I looked away too fast.
He noticed immediately.
Always noticed.
“No,” I said quietly.
Something flickered across his face.
Not relief exactly.
Something deeper.
Careful hope.
“About ten years ago,” he said slowly, “I called your dad.”
Pain sliced through me instantly.
Oh no.
“Hersh…”
“I just wanted to know you were okay.”
His voice stayed calm, but I could hear it underneath.
That old hurt.
Buried deep.
Still alive.
“He told me you were married.”
My chest physically hurt.
“He said you were happy.” Hersh stared down at the coffee in his hands. “Said I needed to stay out of your life forever.”
I closed my eyes.
Even six years later, after I had not answered his letters…
he still called.
Tears burned instantly behind my eyelids.
My father.
Again.
More lies.
More damage.
More stolen years.
“I figured…” Hersh swallowed once. “I figured your husband probably wouldn’t appreciate an old boyfriend calling.”
