My daughter had never brought a boyfriend home before.
Bringing Evan over tonight. Please be nice. I really like him.
I smiled at the screen.
I knew she had dated a little, but names usually disappeared from conversation the second I showed too much interest.
Then another message came through.
And tell Dad to be normal.
Bringing Evan over tonight. Please be nice. I really like him.
I laughed.
My husband, Daniel, was sitting at the kitchen table trying to fix the loose handle on one of our cabinets.
“Maya says you’re supposed to be normal tonight.”
He glanced up. “That’s a lot of pressure.”
“Apparently she’s bringing home a boy.”
“That’s a lot of pressure.”
Daniel stopped turning the screwdriver.
“A boy?” He gave me a look. “I’m going to ask for his tax returns.”
“Daniel.”
“I’m kidding.”
Mostly, I thought.
“I’m going to ask for his tax returns.”
He went back to the cabinet.
“Lucky for Maya’s boyfriend, Mark will be dropping by to return my torque wrench later.” He gave me a wry smile. “Should give the boy a chance to pull up letters of recommendation and testimonials from his previous girlfriends.”
I rolled my eyes.
“You might find that funny, but I guarantee that Maya won’t.”
“Mark will be dropping by to return my torque wrench later.”
“Come on… you’ll find it funny, too.”
I playfully swatted his shoulder.
“Is Mark also joining us for dinner?”
“No.”
Daniel didn’t even pause to think before he replied.
I playfully swatted his shoulder.
Mark and Daniel had known each other since their twenties, but they weren’t close anymore.
Sometimes Mark showed up at barbecues. They called each other on their birthdays, and they borrowed each other’s tools.
Their friendship had become the kind built mostly on history.
I never thought much about it.
They weren’t close anymore.
At six thirty, Maya walked through the front door with Evan.
My first thought was that he looked terrified.
My second was that I understood why Maya had warned us.
Evan was thin and very pale, with dyed black hair that fell past his jaw. His fingernails were painted black. Dark eyeliner framed his eyes, and tattoos covered most of his left forearm.
I understood why Maya had warned us.
He’d completed the look with black boots, black jeans, and a faded band shirt.
He looked like the exact kind of boy nervous parents complained about before discovering he volunteered at an animal shelter.
Maya held his hand.
“Mom, Dad, this is Evan.”
Daniel stared at him for a long time, then his eyes suddenly widened. He stood so quickly that his chair fell over.
He looked like the exact kind of boy nervous parents complained about.
“No.”
Maya blinked.
“What?”
Daniel pointed at Evan.
“He needs to leave. Immediately.”
I laughed. I thought he was joking, until I saw the look on his face.
“He needs to leave. Immediately.”
“Daniel? What’s going on?”
“I said he needs to leave.”
Maya’s grip tightened around Evan’s hand.
“Dad, what the heck? You haven’t even spoken to him.”
“I don’t need to.”
That made me angry.
“I don’t need to.”
Daniel had spent years telling our daughter not to judge people based on clothes, tattoos, hair, money, jobs, or anything else superficial.
He had once given Maya a thirty-minute lecture because she called a classmate “weird.”
Now he was staring at Evan like the kid had walked into our house carrying a knife.
“Daniel, enough,” I said. “If this is meant to be a joke, then it isn’t funny.”
Daniel had spent years telling our daughter not to judge people
His eyes stayed on Evan.
“Sarah, please. Just… trust me.”
Something in his voice changed my anger.
He wasn’t disgusted; he was scared.
And somehow, Evan seemed to know exactly what Daniel was afraid of.
He wasn’t disgusted; he was scared.
Evan hadn’t said a word.
He was studying Daniel’s face with an expression I couldn’t understand.
Maya turned toward him.
“Evan?”
“Yeah,” he sighed. “Let’s do this.”
He slowly reached into his pocket.
“Let’s do this.”
Daniel’s voice sharpened.
“Don’t.”
That single word changed the entire room.
Evan pulled out his phone anyway.
He tapped the screen several times, walked toward the table, and placed the phone in front of Daniel.
That single word changed the entire room.
Daniel looked down.
Every bit of color disappeared from his face.
“Put that away.”
Evan stayed where he was.
“What is going on?” I asked.
He placed the phone in front of Daniel.
Nobody answered.
I stepped toward the table.
Daniel grabbed the phone and flipped it facedown.
I stared at him.
“Daniel.”
“Sarah, this isn’t something you need to see.”
Daniel grabbed the phone and flipped it facedown.
That was probably the worst sentence he could have chosen.
I reached for the phone, but he covered it with his hand.
“This is ridiculous.” I looked at Evan. “What is going on here?”
His voice was quiet.
“Maybe you should ask him why he doesn’t want you to see it.”
I reached for the phone, but he covered it with his hand.
Daniel closed his eyes.
For one second, he looked twenty years older.
Then he moved his hand.
I turned the phone over.
The screen showed a photo of a photograph, one old enough that the colors had started fading.
I turned the phone over.
Daniel was standing outside what looked like an apartment building. He couldn’t have been older than twenty-five.
A woman stood beside him.
