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“He said he’d meet us downstairs,” Bethany said, her eyes scanning the stairs.
Aria wondered what this was like, seeing someone you’d loved for the first time in twenty-five years. She imagined it was terrifying, filled with questions and fears. Bethany tapped her hair gently, as though any last touch-ups could fix what the humidity had done to it.
“You look beautiful, Mom,” Aria told her, because she did. There was a light in Bethany’s eyes that Aria had never seen before. There was an expectation for a better life.
Suddenly, Professor Judah Heskew appeared on the steps. His hair was wild and curly, and his glasses were thick, and as he smiled down upon them— a woman he’d loved and the daughter they’d made together— his eyes filled with tears.
Aria had never seen Professor Heskew cry before. Always, she’d seen him as a powerful and intellectual man who wasn’t prone to emotions.
But now, he wasn’t Professor Heskew anymore. He was her father.
Judah reached the bottom of the stairs and stood in front of Bethany and Aria for a couple of wordless seconds before opening his arms. Bethany hurried into them, letting out a single sob. Aria felt her stomach flip over at the sight of them.This couldn’t be happening. Could it?
When their hug broke, both Judah and Bethany’s cheeks glinted with tears. After a very long and ponderous silence, Judah said, “Why don’t we get something to eat?”
Aria couldn’t imagine eating at a time like this, but it seemed like the only thing to do.
Together, the three of them stepped into the thick heat of the early evening, then headed toward their hotel, which was located on the other side of Forsyth House, near the Mercer-Williams House Museum. There, Aria stood at the counter with her mother as Bethany checked them in, collected their room keys, then led them to the hotel restaurant, which was said to have a wonderful chef. It was only five-thirty, but Aria and Bethany had been too nervous to eat lunch. Judah confessed that he, too, hadn’t eaten all day. He was starving.
Judah suggested they order an appetizer and a round of drinks, which Bethany jumped at the chance for. Aria knew she wanted to calm her nerves. Together, they ordered a bottle of wine from a region Judah recommended, as Bethany made the first mention of their past.
“I remember you went to Italy that year after we graduated. I was so jealous.”
Judah’s eyes glinted with the memory. “I invited you to come to visit me.”
“I didn’t have the money for that,” Bethany reminded him, not unkindly. “But it would have been a dream. I imagine you found someone else to make your time worthwhile. An Italian woman, maybe.”
“I was too broken-hearted about losing you to even glance at another woman,” Judah said softly.
Aria had the sudden sensation that she wasn’t there at all, that she was watching the dinner unfold from the ceiling above.
When the waiter arrived, he poured them each a glass of wine, and Judah raised his as he said, “I don’t know why it took us this long.” Aria and Bethany locked eyes before they drank. The air was taut with tension.
“Excuse me,” Bethany said suddenly, rising to her feet. “I’ll be right back.” She fled down the hallway and disappeared into a bathroom. Aria watched her go, then turned her head to find Judah in front of her, giving her that same mysterious smile that she knew so well from her years at the university.
Suddenly, with just the two of them there, Aria was no longer frightened.
“Why didn’t you ever tell me?” she blurted.
Judah’s laughter was big and brassy. “I don’t know. I suppose I didn’t want to hurt Bethany. From what you told me, it sounded like she was happy in her life. That she’d become this Texas socialite, the perfect wife of a very rich man. You couldn’t have been more incorrect.”
Aria nodded. “I admit I was wrong about my mother. I’ve been wrong about so many things.”
“Welcome to adulthood,” Judah said.
Aria held the silence for a moment, rolling a sip of wine around her tongue. “What did you think when you first saw me?”
Judah’s face looked pained. “I wasn’t sure at first if it really was you.”
“But you knew that my mother had your child?”
“Of course,” Judah said. “She let me know about you when you were born. And she also made it clear she wasn’t leaving Kenny. By then, I’d met my wife, and I just assumed…” He shook his head, at a loss. “I don’t know. That she was right, I suppose. But I couldn’t imagine why she would allow you to come to the Savannah College of Art and Design, not when she knew I was a professor here.”
“It wasn’t her idea,” Aria said. “And I didn’t want her to have anything to do with it.”
“She told me,” Judah said.
Aria’s heart ballooned. She sipped her wine again, her thoughts swirling. “What about your wife?” she rasped.
