My career.
And I’m going to own it.
Thirty-Eight
Henry
Once Tabitha’s gone, I return Francine’s call.
Why did she call me anyway? I’ve always been the one to call her.
And her timing was pure shit, at that.
“Hello,” I say.
“You were never supposed to find me.”
Her voice slides through the speaker like smoke.
“Well, I did. Why are you calling?”
“Why not? You called me twice. Maybe I felt like returning the favor. Invade your life. See how you like it.”
I glance toward the window. Outside, the rain’s back, dropping slowly on the glass. Tabitha’s on the road. It’s not a long drive to Boulder, but I hope this rain is short-lived.
“Is that really why you called?”
“Why now?” Francine asks. “Why, after all these years, did you decide to find me now?”
“I’ve told you, haven’t I? Just curious.”
“That’s a crock.” She laughs. A rasping, tired sound. “I didn’t tell you this before, but you’ve got your daddy’s voice. You sound just like him on the phone.”
“So you knew who I was when I first called?”
“No, I didn’t. But now that I’ve talked to you, memories have come back to me. Memories of your father.” She chuckles. “We had some good times.”
“I suppose I should be glad about that,” I say. “Otherwise I wouldn’t exist.”
“True enough.”
“How are you?” I ask because I’m not sure what else to say.
“Hanging on, as always. How are you?”
“Same.”
Part of me wants to tell her everything. That her phone call has me in a bad way with Tabitha, but I can fix that quickly. More something like I killed a man. I thought that was the worst of it until I almost died myself. But I met someone who makes me want to live again. But we can’t be together. At least not now. She has her life. I have mine.
“So I have to know,” she says. “Did you think finding me—hearing my voice—would fix something?”
“I didn’t say that.”
“Didn’t have to. You sound like every man who ever wanted to make sense of me. Your situation is a little unique compared to them, but I have a feeling your baseline is similar to theirs.”
I close my eyes. The air feels thick. “Why’d you leave?”
“You know the story. I screwed up. Fucked a guy who turned out to be my worst nightmare. I should have stayed with your daddy. With you. But I didn’t.”