Pretty. Blond. Smiling.
His arm was around her shoulders.
Her stomach was slightly rounded; a small but unmistakable pregnancy bump.
A woman stood beside him.
I looked at the picture for a long time, then I glanced between Daniel and Evan.
Maya was still standing beside Evan.
Similar height, similar brown eyes. Maya had my nose, my dimples, and Evan… There was something about his chin, his cheekbones, and the way he set his jaw that was eerily familiar.
My stomach dropped.
Similar height, similar brown eyes.
“Who is she?”
Daniel swallowed.
“Her name is Claire.”
“She’s my mother,” Evan added.
I looked at my husband again.
“Is he… is Evan… your son?”
“She’s my mother,”
“What?” Daniel seemed genuinely horrified. “No.”
His answer should have relieved me.
Instead, it left an even worse question: why had he insisted that Evan leave the second he walked through our door?
“Then explain the picture.”
“Is he… is Evan… your son?”
“Claire and I were never together.”
Evan nodded. “My mom never said they were. That’s not why I came here.”
I looked at him.
“Then why did you bring this?”
He glanced at Daniel.
“Then why did you bring this?”
“My mom died last year.”
The anger in the room softened for half a second.
He swallowed.
“I found some old pictures when my stepdad and I were going through her things. This one had Daniel’s name written on the back.”
Maya stepped closer to him.
“This one had Daniel’s name written on the back.”
“He showed me the picture a few weeks ago,” she said. “I recognized Dad immediately.”
“Who were you to her?” Evan asked. “My stepdad didn’t know, and all it said in her letters was some stuff about how she could never have done ‘it’ without you. What was she talking about?”
Daniel sat down. I watched him rub both hands over his face.
I folded my arms.
“Who were you to her?”
“Start talking, Dan. What was your relationship with Claire?”
He looked at the table.
“We were friends. We met through Mark. They were dating.”
My skin prickled.
“Mark? The same Mark who borrowed your torque wrench?”
Daniel nodded.
“Start talking, Dan. What was your relationship with Claire?”
Maya stared at him.
“That doesn’t explain why you freaked out.”
Daniel pointed toward the chairs.
“Sit down. I’ll explain everything.”
After a moment’s hesitation, we all took a seat at the table.
Daniel started talking.
“That doesn’t explain why you freaked out.”
“Mark and I were best friends back then. Like brothers. We did everything together. When he first started dating Claire, their relationship seemed perfect.”
“But?” I asked.
Daniel’s expression turned grim.
“Mark started controlling everything. Where she went, who she talked to, how much she spent.”
“Mark and I were best friends back then.”
Evan leaned forward. “And nobody said anything?”
Daniel looked at him. “No.”
Evan leaned back and let out a harsh breath.
“I became the only man Mark trusted to be around her. We got close,” Daniel continued. “When Claire got pregnant, and Mark started getting really possessive and jealous, she told him she was leaving. But he wouldn’t let her.”
“And nobody said anything?”
“What does that mean?” Evan leaned forward again. “Did he hurt her?”
Daniel shook his head.
“Nothing like that, but he emptied most of their shared account, changed passwords, froze cards. He made sure leaving him would cost her.”
Maya went still.
“That’s when Claire called me,” Daniel said.
“Did he hurt her?”
“Why you?” Evan asked.
“She trusted me.” Daniel glanced at his watch. “I gave her cash, helped her pack, and drove her to a friend three hours away. She’d already decided to leave. She asked for help, and I helped.”
Evan looked down at the photograph. “That’s why she said she couldn’t have done it without you.”
Daniel nodded. “Now you REALLY need to go. Now.”
Daniel glanced at his watch.
“Dad, are you serious?” Maya gaped at him. “After all this, we’re back to telling Evan to leave?”
“You don’t understand. Mark’s coming here tonight. He’s probably on his way here right now,” Daniel replied.
Evan’s eyes went round. He turned to Maya.
Then Maya asked the question I was already thinking.
“If Mark did all this, why is he still your friend?”
“He’s probably on his way here right now,”
Shame crossed Daniel’s face.
“We’re not close. I kept him at a distance.”
“He is literally coming here tonight,” Maya said.
Daniel looked down. “I know.”
Evan’s voice was quiet. “Did you ever tell him you helped my mom?”
“No. I promised Claire I wouldn’t tell him where she’d gone. That’s why he can’t see you.” He paused. “You look so much like her… and him.”
“Did you ever tell him you helped my mom?”
I stared at Daniel.
I loved my husband. But in all our time together, I’d never known him to be such a… coward.
“Evan, you need to go,” Daniel repeated.
“No,” I said.
Daniel’s face hardened. “We can’t just put them in a room together and hope everyone comes out okay. Didn’t you hear what I said about Mark?”
I’d never known him to be such a… coward.
I turned to Evan.
“You can go if you want to, Evan. You can hide upstairs until Mark leaves. That’s your choice to make, but you…” I turned back to Daniel. “You’ve spent nearly twenty years avoiding one uncomfortable sentence.”
Daniel stared at me. “What sentence?”
