Chapter 4: What the Letter Said
Arthur read the letter twice.
The second time, he read it slowly, the way a person reads something they are hoping will say something different on the second pass.
It didn't.
He folded it and set it on the table and looked at his hands for a moment.
Then he looked at Leo.
"I need to make a phone call," he said.
"I'll be right outside.
Claire will stay with you."
Leo nodded.
Grace had gone back to eating, watching Arthur over the rim of her glass with the same steady attention she'd had since the moment she met him.
Arthur stepped outside.
The cold hit him again but he didn't feel it.
He found the number in his phone — one he hadn't called in over a year — and pressed dial.
It rang four times.
"Dad?" The voice on the other end was cautious.
Surprised.
"Daniel," Arthur said.
"I need you to come to the diner.
Right now."
"It's almost eleven o'clock—"
"I know what time it is.
Come now.
And don't tell your brother."
A pause.
"What's going on?"
"I'll explain when you get here.
Just come."
He hung up and stood on the sidewalk for a moment, looking at nothing.
Then he went back inside.
The letter was still on the table.
He didn't touch it again.
Twenty minutes later, a car pulled up outside.
A man in his late thirties came through the door — tall, dark-haired, wearing a jacket over a sweater like he'd dressed quickly.
He scanned the diner, found Arthur in the back booth, and stopped when he saw the two children sitting across from him.
"Dad." Daniel slid into the seat beside Arthur.
He kept his voice low.
"Who are they?"
"Their names are Leo and Grace," Arthur said.
"Their mother is Sarah."
Daniel went very still.
"Sarah," he repeated.
"Sarah Harrison," Arthur said.
"She used our name, Daniel.
She's been using it for years."
"That's not possible.
She and Richard—" Daniel stopped.
He looked at Leo.
Really looked at him.
Something moved across his face.
"How old is he?"
"Eight," Arthur said.
Daniel did the math.
Arthur watched him do it.
Watched the moment it landed.
"Dad—"
"The letter says Richard knew," Arthur said quietly.
"She told him when she found out she was pregnant.
She says he told her to leave.
Gave her money to go away and not come back.
Told her if she ever contacted the family, he would make sure she lost the child."
Daniel's jaw tightened.
"She has proof of that?"
"She kept everything.
Every message.
Every bank transfer." Arthur touched the folded letter.
"She wasn't asking for anything, Daniel.
She wasn't coming back to make a claim.
She's dying.
She just needed someone to take care of her children."
The word dying landed in the booth like something physical.
Leo had gone very still across the table.
He was staring at his plate.
Grace had stopped eating.
She was holding her rabbit against her chest.
Daniel looked at the boy.
Then at Arthur.
"Does Richard know she's sick?"
"I don't know," Arthur said.
"Does he know about the children?"
"He knew about Leo.
I don't know about Grace."
Daniel sat back.
He pressed two fingers against his mouth and looked at the ceiling for a moment.
Then he looked at Leo directly.
"Leo," he said.
"I'm Daniel.
I'm Arthur's son." He paused.
"I think I might be your uncle."
Leo looked at him steadily.
"Are you going to help us or not?"
Daniel blinked.
Then, despite everything, the corner of his mouth moved.
"Yeah," he said.
"We're going to help you."
Arthur reached into his jacket and pulled out his phone again.
He pulled up a contact and held the screen so Daniel could see the name.
Richard.
"He doesn't know they're here," Arthur said.
"And I need to decide, before morning, whether to tell him."
Daniel looked at the name on the screen.
Then at the two children.
Then at his father.
"What did Sarah say?
In the letter.
Did she say what she wanted you to do?"
Arthur picked up the letter one more time.
He found the last paragraph and read it aloud, quietly, so only Daniel could hear.
*"Don't let Richard near them.
He made his choice nine years ago.
I'm not asking you to punish him.
I'm asking you to protect them.
That's all I ever wanted.
Someone to protect them."*
The booth was silent.
Grace reached across the table and placed her small hand on top of Arthur's.
She didn't say anything.
She just left it there.
May you like
Arthur looked down at her hand.
Then he put his phone back in his pocket without making the call.
