“What is it?” Charles asked, looking at Cael, who had his phone to his ears even though they had all heard the line beep dead.
His expression made it worse because no one could read it to tell what he felt. “Mom,” his voice came out in a gasp.
“Abigail?” Charles said, looking around.
“Your mom? What’s wrong with her?” Marie asked. She left for the airport in an hour, but Charles had insisted she stay for breakfast. She had hoped to see her daughter once again before she flew out, even if it was from a distance, but she was not sure if she would make it there.
“Mom,” Cael said again. Charles had not worried about Abigail because it was not unusual for her to not show up at the table. She usually skipped breakfast, or some mornings, she had them at another time.
“Use your words, son,” Charles said.
Cael’s changing expression was sending a signal to them at the table but none of them were able to pick it up.
“Did something happen? Why don’t you say something? Say anything?” Valerie chipped in. If not for her random words at intervals, she was so quiet that it might be easy to forget she was there at times.
“I just got a call from the police station.”
“From the station?” Marie’s voice came out louder than she thought. “What do you mean, station? Is your mom at the station? Why is she there? Was there an accident? Why won’t you say…”
“She went to turn herself in.”
“She did what?”
LATER THAT DAY
“Are you totally sure that you would not regret this decision?” Cade asked Ophelia, who had been stuck in bed all day. He knew she was trying her best to hold herself together and not burst into tears.
“Yes, I am,” she murmured, trying to make her voice sound normal. “She did not care about me for the past sixteen years, so why should I act like I care just because she showed up shamelessly one day? Why should I go to the airport to see her off? We have no business together, so…”
“You can create business together,” he said, cutting her off. He knew that she might regret the decision of not going to see her mom that morning.
She turned to him, and he held her face. “Think about it once more, and if you still think that you do not have to go, then there is nothing more I can say to convince you.”
“I do not like it when you make sense like this,” she said, closing her eyes. Since they had gotten together, he seemed to be right so many times about things like this. She sluggishly sat up in bed. “I guess I will go to the airport to say bye.”
AT THE AIRPORT
“That looks like my dad,” Ophelia said, pointing to a man who had the same back features as her dad, who was hurriedly walking into the airport. She, however, did not think that her father would be here; he had not mentioned that he was going on a trip, and maybe she was just imagining things because she expected her parents to reconcile.
She stopped in her tracks when she saw the man walk towards her mom, and then her suspicions were confirmed. She knew that she did not have enough time to wait for them to talk, so she was going to say hello to her first and then allow them to talk as much as they wanted. As she drew closer to them, she could make out what their conversation was about.
“You look good,” Carter said in the most awkward tone ever.
“And so do you; I guess money does make jerks like you still stand tall,” she replied. Anyone who listened in on the conversation could tell how angry she was at him.
“Maybe I deserve that,” Carter replied, and it made Ophelia wonder if her father was head over heels in love with her mother because that would be the only time that the situation at hand made sense. She had called him a jerk, and yet he admitted that he deserved it. She wanted to stand around and hear more, but it felt like she was intruding on their privacy.
“Did you come here with him?” Marie asked, her eyes suddenly falling on Ophelia as she snuck up behind them.
“No,” Ophelia replied, shaking her head. “I came to say goodbye and that we should keep in touch,” she added. She did not come to say that they should keep in touch; she came to ask questions even though she had been told the entire story; she could not still keep down her curiosity.
“Let us keep in touch.” Marie turned to her and stretched her hand, hoping that she would take it. Ophelia stretched the tips of her finger to her hand, and she held it.
“Sure.” Ophelia nodded and then turned to her father, who looked like he might burst open any moment from now. “Let us catch up when you finally get to wherever it is that you are going.”
“Once we grow closer a bit, I might invite you out there,” Marie said. Ophelia was sure that her mom had changed; she was not the same one she knew growing up; maybe if she had been like this from the start, then she would have still been in her life.
“I love that.” Ophelia took a step back because of the expression on her father’s face. The story she heard had painted her father in a bad light, but he was still her father; he was the one who showed up when she was younger, even though it was by his arrangement. “It seems like he has better things to say to you, so I will step back now.”
“Can I give you a hug?” Marie offered, and Ophelia nodded. Marie wrapped her hand over her body and held onto her for a minute. “I have to say this is perfect,” she said as she pulled away. “Bye,” she called as her daughter walked away.
“My flight would soon have to board,” she murmured, turning her eyes to him as he stood there like a child, ready to receive a scolding.
“Where do you stay? What do you say? I came to visit you so we could talk,” he stopped and shook his head. “Wait no. What if we catch up a little on the phone?”
Marie took a deep breath and shook her head. “I know your feelings are all over the place just because we just met again after a long while, but we both know that is not the case.”
“You do not know my feelings.”
“But I know you and I know me, and I know that if we ever reconcile, it is a terrible idea.” She took a deep breath and shook her head. “Have a good life, okay?”
She began walking before he could say anything. Carter could not believe how much she had changed and the kind of mistake he had made that he had to live with. He made a commitment in his heart immediately that he was going to keep going without giving up.
“Marie, I am coming to you.”