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Children played around us, chasing each other and laughing.
The peacefulness of the garden made me feel relaxed, but Rory seemed to be deep in thought.
I wanted her to talk to me. But I knew she would when she felt ready.
As we sat there, the sky began to change color. The sun began to set, casting a warm, orange glow over the garden. The ducks seemed to swim more slowly, and the children's laughter became quieter.
Rory finally spoke. “We have an unspoken law when it comes to relationships. We protect and shield the ones we love, and in doing that, we weaken them.”
“Why do you say that?”
“Remember when I said I hadn’t seen my dad since I was a baby?”
I didn’t respond. I knew she would take my silence as an affirmative.
“That wasn’t entirely true. A year back, I asked Chelsea to do some hunting. She’s good at that.”
“Who’s Chelsea?”
“My best friend. You’ll meet her someday. She’ll probably scare the shit outta you, but it’s worth it.”
Sounded promising. “I wouldn’t mind.”
I actually smiled. Rory talking about introducing me to her best friend felt like a promise. Something of continuity.
“What did you do?” I asked. Knowing Rory, it would be totally eccentric and completely right under the circumstances.
“I asked her to find out about him. I already knew he was living in NYC—I’d found that out before moving here. But it was hard to track him down without some help.”
The sun was slowly disappearing behind the trees, leaving the garden in a peaceful, dusky light.
“Chelsea helped me find out where he lived. A cute little domestic district. Had a family. Two kids, big van, cushy job.”
“Rory—”
She shook her head. She wanted to finish speaking. I nodded and reached out, taking her hand in mine.
“So, I could have left him alone. He was very settled in his life, after all. But you know what love feels like sometimes, don’t you? It makes you do the stupidest things, and that’s okay because there’s closure in each one of those stupid things.”
I’d committed my fair share of stupidity when it came to acting out of love, and that was an understatement.
“I waited for him outside his home one day. And when he was returning from his office, I confronted him. I had no idea what I was doing or saying. Honestly, the only thing I said was, ‘Dad? It’s me.’”
My heart just broke in that one second. I wanted to pull her in my arms and hug her and tell her she was the bravest girl. But I waited.
“He freaked out. Like, he was this unassuming little man with a bald patch on his head and big, rimmed glasses that made him look like a toad. He immediately took me to the family van and brought me to a garden just a road away from his home.”
I sighed, understanding why she’d brought me here. “This place?”
She nodded. “You can actually see his apartment from here. It’s the little pink and purple one.”
“Let me know if you need me to pulverize it.”
She chuckled. “Nah, why hurt the kids because of the stupid things adults do? Kids deserve the world.”
Rory paused for a second, looking around her as she searched for the right words.
“We didn’t really have a conversation. All he told me was that back then, he was too young and he didn’t feel ready for a family.”
