Chapter 1
I had hidden the bicycle under an old bedsheet because I wanted to see my son’s face when he found it.
For three weeks, I had kept it in my brother’s garage. On Christmas Eve, after my overnight shift, I brought it home and wheeled it into the living room while Owen slept.
By morning, I could barely keep my eyes open.
Then he ran downstairs in his pajamas, and I forgot how tired I was.
He stopped beside the covered bicycle. The handlebars made a strange shape beneath the sheet.
“What’s that, Dad?”
I looked over at my wife.
Laura sat on the couch with a cup of coffee. She smiled at Owen, but she didn’t get up.
“Go on,” she told me.
I pulled off the sheet.
The bicycle was bright red, with a silver bell and training wheels I had attached myself.
“Merry Christmas, champ.”
Owen’s mouth fell open.
“It’s red!” he shouted. “Just like Uncle Jay said!”
My hands were still holding the sheet.
“What did you say?”
Owen touched the handlebars. “Uncle Jay said Santa might bring me a red one.”
I looked at Laura.
Her cup stopped halfway to her mouth.
Jay was my friend. We had known each other since high school. Owen called him Uncle Jay because Jay had been at birthdays and barbecues for years.
I hadn’t seen much of him lately. My overnight shifts at the hospital had taken nearly every hour I used to spend with my family.
Laura put down her coffee.
“Why don’t you try sitting on it, sweetheart?”
Owen climbed onto the seat. His feet barely reached the pedals. I knelt to steady the bicycle, but my eyes kept returning to Laura.
“When did Jay tell you about the bike?” I asked Owen.
He rang the bell twice.
“When he was here.”
“Oh.” I kept one hand on the seat. “When was that?”
Owen looked surprised that I needed to ask.
“He comes when you work at night. Sometimes he sleeps here.”
I felt the bicycle tip and caught it before Owen could fall.
Laura stood.
“David.”
I looked at her. She had gone pale.
Owen rang the bell again, waiting for me to smile.
“Did he sleep in the guest room?” I asked.
Owen nodded, then hesitated.
“Sometimes,” he said.
Laura took a step toward us. “Owen, let’s go outside. You can ride on the driveway.”
He looked at the front door, then at me.
“Did I tell wrong?”
The question broke something in me.
I put both hands around the handlebars so he could look at my face.
“No, buddy. You didn’t do anything wrong.”
His shoulders relaxed, but he was still watching us.
Laura reached for his coat. I helped him into it and walked beside him as he pushed the bike onto the driveway. Our neighbor, Mrs. Ellis, was bringing in her newspaper.
She smiled at Owen.
“New wheels?”
He nodded hard.
“Would you mind watching him ride for a few minutes?” I asked her.
“Of course.”
I made sure Owen’s helmet was fastened. He pedaled toward Mrs. Ellis, who clapped as he made it to the end of the driveway.
Then I went back inside.
Laura was standing by the couch.
“He’s five,” she said. “He mixes things up.”
“What did he mix up?”
“Jay stayed over once after his car broke down.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“You were working. I didn’t think it mattered.”
“Once?”
She rubbed her forehead. “David, please don’t start shouting on Christmas.”
“I’m speaking quietly.”
“Then stop looking at me like that.”
I could hear Owen’s bell through the front window.
Jay had a car. Even if it had broken down, our house was only fifteen minutes from his apartment. I wanted Laura to tell me something I could believe.
“When did he stay?”
“I don’t remember the exact night.”
“What about the other nights?”
“There weren’t other nights.”
I looked at her. She looked past me toward the window.
“I can ask Jay,” I said.
Her eyes came back to mine.
“Don’t drag him into this.”
“He’s already here, Laura. Owen has been talking to him in our house while I’m at work.”
She pressed her lips together.
I had been worried about us for months. Laura seemed tired when I came home. We spoke about groceries, bills, Owen’s school, and little else. I had told myself we needed a day alone.
I hadn’t imagined this.
“Was he in our room?” I asked.
Laura’s face crumpled.
For a few seconds, neither of us spoke. I could hear Owen outside calling to Mrs. Ellis to watch him turn.
“I made a mistake,” Laura whispered.
I sat down because I couldn’t trust my legs.
“How long?”
She sank into the chair opposite me.
“I don’t know what to say.”
“The truth.”
She stared at her hands. “Since September.”
Four months.
I had worked through Owen’s first week of kindergarten, Thanksgiving week, and half of December. Every morning I came home, I kissed Laura and asked how she’d slept.
Jay had been here.
“Did Owen see anything?” I asked.
“No. We were careful.”
I looked at her sharply.
She covered her face. “I mean we kept him out of it.”
“He knows Jay sleeps here.”
“I never wanted him to carry this.”
“But he did.”
Outside, Owen’s bell rang three times.
I stood and went to the window. He was riding in a shaky circle while Mrs. Ellis walked beside him. He looked so proud.
Laura came up behind me.
“David, I’m sorry.”
I couldn’t look at her yet.
“You should’ve told me before our son had to.”
She began to cry.
I watched Owen put his feet down and wave toward the house.
I waved back. He didn’t need to see what this had done to me.
Behind me, Laura said, “There’s something else you need to know about Jay.”
May you like
I turned.
She took a breath, but Owen ran up the front steps before she could finish.
