That hurt in an entirely different way.
Robert had allowed her to believe my absence was a choice.
I said, “I didn’t know you existed.”
She nodded slowly, then looked at him.
“Why would you do that?”
Robert sat on the edge of the bed.
“I was afraid that if I told Irene, everything would change.”
“It changed anyway.”
For a while, nobody spoke.
Then Ariella sat in the chair by the window. I sat across from her while Robert remained on the bed.
She told me about Mike.
He had been a mechanic and had raised Ariella mostly on his own.
She showed me a photograph.
The resemblance to Robert wasn’t dramatic, but it was there.
Something around the eyes.
The shape of his chin.
I understood Robert’s pain more clearly now.
He’d lost the chance to ever know his son.
I understood that.
I still didn’t forgive the lying.
When Ariella left, she hugged Robert.
Then she hesitated in front of me.
“I’m sorry.”
“Stop apologizing.”
She nodded.
Then she asked, “Could I call you sometime?”
Robert looked up.
I noticed.
So did she.
“Yes.”
After she left, Robert said, “Thank you.”
