It was about an hour later when I pulled into the Hall’s neighborhood. The neighborhood wasn’t new, but it was full of surprisingly big houses. I wondered again how on earth a secretary and someone who was mostly unemployed could afford the huge house on an enormous lot that I studied from the stop sign at the opposite corner. I didn’t want to do anything to attract attention, so I just sat in the car and hoped that anyone who saw me would assume I was lost.
The house was a combination of wood and stone, and there was an oversized two-car garage attached. Judging by the fact that there was a Corvette and a pickup truck in the driveway, I figured that Daniel and Sable must have other children at home. As I was sitting at the stop sign, the garage door opened, and I panicked, afraid that I’d be spotted.
I managed to calm myself down. It wasn’t like the Halls were looking for me. They didn’t know me, didn’t know that I’d be there. I figured I was safe, so I stayed put a while longer. When the door was open all the way, I saw that the garage didn’t hold any cars, but instead held three motorcycles that I could see. The other half of the garage was full of tools and what looked like bike parts.
“So maybe no one but Sable and Daniel lives there after all,” I said out loud. My habit of talking to myself always got more noticeable when I was anxious.
It was a warm day, so my Jeep was open, and I heard a bike start up, loud and rumbling from the garage. I couldn’t get a very good look at the man on the bike, but as he pulled away from the house, I was certain that he was Daniel Hall. I’d just seen my father. He’d been largely concealed behind sunglasses and his helmet, but my first impression was that he looked older than my dad — probably the result of years spent in the sun and hard living.
“And he has no idea,” I said aloud, still sitting at the stop sign. “He’s just going about his business like the son he’s never met isn’t sitting across the street.”
I laughed out loud at myself, sitting in the Jeep and talking to myself. I decided to drive around the neighborhood and take another look at the front of the house before I left. I couldn’t just walk up to the front door. I wouldn’t know what to say.
Driving slowly, I made my way around to the road behind the Hall’s. It looked like there were well-tended gardens that had recently been planted, and I wondered who the gardener in the family was. Based on Daniel’s appearance, I was going to guess it was Sable. Other large houses obscured my view of much else, and I drove along a thick, tall line of trees that screened one side of the Hall’s front yard from view. I stopped at the corner, unable to see the house through the dense hedge.
I felt okay. I’d been worried that I might flip out — get upset or something — but I didn’t really feel much. I was surprised, but not displeased. I decided on one more drive-by, and I rounded the corner and came face to face with my mother — about to put some letters in the mailbox at the curb.
She stood and stared at me, not with any recognition — how could there be? But she stared as if she couldn’t figure out where I’d come from or what I was doing there.
She was beautiful. Not very tall, but clearly fit and healthy. She wore tight indigo jeans and a black leather jacket over her shirt. I couldn’t see much detail, but tattoos on both of her wrists peeked out from beneath the sleeves of her jacket. She had nearly black hair that she wore in a ponytail that made her look younger than she probably was.
I hit the brakes much harder than I’d meant to, and then I realized that the natural-looking thing to do would have been to continue driving. As soon as I came to a full stop, Sable’s expression grew a bit wary — like she suspected that I was up to something. I came to my senses and started to pull away, but as I got closer to the mailbox, she spoke.
“Can I help you with something?” she asked in a tone that indicated that she thought I was up to no good.
“”Um,” I fumbled. “No, I’m fine, thanks.”
“You looking for something?” she asked.
I’m not quite sure what happened to me. I hadn’t planned out a speech to introduce myself, and I hadn’t even known if I’d see Sable and Daniel at all. I could have just apologized for appearing creepy, and I could have driven away. But I didn’t.
“Are you Sable Hall?” I asked, even though I knew the answer.
I could see alarm — maybe even fear — flash in her eyes, and she instantly took a couple of steps back from my Jeep.
“Who are you?” she asked. “What do you want?”
I wasn’t sure how to answer.