Chapter 6: The Phone Call From the Past
The phone rang at 6:43 Friday morning.
I was in the kitchen, making coffee, when Travis appeared in the doorway wearing yesterday's T-shirt.
He looked exhausted.
Neither of us had slept well.
I'd heard him moving around the bedroom long after midnight, and once, when I'd woken briefly, he'd been sitting on the edge of the bed with his head in his hands.
Now he stared at the phone vibrating on the counter.
An unfamiliar number appeared on the screen.
He almost let it go to voicemail.
Then something made him pick it up.
"Hello?""
He listened.
His expression changed so quickly that I set down the coffee pot.
"Who is this?""
A pause.
Then his shoulders stiffened.
"Richard?""
I froze.
Travis looked at me, his eyes wide.
The caller spoke again.
My husband pulled out a chair and sat down.
"I haven't heard from you in years.""
He listened.
"No, I know.""
Another pause.
"How did you get this number?""
I could hear the faint murmur of a man's voice through the phone, but not the words.
Travis pressed his fingers against his forehead.
"Wait. Slow down.""
He looked toward the window.
"You're in Larkin County?""
I felt a strange tightening in my chest.
Richard.
The man Travis had told me about the night before.
The man who had helped raise him after his parents divorced.
The man he'd avoided contacting because he believed doing so would betray his biological father.
Travis listened for another minute.
Then he asked, "Why are you calling now?""
The question came out harsher than he seemed to intend.
He closed his eyes.
"I'm sorry. I didn't mean it like that.""
Another pause.
His expression softened.
"You're sick?""
I stepped closer.
Travis lifted one hand, asking me silently to wait.
He listened without speaking.
Then he said, "I'm sorry, Richard.""
His voice cracked.
"I'm so sorry.""
He lowered his head.
For several seconds, he couldn't say anything else.
Finally, he asked, "Can we meet?""
He listened.
"Today?""
A pause.
"Yes. I can do that.""
He ended the call and remained seated, staring at the phone.
I waited.
"Was that Richard?""
He nodded.
"What did he want?""
Travis rubbed his face.
"He's been living outside Larkin County for years. He moved back recently to be closer to his sister.""
"And?""
He swallowed.
"He saw something about Kaylee's senior night.""
I frowned.
"What?""
"One of the parents posted a photograph online. Richard knows someone who was at the ceremony. They told him what happened.""
I sat across from him.
"And he called you because of that?""
Travis shook his head.
"Not exactly.""
He looked down at his hands.
"He's been trying to find me for a long time. He said he finally got my number through an old family friend.""
I watched him carefully.
"What else did he say?""
Travis took a slow breath.
"He said he saw the photograph of Duane walking with Kaylee. He said it reminded him of when he used to take me fishing.""
His eyes filled.
"He said he was proud of the man I became, even though I never gave him a chance to know me as an adult.""
I felt tears rise unexpectedly.
"What did you tell him?""
"That I didn't deserve to hear that.""
Travis gave a small, bitter laugh.
"He told me I didn't get to decide what he was allowed to feel.""
For a moment, I could almost hear my father's voice in the same words.
Travis leaned back.
"He wants to meet for coffee this afternoon.""
"Will you go?""
He nodded.
"I think I have to.""
I reached across the table and took his hand.
He squeezed my fingers.
Then he looked toward the staircase.
"Do you think Kaylee will ever forgive me?""
I considered the question.
"I think she loves you.""
"That's not what I asked.""
"No," I said gently.
"It isn't.""
He looked at me.
"She may forgive you. But you can't make that the reason you change.""
He nodded slowly.
"I know.""
"Do you?""
This time, he didn't look away.
"Yes.""
He squeezed my hand again, then stood to get ready for work.
Before leaving, he stopped at the foot of the staircase.
Kaylee was coming down, her hair tied back and her school bag over one shoulder.
She paused when she saw him.
"Morning," she said.
"Morning, sweetheart.""
He hesitated.
"Can I talk to you before you leave?""
She glanced at the clock.
"I have about five minutes.""
He nodded.
"That's enough.""
They sat at the kitchen table.
I moved toward the sink, giving them space without leaving the room entirely.
Travis took a breath.
"I wanted to tell you something about last night.""
Kaylee folded her hands.
"Okay.""
"When I was growing up, my parents divorced. My mother had a partner who helped raise me. His name was Richard.""
Kaylee listened quietly.
"He treated me like his own son. He took me fishing. He helped me fix my first car. He showed up for things my biological father missed.""
