“It’s so good to see you, Dad.”
“Where did Renata say she was going?”
“She didn’t, but she said she was coming back in an hour. But I’m here now. What do you need?”
“She was going to take me for a walk.”
“I can take you.”
“No. I prefer she take me.”
“What can I do for you while I’m here?”
“Nothing. I’m fine.”
I sat down in the seat next to him. “Dad, I’m sorry I haven’t been here in so long. I plan to stay for at least a month, to help you get some things in order and make sure you’re okay.”
“Are you meeting with Clyde?”
“No, Dad. Clyde is, um...not here.”
Your former business partner, Clyde Evans, has been dead for three years.
“What do you need from me?” he asked.
“Nothing. I’m just here to be with you, alright?”
He finally looked at me and cracked a slight smile. “Alright, son.”
The difference in his demeanor was shocking. He seemed almost child-like.
After I’d sat with him for about twenty minutes, my father informed me that he wanted to take a nap. I let him be and ventured downstairs.
Genevieve put on a pot of coffee and filled me in on the past several months. She said my father’s condition had been quite a bit worse before Raven’s arrival. His believing that she was Renata had lifted his spirits. While I still couldn’t really comprehend all of this, I knew I still owed Raven an apology for my reaction earlier.
I was still drinking coffee in the kitchen when she entered through the side door. My immediate, visceral reaction was quite disconcerting. After all this time, she still had a strong effect on me.
She looked flustered and didn’t acknowledge us. She was headed toward the stairs when I stood up and said, “Hey. Before you go, can we talk?”
Raven barely looked me in the eyes when she said, “Actually, I owe your father a walk. And I’m late, so...”
“After that, then?”
Looking down at the ground, she finally conceded, “Okay.”***My father and Raven were out for a long while before she took him back to his room. I waited downstairs for at least another half hour before she finally appeared in the kitchen.
She didn’t say anything as she reached for a mug and poured herself a cup from the coffee pot. She looked upset.
“I owe you an apology for my behavior earlier,” I said. “Walking in here and seeing you was a shock, for many reasons. I never should’ve drawn any conclusions without letting you explain. I’m very sorry.”
She’d been stirring in sugar and paused before letting out a long breath. “It’s okay. I was on edge, too. I can’t really blame you for being shocked. No one was more shocked than I was to see you today. I wasn’t prepared.”
She finally turned around to face me and leaned against the counter. My body stirred as I took her in. As much as my mind wanted me to forget, my body remembered her all too well.
Raven was somehow even more beautiful than she’d been before. The same wide eyes, the same smooth, porcelain skin that reddened with the slightest bit of stress. Her wild waves were gone though. Her now-straightened black hair fell to the middle of her back.
There was so much I wanted to know, even though it might not have been any of my business. Was she married? Did she have kids? What had she been doing for a decade? And she probably knew my father better than anyone at this point. I really wanted her opinion on his condition.
“Would you have some time to meet with me tonight? I could order dinner. I would like your take on some things…that pertain to my father.”
She thought about it for a moment. “I don’t think so. I have somewhere to be tonight.”
“Okay…um…maybe another time this week?”
She looked everywhere but into my eyes. “Yeah. I’ll take a look at my schedule.”
“Thanks. I appreciate it.”
This exchange was so business-like. Somewhere deep inside, my heart screamed out questions I did everything in my power to quiet.
It doesn’t matter anymore.
“How long are you staying?” she asked.
“I don’t know. I planned for a month. I’ve been avoiding this for too long. I need to get his affairs in order and figure stuff out.”
“I see.” She put her mug down on the counter. “Well, I’d better go tend to him.”
After she went back upstairs, my chest felt tight. I couldn’t figure out if it was a reaction to Raven or the overall emotional toll of being back here—likely a mixture of both.
There was something different about Raven that I couldn’t quite figure out. Something, maybe life experience, had hardened her. My head began to spin as I tried to figure it all out. I wondered if I was losing my mind right along with my dad as I gazed out the glass doors of the kitchen to the pool.