Chapter 5: The Other Side of the Story
I turned the phone over before Nora could see the screen.
"Excuse me for just a moment," I said, and slid out of the booth.
I walked to the far end of the diner, near the restrooms, and called the number back.
It rang twice.
A woman answered.
"You must be Diane," she said.
Her voice was measured, careful.
Not hostile.
But not warm either.
"Who is this?"
"My name is Ruth.
I'm Claire's older sister.
Nora's aunt."
I leaned against the wall.
"How did you get my number?"
"Nora had it on her phone.
She showed me the message she sent you before she left tonight.
I told her to wait, but she's stubborn." A pause.
"She gets that from Claire."
"She seems like a good kid."
"She's a wonderful kid." Ruth's voice softened for just a moment, then steadied again.
"That's why I'm calling.
Because I need you to understand what you're walking into before you make her any promises."
"I haven't made her any promises."
"Not yet." Another pause.
"Nora doesn't know everything about why Claire never pushed harder to find Caleb.
She knows her mother sent the package.
She doesn't know that Claire sent a second letter.
Three years later.
To a different address."
I went still.
"What?"
"Claire tracked down a new address for Caleb.
This was about eleven years ago.
She sent a proper letter — not a package, just a letter — with her phone number and a recent photo of Nora.
She wanted him to have the choice." Ruth's voice was even.
"He wrote back."
The hum of the diner seemed to get louder.
"What did he say?" I asked.
"He said he was married.
He said his wife didn't know.
He said he thought it was better for everyone if things stayed the way they were." A pause.
"He asked Claire not to contact him again."
I looked through the diner toward the corner booth.
Caleb was talking to Nora now.
His hands were on the table.
He was nodding at something she said.
"He knew," I said.
"For eleven years," Ruth said.
"Yes."
I pressed my hand flat against the wall.
"Claire honored his request," Ruth continued.
"She was hurt, but she was also proud.
She didn't chase people who didn't want to be found.
But when she got sick, she told Nora his name.
She said Nora deserved the chance to make her own choice, even if Caleb had already made his."
"Why are you telling me this now?"
"Because Nora is going to get attached.
She already is — I can tell from how she talked about tonight.
And I need to know that the man in that booth is actually ready to show up for her.
Not just tonight.
Every day." Ruth's voice didn't waver.
"Because if he disappears on her again, I don't know if she'll recover from it.
She's already lost her mother.
I won't let her lose a father twice."
I looked at Caleb again.
He was listening to Nora now, and whatever she was saying had made his eyes go bright and wet.
"I understand," I said.
"Do you?" Ruth asked.
"Because you seem like a decent woman, Diane.
And decent women sometimes protect the wrong person out of loyalty."
I didn't answer that right away.
"Give me your number," I said finally.
"I'll call you tomorrow."
I hung up and stood there for a moment.
Then I walked back to the booth.
Caleb looked up when I sat down.
He could read my face.
He always could.
"Who was that?" he asked.
I picked up my coffee.
"We'll talk later."
Nora was telling us about her school — a project she was doing on local history, a teacher she liked.
Normal things.
Fourteen-year-old things.
I listened and asked questions and kept my voice steady.
But under the table, my hand was clenched in my lap.
He had known for eleven years.
He had chosen silence.
He had chosen me — or chosen the version of his life that didn't include this girl — and he had never said a single word.
Nora laughed at something she'd said herself.
It was a bright, unguarded laugh.
Caleb smiled at the sound of it.
May you like
And I thought: he doesn't know that I know.
Not yet.
