“And now?”
“Now, I’m just…loved. I don’t want anything else but to be the girl sitting on the beach with the pilot who loves me. Everything I ever needed, I actually had that day. I just didn’t know it yet. And my future children will not only have me but are so lucky that they will have you as a father.”
“You want to have a baby with me, Perky?”
“Someday, yes. But I want to enjoy being with you for a while first.”
He looked at me for a good length of time before he said, “I kept it.”
I tilted my head. “Kept what?”
“The little suit you bought from Carter’s that looked like a pilot’s uniform.”
“How did you know about that?”
“It was hanging in your closet in Texas. When I saw it, that was how I knew.”
“Then, you knew I was going to tell you I wanted to have your baby, that I lied at the airport lounge when I said I’d made my decision to go through with the insemination.”
“That little suit was what I’d held onto for hope all of this time.”
“I was sure when I spotted it at the store with your name that it was a sign.”
“It was. We just had a few detours in the meantime.”
“There are signs everywhere, aren’t there?”
The sound of a small plane could be heard overhead.
Carter pointed up to it. “There’s one right now.”
We both looked up at the sky in unison. A banner with a message was trailing the small aircraft.
Carter huffed, “Fuck! Assholes ruined it. The banner was supposed to say, The Answer is in the Sky: Kendall loves Carter. I knew that guy didn’t understand me!”
Instead it read: The Answer is in Disguise: Ken Doll Loves Farting.
CARTER AND I WERE BACK at Silver Shores following Gordon’s memorial service. It was a rainy day, fitting for the task at hand. We were cleaning out his apartment, choosing which items to donate and which Carter would keep.
“There’s no way I’m throwing out these pictures of him and his son. I’ll keep them with me for as long as I live. It’s the least I could do for him.”
Gordon had no family that we knew of, so if Carter hadn’t kept this stuff, all of the keepsakes would have likely been destroyed.
As I was cleaning out the bedroom closet, I laughed when I spotted the pair of pants that Carter had borrowed the night of our missing clothing mishap by the lake.
“Remember these, Captain?”
“How could I forget? That reminds me, did you happen to notice that old man George showed up at the funeral in one of my uniforms? I just can’t figure out how he gets into my place and steals my shit. Turns out, he’s been swindling all these ladies, telling them he used to be an airline pilot. He gets them tailored to fit and everything. He’s lucky I don’t blow his cover.”
“Let him have his fun. He’s an innocent old hornball.”
Just then a knock on the door interrupted our laughter.
When I opened it, a man in a gray suit was standing there, holding a folder.
“Can I help you?”
“Yes, I’m looking for Carter Clynes.”
Carter put down the box he’d been sifting through. “That’s me. How can I help you?”
“Gary Steinberg. I’m Gordon Reitman’s attorney.”
“Attorney? He had an attorney? He didn’t even have a cell phone.”
“Yes. I’ve been with Gordy for years.”
“How can I help you?”
“He instructed me to give you this note upon his passing. Perhaps, you should read it first, and then we can go over his will.”
“Will?”
“Yes. Mr. Reitman had a significant amount of money. He left you as the sole beneficiary.”
“No, you don’t understand. He had lost his mind some years back. He thought I was his son. He meant to leave everything to Brucey. I can’t in good faith take anything from him, knowing he intended for it to go to his son.”
“You are Carter Clynes?”
“Yes.”
“He specifically named you, not Bruce Reitman.”
“I don’t understand.”
“Maybe the letter will explain.”
The lawyer gave him the small white envelope. Carter opened it and carefully unfolded the paper inside. After he read it, he looked stunned. Then, he handed it to me.
I know.
Thank you for letting me pretend it was true.
I could never repay you, but I’m going to try.
Sincerely,
Gordon C. Reitman, III
Wow.
Just wow.
Carter shook his head in disbelief. “I don’t get it. All this time he knew I wasn’t his son?”
The attorney nodded. “Apparently so.”