“The one where you tell Mark what you actually think of what he did.”
Daniel never got the chance to answer me.
The doorbell rang.
“You’ve spent nearly twenty years avoiding one uncomfortable sentence.”
Nobody moved.
A few seconds later, it rang again.
Daniel looked at Evan.
Then at me.
I nodded.
Finally, he walked into the hallway and opened it.
The doorbell rang.
Mark came in holding a red plastic tool case.
“Sorry I’m late. Traffic was—”
He broke off when he saw Evan.
The tool case lowered slightly in his hand.
Mark’s face looked strange. Confused first.
Then frightened.
He broke off when he saw Evan.
“Who… are you?”
Evan’s jaw clenched. I watched him stand, watched his hands curl into fists at his sides, and knew Evan was going to face this head-on.
“My name is Evan. My mother was Claire.”
The tool case hit the floor.
Evan was going to face this head-on.
My daughter flinched.
Mark looked at Daniel.
“No… is he?”
“Yes,” Evan said. “It seems I’m your son.”
Mark glanced at him, then he rounded on Daniel.
“What is he doing here? And where’s Claire? Did you know where she ran off to all this time?”
“It seems I’m your son.”
Daniel hesitated.
“Answer me!” Mark snapped. “You’re the one that took her from me all those years ago, aren’t you? Were you sleeping with her?”
“No. Never.” Daniel straightened. “But I did help her leave.”
“You son of a—” Mark curled his hand into a fist. “You helped her take my child.”
“She wanted to leave, Mark. You made it almost impossible. I did the right thing.”
Mark curled his hand into a fist.
Mark stopped.
“You emptied the account. You locked down her cards. You told a pregnant woman that if she wanted to leave you, she could find a way to pay for it herself.”
Mark glanced at Evan.
“You don’t know what our relationship was like.”
“I knew enough.”
“No, you didn’t.” Mark gave a bitter laugh.
“I did the right thing.”
“Claire was always overreacting,” Mark continued. “She’d get upset, threaten to leave, spend money we didn’t have. Somebody had to be the responsible one. I was trying to stop her from making another stupid decision.”
The room went quiet for a moment.
“And then you betrayed me,” Mark said in a dangerously soft tone. “We were going to have a family, and you ruined it.”
“I was trying to stop her from making another stupid decision.”
Daniel nodded slowly.
“If helping Claire leave means I betrayed you, then yes. And I’d do it again in a heartbeat.”
Mark turned toward Evan.
“Where is she? Your mother kept you from me. She needs to answer for that.”
“She’s dead,” Evan replied.
Mark stopped. He seemed to take a moment to process the news, then he nodded.
“Okay… but I’m still your father. You’re still my son.”
“And I’d do it again in a heartbeat.”
Evan looked at him for a long moment.
“No… I think I’ve heard everything I needed to hear tonight.”
“You can’t say that. I’m your blood. Don’t I deserve a chance?”
Mark stepped toward him.
Daniel moved between them.
“You wouldn’t dare…” Mark snarled.
“You can’t say that. I’m your blood. Don’t I deserve a chance?”
“You need to give the boy space.”
“You need to stop interfering in my life! God, you don’t get to judge me, Daniel.”
Daniel sighed.
“I do,” he said softly. “Man to man, what you did to Claire was wrong. It was abuse, and I should have judged you to your face nineteen years ago.”
“You wouldn’t dare…”
Mark went silent.
“Instead, I spent almost twenty years pretending that keeping my distance from you was the same as standing against you.” He shook his head. “It wasn’t.”
Daniel walked to the front door and opened it.
“But I’m telling you now. Our friendship is over.”
Mark’s jaw dropped.
“But I’m telling you now. Our friendship is over.”
“Daniel.”
“You’re not welcome in my home anymore.”
Mark looked toward Evan.
“What about him? That’s my kid. You kept us apart once, and now you’re doing it again.”
Daniel looked at Evan.
Evan stepped closer. He looked Mark in the eye and shook his head. “I have a dad — my stepfather. I don’t think I want a relationship with you, not after what you did to my mom.”
“You’re not welcome in my home anymore.”
Mark looked like he wanted to argue.
“You heard the boy,” Daniel said. “Don’t make this harder than it needs to be, Mark.”
Mark walked out without another word.
Daniel closed the door and leaned against it.
Finally, Evan wiped his face.
“My mom trusted you. And now I understand why.”
“Don’t make this harder than it needs to be, Mark.”
Daniel covered his mouth.
Then he bent forward with one hand against the wall while the tears came.
Maya walked over and hugged him.
“I’m sorry,” he whispered.
She nodded against his shoulder.
“You were a jerk when we came in.”
“I’m sorry,”
A broken laugh escaped him.
Evan wiped his cheek.
“Was it the eyeliner?”
Daniel laughed again, harder this time.
“No.”
“Good. It took me twenty minutes.”
A broken laugh escaped him.
Maya rolled her eyes.
I stood there watching them, and something inside me finally unclenched.
Daniel couldn’t change the years he’d spent avoiding the truth. But tonight, he’d finally stopped avoiding it.
