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What if it was true? While she hiked with the dogs leading her down the rocky path into the canyon that surrounded her mountain, she thought of the ramifications. If Big Mike was her father, she wanted him to know. And that meant one of two things, living with Charlie with the threat of discovery and the criminal aftermath, or breaking up with him and ostensibly being alone for the rest of her life. She couldn’t imagine another man after Charlie.
Looking online for a DNA test, she found that the local chain drugstore had a reliable paternity test that would give the results within two business days. It would mean talking to Bob again, but chuckling to herself, she’d make the sacrifice just to find out the truth once and for all.
She sent Charlie a text. Not an emergency. I need to run an errand and head down to La Jolla in the middle of rush hour. Will explain later. The dogs are walked and napping on my bed, just an FYI. Love you so much.
No reply meant he was probably out on a run. The drugstore had the kit she was looking for, and without warning her parents, she got on the 15 and headed south.
“Someone’s at the gate,” Elizabeth announced when a distinctive buzzer rang out.
She was curled up in her chair with a book in her lap, overlooking the ocean on an overcast day. The marine layer, they called it, not fog. The mist covered the windows, and every so often it would be concentrated enough that a sheet of water would slide down the glass, clearing the view of the water.
She loved living there at the beach. It was worth the money. The years in isolation up in Elfin Forest had been torture for her. The steep, serpentine roads scared her, so she was dependent on Bob to take her shopping each week. She never went to the library or the park because Bob didn’t care for those places.
Now she walked everywhere. Sometimes Mr. Grumpy came along, but most of the time she went alone.
At the door, Bob looked at the monitor. “It’s Lila,” he said, pressing the release button that would allow her into the courtyard. “I didn’t think she’d move so fast.”
“You have a lot of nerve.”
“It needed to be done, Liz. She was ready to commit a felony. She said they didn’t have sex yet.”
“I find that difficult to believe; the man is living in our house.”
“Evidently, he’s been too sick.”
The doorbell rang and they stopped talking.
“Here I am, paternity kits in hand,” Lila announced, walking through the door.
“What are you trying to prove?” Elizabeth asked.
“Get real, Mother. You have a lot of nerve even talking to me.” She grabbed Bob’s sweater and pulled him next to her. “Look at us.” With his chin in her hand, she forced their faces together. It was the first time in decades that they’d touched, and Bob chuckled. “Look. I’m this man’s daughter whether he likes it or not.”
“Lila—” he started.
“No, Dad. You don’t love me. Don’t start pretending now. We’ll do cheek swabs, and in two business days we’ll know for sure. Then I don’t know what we’re going to do, but we’re either going to try to work this out, or I’m divorcing you as my parents. I can’t believe how long you let this toxicity go on, but I’m ending it today.”
“I don’t have any say in this, do I,” Elizabeth said, her mouth twisted in a look of disgust.
Bob and Lila looked at her, shocked.
“You’ll be disappointed if she’s not Mike’s, won’t you, Liz? God, I’m such an idiot! You want her to be Mike’s! Ha! Lila, get the swab out. I’m ready for anything. And I’m sorry you don’t think I love you, because I do. I’m not warm and fuzzy, but I’m loyal.”
“Open up, Dad,” she said, holding the swab out. “This is kind of gross.”
He laughed and grabbed it from her. “I’ll do my own.”
So they swabbed with Elizabeth looking on, the expression on her face indecipherable. But later, Lila figured it out. All these years her mother had carried a torch for Big Mike Saint. And now if he wasn’t Lila’s father, she’d lose the feeble grasp she had over him. And the jealousy for her daughter being with Charlie wouldn’t rear its ugly head right away. But it would be there.
“I’ll call you as soon as they post the results online,” Lila said, sealing up the envelope. “I know what the answer is, however. And I think you both know, too.”
She waved and left the apartment with them looking at her, knowing that whatever news the test had would alter the course of their lives.
Charlie arrived home after dark that evening, carrying a giant bouquet of grocery-store flowers and a bag from their favorite take-out place: spaghetti and meatballs for him, a Greek salad for her. Solar lights lining the driveway were ablaze, one of the benefits of coming home after dark. The yard was beautiful, and he saw the effort she’d made to make it nice. Lila worked hard at getting her environment just right, manipulating the things that were within her control. The result revealed a lovely, serene place to come home to every night. The question of where he would end up permanently seemed to have just been answered. As soon as Lila agreed, he’d sell the house in Rancho Santa Fe and move in with her permanently.
He could hear the dogs barking at his arrival, and that made him smile. Everything was falling into place for him after a long uphill battle. “I’m home!”
“Yes, you are,” she said, walking into the hallway from the back of the house. “You brought food. Thank you so much.”
