Chapter 2

Vince's mouth opened, but nothing came out.

Danny kept the photograph raised between them.

Carol answered for him.

"Frank didn't know."

Nana Ruth lifted her head.

Carol looked straight at Danny.

"Your dad loved you."

"That's not what I asked."

"I just told you."

Vince braced one hand against an empty chair.

"We never told him."

Danny lowered the picture.

"That's different."

The refrigerator hummed through the kitchen doorway.

At the far end, a neighbor folded her napkin.

Nobody picked up a fork.

Carol reached for Danny's shoulder.

He moved away before she touched him.

"A birthmark doesn't prove something like this."

Vince looked at her.

"Carol."

Her hand stopped halfway back to her side.

"I mean we should talk privately."

"You heard what I said."

Danny turned toward him.

"Say it again."

Vince swallowed.

"I'm your biological father."

This time, Hannah pushed back her chair.

Her palm covered her mouth.

Carol looked toward the two neighbors.

"We've all had a long evening."

Neither neighbor stood.

Danny placed the photograph beside his plate.

"You let me call you Uncle."

Vince's fingers tightened against the chair.

"I know."

"You helped Dad teach me to drive."

"I know."

"And you both just stood there."

Carol pulled out her chair.

"Sit down, Danny."

He was already sitting.

She glanced at the others.

"Please give us a minute."

Hannah stayed beside her chair.

"I'm not leaving him."

"This is between your brother and me."

"Then stop looking at everybody else."

Carol's jaw tightened.

Danny rubbed the spot where she'd grabbed him.

The skin was pink beneath his watchband.

"I found a letter."

Carol stopped adjusting her napkin.

"What letter?"

"In Dad's workbench."

Nana Ruth's hands settled flat on the table.

Danny looked at her.

"It's still out there."

Carol turned toward the back door.

"I'll get it."

"No."

Danny's voice carried through the room.

Carol faced him again.

"Don't speak to me like that."

"It's got my name on it."

"This is my house."

He picked up the photograph.

For a moment, only the clock moved.

Then Carol spoke more quietly.

"If you can't treat me with respect, you can find somewhere else to stay."

Hannah stared at her.

"He's asking you about his father."

"I'm asking him to stop this."

Danny pushed his chair back.

His car keys lay beside the bread basket.

He picked them up, then put them down.

Nana Ruth stood.

"He can stay with me."

Carol's face changed.

"Mom, don't make this worse."

"Where's the box, Danny?"

"Bottom drawer."

"Anything else in it?"

"Dad's ring."

Nana Ruth nodded once.

"Stay here."

She took her coat from the hall.

Danny watched until the back door closed.

Carol sat down.

"I did what I thought was best."

"For which one of us?"

"For you."

Vince looked down at the floor.

Danny turned toward him.

"Did you want her to tell me?"

"Yes."

"When?"

Vince didn't answer quickly enough.

Danny's fingers flattened the bent photograph.

"Before tonight?"

"Yes."

"Before Dad died?"

Vince shut his eyes.

"No."

Hannah pulled her chair beside Danny's.

Their shoulders almost touched.

Carol looked at her daughter's plate.

"You don't understand what this could have done."

Danny held up the picture again.

"What year?"

Carol stared at the worn edge.

"The summer before you were born."

"Were you married to Dad?"

"Yes."

Vince lifted his head.

"It wasn't just her."

Danny set the photograph down carefully.

"I wasn't asking whose turn it was."

The back door opened.

Nana Ruth came in carrying the cigar box.

Snow melted on her coat shoulders.

She placed it directly in front of Danny.

Carol leaned forward.

Nana Ruth kept one hand on the lid.

"It belongs to the person he addressed it to."

Danny opened it.

The wedding band lay against the envelope.

He touched the handwriting with his thumb.

Frank had printed his name the same way on school forms.

Large D.

A narrow, crooked y.

Danny slid one finger beneath the sealed flap.

The paper tore louder than he expected.

Inside were two folded sheets.

He opened the first.

His eyes stopped moving.

Hannah leaned closer, waiting for permission.

Danny held the page where she could see.

Carol whispered,

"What does it say?"

Danny looked at Vince.

Then he read the first line aloud.

"I knew before we brought you home."