Travis swallowed.
"But my father hated him. He always said Richard wasn't my real dad and that I shouldn't let another man take his place.""
Kaylee looked at him.
"So you thought walking with me would mean you were taking my dad's place?""
"Yes.""
She shook her head.
"That's not what I asked you to do.""
"I know.""
"Then why didn't you ask me what I meant?""
Travis's eyes filled.
"Because I was so busy worrying about what my father would have thought that I forgot to listen to you.""
Kaylee stared at him for a long moment.
Then she asked, "Did you love Richard?""
He looked surprised by the question.
"Yes.""
"Did he love you?""
Travis's voice broke.
"Yes.""
"Then why did you stop talking to him?""
He lowered his head.
"Because I was afraid of disappointing my father.""
Kaylee leaned back in her chair.
For several seconds, she said nothing.
Then she whispered, "You know that's what you did to me, right?""
Travis looked up.
"You made me feel like loving you was somehow wrong because you weren't my real dad.""
He shook his head immediately.
"No. Kaylee, no. That's not what I wanted.""
"But that's how it felt.""
"I know.""
"No, you know now. You didn't know when I was sitting at dinner asking you to walk with me.""
He nodded, tears running down his cheeks.
"You're right.""
She glanced at the clock again.
"I have to go.""
Travis looked as though he wanted to say a hundred things.
Instead, he stood.
"Can I drive you?""
She hesitated.
"Mom's taking me.""
He nodded.
"Okay.""
Kaylee picked up her bag.
At the doorway, she turned back.
"Travis?""
He looked at her.
"I hope you go see Richard.""
His face crumpled.
"Thank you.""
She shook her head.
"Don't thank me. Just go.""
Then she left.
I watched Travis stand motionless beside the table.
He had wanted to protect a relationship that no longer existed by sacrificing one that did.
Now, for the first time, he seemed to understand that love wasn't a position that could be stolen.
It was something you gave.
Something you accepted.
Something you chose, again and again.
That afternoon, Travis met Richard at a small café outside town.
He returned home just before six.
I was folding laundry in the living room when he came through the door.
He looked different.
Not happier, exactly.
But lighter in a way I hadn't seen for years.
He sat beside me and told me everything.
Richard had grown older.
His hair had thinned, and he walked with a slight limp from an old injury.
But his smile was the same.
They'd sat across from each other for nearly two hours, talking about the years they'd lost.
Richard hadn't accused Travis of abandoning him.
He hadn't demanded an explanation.
He'd simply asked about his life.
His work.
His marriage.
His children.
When Travis told him about Kaylee, Richard had smiled.
"Sounds like she has a good head on her shoulders.""
Travis had nodded.
"She does.""
Then Richard had asked him a question.
"Did you tell her you weren't her father?""
Travis had gone still.
He explained what happened at dinner.
He told Richard about the ceremony and the way Kaylee had looked at him when he refused.
Richard had listened without interrupting.
Then he said, "Travis, when I helped raise you, I never thought I was replacing your father. I thought I was loving a child who needed somebody.""
Travis had stared at his coffee.
Richard continued.
"You were never mine by blood. But I loved you anyway. That was never a competition.""
My husband had begun to cry.
Richard reached across the table and patted his hand.
"You can't go back and change what happened with that girl. But you can decide what kind of man you're going to be tomorrow.""
When Travis finished telling me the story, he sat quietly for a long time.
Then he reached into his pocket and pulled out a folded piece of paper.
"Richard gave me his number," he said.
I smiled.
"That's good.""
He unfolded the paper, studying the handwriting.
Then his expression changed.
"What is it?"" I asked.
He turned the paper over.
On the back, Richard had written a sentence that Travis had apparently read several times on the drive home.
I leaned closer.
The words were simple.
The children we love don't need us to be perfect. They need us to keep showing up.
Travis pressed the paper between his hands.
"I should have understood that years ago.""
I rested my head against his shoulder.
"You're understanding it now.""
He nodded.
Then he looked toward the staircase.
"Tomorrow, I'm going to ask Kaylee if she'd like to go somewhere with me.""
"Where?""
"I don't know yet.""
He gave a small, nervous smile.
"Somewhere she chooses.""
For the first time in days, I saw a trace of the man I'd married.
But before he could make that invitation, Kaylee would receive a message that threatened to reopen an old wound.
May you like
And when she showed us the name on her phone, Travis would have to face a question he had never imagined answering.
What did it mean to be a father when the man who had abandoned your daughter suddenly wanted to come back?
