“Why?”
“To apologize.”
Aria stared at him a moment before she laughed.“You must be joking.The husband who left her with a seven-year-old and no job skills wants toapologize?”
“Yes.Very much.And while I can’t apologize to her, I still can to you.Look, I know this is a shock and you probably don’t even want to see me, much less talk to me.But I’d appreciate it more than I can say if you would.I’ll leave you my number—well, it’s the number of the VA group home I live at—and you can call me if you decide you want to see me and hear what I have to say.”
He turned to leave, but then turned back.“I’ll be here for a few days.”With that he got in his car—a nondescript, older-model, dark-colored Honda.
As soon as he left, Ryan shut the door.“I won’t ask if you’re okay.I’m sure you aren’t.I sure as hell wouldn’t be.”
“Do you think it’s true?Is he really my father?”
“I don’t know but you have his eyes.And his driver’s license looked legit.”
“I’m not sure whether to hope he is my father or be glad he isn’t.But if he is… then what reason could he possibly have to do what he did and expect me to what?Forgive him?”
*
“I don’t knowwhat to do.”Aria was still in shock.Herfather, make that her supposed father, had suddenly appeared after more than a twenty-year absence.It blew her mind.
“First, we need to figure out if he’s who he says he is,” Ryan said.
“Okay.How do we do that?”
“Ask for a DNA test.That might be the simplest way.Or you could ask him something your father would know but no one besides you and he would know it.Is there something like that?”
“No, there’s nothing—Wait.”Seven years old.There was something.“I think he gave me my first African violet.It was beautiful.A dark blue that looked purple.He even taught me how to take care of it.Mom said I was too young to know how to do it but he—” She paused to clear her throat.“He said I was smart and I loved plants, and he knew I could do it.And he was right.”
“I’d think that’s something no one else would know.”
“I haven’t thought about it in years.I took it with me whenever we had to move.I wonder if that’s why I’ve always grown African violets along with all my other plants?”She hadn’t even realized it.She’d blocked it from her memory because it hurt too much to think about the father who’d left her.
“Do you know what you want to do?”
“Not really.But I can call him tomorrow and ask him about the plant.The problem is, what do I do if he remembers?”Even if he didn’t remember, though, she couldn’t totally count him out.What if it really had been only wishful thinking on her part?
“That depends.Do you want to know him better?To find out why he left?And why he came back?”
“I do.I mean, of course I’m curious, but I don’t see how some lame explanation is going to change my mind about him.”
“What if it’s not lame?What if he had a really good reason for leaving?”
“It would have to be a hell of a good reason.Like amnesia.But that only happens in soap operas.Or maybe novels.Besides, he not only left, he also never came back or tried to find me.”
“You can’t be sure he hasn’t tried to find you.Maybe he tried but couldn’t.Didn’t you and your mom move around some?”
“Yes.At first.But we lived in Denver for quite a while.”
“Still, that doesn’t mean you were easy to find.”
“You sound like you’re defending him.”
“No, I’m just trying to look at all sides.”
*
“Other than amnesia,which is pretty damn unlikely, I can’t imagine what his reasons would be,” Aria continued.“Plus, he’d have had to suddenly get his memory back, which is a whole different thing.”
