He replied eleven minutes later.
I know who you are.
Then:
I’ve been waiting for this message for ten years.
That made me furious.
I called him.
He answered immediately.
“If you’ve been waiting ten years, Nathan, you had my address.”
Silence.
“You could’ve sent the message yourself.”
“I know.”
“You knew where we lived?”
“Yes.”
“You knew Lucas was with me?”
“Yes.”
Every answer made me angrier.
“Then explain something to me. Why?”
Nathan took a long time to respond.
“Because I was a coward.”
I hadn’t expected that.
No excuses.
No elaborate explanation.
Just four words.
We agreed to meet at a coffee shop halfway between our towns.
I arrived twenty minutes early.
Nathan was already there.
The teenage boy from Teagan’s photograph had disappeared.
But I recognized him immediately.
Same eyes.
Same nervous way of rubbing his thumb against the side of his hand.
He stood when I approached.
“Mrs. Bennett.”
“Margaret.”
“Right.”
Neither of us hugged.
He pulled out a chair.
I sat.
Then I placed Teagan’s photograph between us.
Nathan looked at it.
His face changed.
“I haven’t seen that picture in years.”
“I’ve only seen it for a week.”
He looked at me.
“She kept it?”
“Yes.”
Nathan’s eyes filled, but I wasn’t there to comfort him.
“You knew she was pregnant.”
“Yes.”
“You knew Lucas was yours.”
“Yes.”
“You came to the hospital.”
His eyes dropped.
“Yes.”
“And you left.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Nathan stared at the photograph.
“My parents.”
I waited.
“They thought my life was over.”
“Teagan’s parents weren’t thrilled either.”
“I know.”
“She still raised him.”
“I know.”
Nathan swallowed.
“My father had everything planned. University. Graduate school. Job with his company. When I told them about Teagan, my mother cried for three days.”
“And that frightened you?”
“Everything frightened me.”
He rubbed his face.
“I was eighteen and stupid enough to think being scared meant I wasn’t ready.”
“Nobody was ready.”
“I know that now.”
He told me his parents hadn’t physically forced him to stay away.
They hadn’t threatened him.
They’d done something quieter.
They’d convinced him that leaving was responsible.
That Teagan would be better off.
That Lucas would eventually have a stepfather who actually wanted family life.
That paying child support later would be enough.
“And you believed them?”
“I wanted to.”
