Prodigal Son(18)

“Always. Not because I was unhappy, but I wondered what my birth parents were like.” I thought for a moment. “Can you tell me more about yourself and Daniel?”

“Well, we got married after your father … Daniel … got out of the service. My parents weren’t very happy, but they came around. We’ve been pretty happy, I guess.”

“Do you have any other children?”

“No. I wanted to, but it never happened. I asked Daniel to go see a doctor, but he refused, so there wasn’t much I could do. I knew that I was healthy and that there didn’t seem to be a problem on my end. I guess it just wasn’t meant to be.”

“Did the two of you ever think about trying to find me?” I asked.

Sable hesitated, as if there was something she didn’t want to say out loud. “Um,” she hesitated. “I never told your father about you. He still doesn’t know that I was pregnant and that he has a son out there somewhere.” She looked embarrassed.

I didn’t know what to say. I’d been apprehensive about meeting my birth parents, but part of me had been really excited. To discover that my father had no idea I even existed was a bit of a shock.

“I don’t know if I was afraid that he’d be mad at me for having gotten pregnant in the first place, or if he’d be mad that I had given you up, but I just never got up the courage to tell him.”

“Well, are you … are you going to tell him now?”

“Yes,” Sable answered decisively. “He’s going through a really hard time right now, and I’m not sure how he will take it, but I’m going to tell him. He has a right to meet his son, even if he doesn’t know that you exist.”

“I guess you want to tell him on your own?” I asked.

“I need to think it through. I’m afraid the old man will have a heart attack if I just spring you on him. I guess I should try to break it to him gently.”

“What’s he like?” I asked, curious about the man I hoped to meet.

“Well, he ain’t exactly complicated,” Sable laughed. “He’s in a motorcycle club. Actually, he founded the MC with his brother, your uncle.”

“An uncle?”

I must have looked excited, because Sable put her hand on my arm as if she was trying to calm me down.

“He passed away a long time ago. They were best friends, and it broke your father’s heart when his brother died.”

“I wish I could have met him.”

“So your father loves his bikes, his booze, and the Savage Sons — that’s the name of the MC — more than anything, including me, some days,” Sable said with a laugh.

I realized that I didn’t want to cause problems in Sable’s life, even if it meant that I wouldn’t get to meet my biological father face-to-face. “I’m going to leave this up to you, Sable. I don’t want to come between you and Daniel, so I’m going to let you decide how to handle this. If you want to tell him about me, and if he wants to meet me, then I’ll be there in a heartbeat. But if you want to keep your secret, I’ll understand. You gave me to wonderful parents, and I’ll respect your privacy.”

Sable looked at me and nodded. “I’m gonna tell him. He may be mad at me, but he has a right to know. For that matter, he probably had a right to know thirty years ago.”

I smiled at her. “Thirty-one, actually.”

“You don’t look thirty-one. You have the baby face your dad used to have before he spent so many late nights in the bar.”

I stood up. “You have my card. I’ll let you figure things out, and I’ll wait for your call. If you change your mind, I’ll understand, and I won’t bother you again.”

“Bother me?” Sable asked. “Oh, Luke, you have no idea how happy you’ve made me. To know that my son lived with good people, got an education, has a good job … you’ve made me believe that I did the right thing. I may have suffered, wondering all these years, but you haven’t, and I’m so thankful for that.” Sable started crying, reaching for a tissue. “Luke, I’m sorry I left you, and I hope that you’ll be able to forgive me someday.”

“Sable, there’s nothing to forgive.” I put my hand over hers. “I’ll be in town for at least another week. I hope to hear from you.”

I wondered for a second if I should hug her, but I felt a little awkward, and I needed some fresh air. Even in the big house, I felt like I couldn’t breathe. I walked out the front door, closed it quietly behind me, and headed for my Jeep. I felt like I was moving on autopilot as I climbed in, started my car, and backed down the driveway.