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“Yeah?”
“Did Mom know about your…past? When you got married.”
He inhales swiftly, and for a moment, I’m not sure he’s going to answer.
Until, “She did, actually.”
My heart drops. Fuck. I should have told Ashley.
“How did you tell her?”
“You and I are two different people,” he says. “Don’t think it won’t work if she doesn’t know.”
“I don’t want her to know,” I say adamantly. “At the same time, I feel she has to know.”
Dad chuckles. “I understand exactly.”
“How did you tell Mom?”
“It wasn’t pretty.”
“Okay.” I’m determined to find out. “What did you tell Mom?”
He sighs. “You’re asking what I went through. Do you really want to go there?”
I look inside myself. Do I? “I never told you what I went through.”
“You didn’t. And I never asked.”
“Because you already knew.”
“I had a pretty good idea,” he says. “There’s one thing you suffered through that I didn’t, though. My little brother got away.”
“What?”
He nods. “Ryan was with me the day I got taken. He got away. For many years, I thought I saved him. That he got away because of me. I kicked the guy holding him. He let Ryan go, and I told him to run.”
“I didn’t have that chance. I’d have done anything to save Donny.”
“I know you would have. I would have done anything to save Ryan.”
“You did.”
He pauses a moment, stroking his chin. “Actually, I didn’t.”
“But you just said—”
He gestures me to stop talking. “After we adopted you and Donny, your mother and I sat down with the rest of the family. Your mother was pregnant with Diana, Aunt Mel had just given birth to Brad, and Aunt Ruby announced she was expecting. We wanted a better life for our children. We didn’t want any of you to suffer because of our past.”
“You couldn’t help your past.”
He pauses again, seeming to think. Is he regretting taking a step down this path? I don’t know.
“No, we couldn’t, but we could make sure yours was easier.”
“Mine? Did I hear you right?”
“I mean the plural you, Dale. All I could do for you and Donny was to give you love, a home, and the help I didn’t get until much later.”
I nod. “You told me. Your father didn’t get you the help you needed.”
“No, he did not.”
“Why?”
“It’s a long story, one your mother and I hoped to shield you from, but I see maybe it’s time you knew. But first…about your brother.”
“What about him?”
“Not about your brother so much as mine. I thought I’d saved him from my fate. Turned out, I had nothing to do with it.”
“How would you know that?”
“I’m going to ask that you keep what I’m about to tell you between you and me. You can tell Ashley if you want to, only because I don’t condone secrets between married people. But if you do so, she must keep it confidential between the two of you.”
“Wait, wait, wait… You don’t condone secrets between married people. So you think I should tell Ashley…”
“I do, but in your own time. That’s not what this is about.”
I swallow. “You’re freaking me out a little, Dad.”
“I’m sure I am. Here goes.” He inhales. “We didn’t find out until we were adults that Ryan is only my half brother.”
A brick hits me with a dull thud. Finally, I speak. “Uh…what?”
“He’s a Steel, but my mother wasn’t his mother. Your grandfather had an affair. Well, according to him it wasn’t an affair so much as one time with an old flame.”
“Why would he do that?”
Dad scoffs. “I gave up trying to figure my father out long ago. He always claimed everything he did was for my mother and the four of us kids.”
I can’t wrap my mind around what he’s telling me. Uncle Ry? Only my half uncle? Of course, not really my uncle at all, if you want to get technical. No real Steel blood flows through my veins.
“Let me make this long story short for now, since we’re in the middle of your wedding party. All that time, I thought I’d saved Ryan from being abducted and abused, but in reality, he was never in any danger. His birth mother arranged my abduction, and Ryan, who was her son, was never supposed to be harmed. He didn’t get away because I saved him. He got away because of who he was.”
“So this woman…” My brain hurts from trying to put all this together.
“The woman was insane,” Dad says. “Certifiably insane and obsessed with my father. Apparently an evil genius, as well.”
“Evil genius?”
“A very high IQ, and definitely evil.”
Dad’s words race around in circles in my head. What is he talking about? I open my mouth to speak, but I have no idea what to say.
“It’s all related,” he says. “I don’t have time to get into the specifics, but I suppose it’s time you knew ev—”
