The Phone Call
Chapter 06 - The Phone Call
Thomas answered.
His mother's voice was calm.
“Send the boy away.”
Thomas felt something inside him go cold.
“You knew.”
Silence.
That silence was enough.
“You knew Lily was pregnant.”
Margaret exhaled.
“Thomas, you need to understand the circumstances.”
“No.”
“Your father had just been appointed executive director. There were expectations.”
“I asked if you knew.”
Margaret finally answered.
“Yes.”
Thomas gripped the phone.
For twenty years, he had blamed himself for not being worth staying for.
Lily had spent twenty years believing he had chosen his family name over her.
All because his mother had decided their lives for them.
“Did you forge the letter?”
“I prevented a mistake.”
Thomas nearly dropped the phone.
“A mistake?”
“You were going to throw away your future.”
“My son is sitting inside this airport!”
Several travelers turned.
Thomas lowered his voice.
Margaret replied without emotion.
“You don't know that he's yours.”
Thomas looked toward Ethan.
The boy was helping Marisol gather Lily's letters.
“You knew there was a baby.”
“I knew she claimed there was.”
Thomas closed his eyes.
“What did you do?”
Margaret hesitated.
Thomas felt sick.
“What did you do, Mother?”
“I gave Lily money.”
Thomas opened his eyes.
“How much?”
“Enough to leave.”
Thomas could barely speak.
“You paid her?”
“I gave her a choice.”
“No. You gave a frightened pregnant woman a threat dressed as a choice.”
Margaret's voice sharpened.
“She accepted.”
Thomas looked toward Ethan again.
Maybe that was why Lily never returned.
Maybe there was still more to the story.
“I want the truth.”
“You have a daughter, Thomas. Think about Rachel.”
“I am.”
His voice broke.
“I'm thinking about both of my children.”
Then Margaret said the one thing Thomas was not prepared to hear.
“If that boy opens Lily's blue notebook, he'll learn something that will make him hate you forever.”
The call ended.
Thomas stood motionless.
A blue notebook.
He turned toward Ethan's battered duffel.
May you like
And realized the bag was slightly open.
Inside, beneath Lily's letters, was a faded blue journal.
