch you walk out. You walk into that place like you own it. You hear me?”

Nat reached out his fists and Danny bumped them lightly with his own, like fighters in the middle of the ring.

“Thanks, Nathan. I still don’t got no idea why you did everything you did for me. But thanks.”

•  •  •

Even Danny’s back looked scared, Nat thought.

He watched from behind as Danny opened up to accept his mouth guard from Mike.

Then he watched as Danny nodded. And nodded. And nodded.

What could Mike possibly have to say to him that hadn’t been said a hundred times before?

A few seconds later, Danny broke the rules. He glanced over his shoulder and made eye contact with Nat.

Nat winked at him, and smiled. Then he pointed back to Mike. To say, “Back to your focus.”

Danny’s head and eyes shifted forward again.

Nat pulled his wallet out of his front pocket. He always kept it in his front pocket at any sort of boxing event. Not the most dependable crowd in the world. If he lost a few bucks, that wouldn’t have been the end of the world. And he didn’t have a driver’s license anyway.

But the good-luck charm. That was one of a kind. And it was not about to go anywhere, if he could help it.

He pulled the photo out of the wallet. He’d had it laminated, so he could run his thumb over the face in the picture without fading or smearing it. Even if his hands were sweating just a little bit.

Like they were tonight.

He felt a presence behind him and whipped his head around. Vick was looking over his shoulder.

“Who’s that, your grandfather?”

“Something like that, yeah.” When Vick didn’t comment further, Nat said, “It’s my good-luck charm. I’ve had it with me at every single match Danny ever fought. Amateur and pro both.”

“Yeah? Well, generally speaking I don’t put much stock in luck. But if it got the kid this far, I say have at it.”

He moved away again. Which was good.

It allowed Nat to say what he always said before one of Danny’s fights. Quietly. Under his breath. But always out loud.

“If you’ve got any kind of influence where you are, Nathan, this would be a good moment to use it.”

He slid the photo back into his pocket when the bell rang.

THE END

by Catherine Ryan Hyde

“A fascinating premise and a lovely book. Highly recommended.” –
Chicklittings

“Heartwarming and Heartbreaking…Plan to read
Second Hand Heart
when you’re ready to stay awake all night (with a box of Kleenex) – you’ll want to read it straight through to the end.” – Catherine Gallegos,
reader review

“A compelling, thoughtful read.” –
Choice Magazine

“A first-rate read!…
Second Hand Heart
is a great book about surviving despite the odds” – Leah Graham,
Chick Lit Reviews and News

Can a heart remember the people it once loved?

By Catherine Ryan Hyde, the bestselling author of
PAY IT FORWARD
and
18 published and forthcoming books
,
SECOND HAND HEART
is a warm and wonderful novel of love, unexpected chances, and inconceivable loss—of learning to live for the first time, and learning to live all over again.

Vida is 19 and has a life-threatening heart condition. Richard is 36 and has just lost his beloved wife in a car accident. When Richard is invited to the hospital to meet the young woman who received his wife’s donor heart, Vida takes one look at him and feels she’s loved him all her life. Is Vida just a sheltered and confused young woman? Or is there truth behind the theory of cellular memory? Can a heart remember, at least for a time, on its own?

An unusual and surprising love story,
SECOND HAND HEART
is a compelling page-turner that will appeal to fans of Jodi Picoult and Nicholas Sparks, and to anyone who has ever been curious about the limits of love and death.

“Everything about this book is unexpected. You think you’re in for one thing, but you get quite another. The characters don’t behave the way I thought they would, the story unfolds in a landscape utterly different to where it begins and instead of being pleasantly entertained by a sweet story…I found a moving lesson about living as oppose to just existing.” – Catherine,
Caffeinated

“A Compelling Novel From A Wonderful Writer. If you haven’t read any of her novels, then WHAT ARE YOU DOING WITH YOUR TIME??? You’re missing out on a lot and I highly suggest you hurry and pick one up. And why not start with her latest,
Second Hand Heart
?” – Brent Taylor,
reader review

BUY IT TODAY!

Catherine Ryan Hyde is the author of several highly acclaimed novels including
Pay It Forward
(which was made into a feature film starring Kevin Spacey and Helen Hunt),
Love in the Present Tense
,
Chasing Windmills
, and
Second Hand Heart
.

Catherine lives in a very small town in California. She also writes novels for young adults.

For more information on Catherine Ryan Hyde and her books, please visit
her website
. If you'd like news and updates on Catherine’s latest books, fun giveaways, and more, visit
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—
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