“Richard?”
Dad folded his arms.
“This is insane.”
Daniel kept watching him.
“You remember me.”
“No.”
“Yes, you do.”
“I have never met you.”
Daniel laughed once.
There was no humor in it.
“You met me outside the apartment on Walnut Street.”
Mom stared at Dad.
“What is he talking about?”
“I don’t know.”
Daniel took one step closer.
“You told me Laura had married you.”
Dad said nothing.
“You told me she had miscarried.”
The air left the room.
Mom grabbed the side of my bed.
“What?”
Daniel’s voice became quieter.
“You told me the baby died.”
My chest tightened.
Dad’s face changed.
Only slightly.
But I saw it.
Daniel saw it too.
Mom stared at Dad.
“Richard.”
He shook his head.
“Don’t listen to him.”
Daniel reached inside his shirt.
He pulled out a thin chain.
A small gold ring hung from it.
Mom covered her mouth.
Daniel held it up.
“You gave me this at the courthouse.”
Mom began crying.
Dad moved toward her.
She backed away.
“Don’t touch me.”
“Laura.”
“Did you know he survived?”
“No.”
“Did you meet him?”
“No.”
“Did you tell him I lost the baby?”
“No.”
Daniel looked at me again.
The room suddenly felt much smaller.
I understood before anyone said it.
“No,” I whispered.
Mom turned toward me.
Her expression broke.
I stared at her.
“Mom.”
She came toward the bed.
“Claire.”
“No.”
“Sweetheart.”
“Who is he?”
She started crying harder.
I pointed toward Daniel.
“Who is he to me?”
Dad answered.
“He is nobody.”
Daniel flinched.
Mom looked at Dad.
Then she looked at me.
“I was pregnant when Daniel disappeared.”
My hands went cold again.
I looked at Daniel.
He was staring at me like he had forgotten how to breathe.
“How pregnant?”
Mom wiped her face.
“Seven weeks.”
Daniel sat down slowly.
“You were pregnant?”
Mom nodded.
“I was going to tell you that weekend.”
Daniel covered his mouth.
For the first time, the sixty-year-old man who had carried me through the snow looked completely helpless.
“You never told me.”
“I thought you were dead.”
Daniel looked at me.
“How old are you?”
“Fourteen.”
“When is your birthday?”
“September twelfth.”
His eyes closed.
Mom began sobbing.
Dad walked toward the door.
Officer Harper stopped him.
“Sir, we still need to speak with you about why your minor daughter was outside.”
“I need air.”
“You can have air after we finish.”
Dad looked furious.
But something else was underneath the anger.
Fear.
I saw it clearly.
Mom sat beside me.
I moved away from her.
She froze.
“Claire.”
“You knew?”
“I knew Daniel might be your biological father.”
“Might be?”
“I didn’t know for certain.”
“Does Dad know?”
Silence.
That answered me.
I looked at Richard.
He had raised me.
He had taught me to ride a bicycle.
He had attended parent conferences.
He had signed birthday cards with Love, Dad.
And four hours earlier, he had sent me into a winter storm because Ethan accused me of stealing money.
“You knew?” I asked.
Dad rubbed his forehead.
“This is not the time.”
“You knew?”
“Yes.”
The answer destroyed something inside me.
Daniel stood again.
“You knew she existed.”
Dad glared at him.
“She is my daughter.”
“You told me she died.”
“You vanished.”
“I was in a hospital.”
“You disappeared for six months.”
“I had a fractured skull.”
Dad laughed bitterly.
“And somehow that became my responsibility?”
“You lied to me.”
“I protected my family.”
Daniel’s face hardened.
“You stole mine.”
Officer Harper raised her hand.
“That conversation ends right now.”
She turned toward my parents.
“We need to discuss Claire.”
Dad looked impatient.
“She can come home.”
“No,” I said.
Everyone turned toward me.
It was the first time I had ever told my father no.
Dad stared.
“What did you say?”
“I’m not going home.”
“Claire, stop being dramatic.”
Officer Harper’s expression became cold.
“She was found showing signs of hypothermia beside an abandoned gas station.”
Dad looked at her.
“I was teaching her a lesson.”
The nurse stopped writing.
Officer Harper stared at him.
“A lesson?”
“She stole from me.”
“There has been no determination that she stole anything.”
“My son saw her.”
“Your seventeen-year-old son made an accusation.”
“He wouldn’t lie.”
I laughed.
I could not help it.
Dad looked at me.
“What’s funny?”
“You really believe that.”
“Because it’s true.”
Officer Harper closed her notebook.
“Where is Ethan now?”
Dad hesitated.
“At home.”
“Alone?”
“He’s seventeen.”
“I’d like to speak with him.”
Dad’s confidence changed.
Just a little.
That was the second time I saw fear on his face that night.
