Eric grew up in Nathan’s house but rarely saw tenderness from him.
His later attempts did not erase the first choice he made.
He had still left.
Eric grew up in Nathan’s house but rarely saw tenderness from him.
“He paid bills,” Eric said. “He attended school meetings. He never asked how I felt unless the answer affected my grades.”
“And you still protected him.”
Eric looked toward the window.
“Then you arrived with coffee, and he became someone I had wanted my entire life.”
“He had never trusted me with anything emotional before. When he told me about you, I thought he was finally treating me like his son.”
He swallowed.
“Then you arrived with coffee, and he became someone I had wanted my entire life.”
“You resented me.”
“Yes.”
I opened Nathan’s letter that night.
“I did not take him from you.”
“I know.”
I glared at him.
He stopped himself.
“No,” he said. “You did not.”
He had raised Eric without warmth.
I opened Nathan’s letter that night.
He admitted he had failed us differently.
He had abandoned me.
He had raised Eric without warmth.
He said he arranged our meeting because he wanted to know whether I could love him before I knew what he had done.
He had asked whether he was convincing.
His regret had become another demand.
Then I reached the final page.
He had asked whether he was convincing.
The answer made me sick.
He had not been pretending to be my father.
I called Eric the next morning.
He had been pretending not to be.
Nathan wrote that he hoped Eric and I might give each other what he had denied us.
I called Eric the next morning.
“We are not required to become family because he wanted a clean ending.”
“I agree.”
We communicated through separate attorneys for the next month.
“And I am not forgiving you.”
After a pause, Eric answered.
“I understand.”
We communicated through separate attorneys for the next month.
Millie’s could not be sold without both signatures.
The silver-haired waitress from the funeral recognized me.
The building was valuable. The business was not.
Eric wanted to sell the property, pay the debts, and divide what remained.
I agreed until we visited.
