Chapter 2
I stared at Grandma Claire.
"What man?"
She looked away.
I stepped toward her.
"Grandma, what man?"
Daniel gently touched my arm.
"Maya, I think we should sit down."
I shook my head.
"No."
The memorial reception had gone silent.
People stood beside the tables holding untouched plates.
My aunt Renee was watching us from across the room.
Grandpa's oldest friend, Mr. Franklin, had stopped speaking in the middle of a sentence.
Everyone seemed to be waiting.
And I suddenly felt like the only person who didn't understand what was happening.
I raised the document.
"Is my father alive?"
Daniel looked at Grandma.
Then he looked at me.
"Yes."
One word.
That was all it took.
My knees nearly gave out.
I grabbed the edge of a nearby chair.
"He's alive?"
Daniel nodded.
"Yes, Maya."
I thought about every Father's Day when I made Grandpa a card.
Every school form where I left the father's information blank.
Every time another child asked why my dad never picked me up.
Grandma always told me the same thing.
"He didn't want responsibility."
Sometimes she added that I should be grateful Grandpa had been willing to raise me.
I'd believed her.
Why wouldn't I?
She was my grandmother.
But now Daniel was saying my father was alive.
And Grandma had just admitted that someone wasn't supposed to find me.
I looked directly at her.
"You told me he abandoned me."
Claire crossed her arms.
"That is what happened."
Daniel shook his head.
"No, Claire."
Her face tightened.
"Stay out of this."
He opened his leather briefcase and removed another document.
"Marcus anticipated you might deny the truth."
Grandma laughed bitterly.
"Marcus was a sick man."
I flinched.
"Don't talk about Grandpa like that."
She turned toward me.
"Maya, you are thirteen. You don't understand adult matters."
I felt tears burning my eyes.
"Then explain them."
She stared.
I had never challenged her in front of other people.
Usually, when she raised her voice, I apologized.
But Grandpa was gone.
My whole world had disappeared three days earlier.
And now I was being told the story of my life might be a lie.
Daniel pulled out a chair.
"Maya, sit with me."
This time, I listened.
He placed the document on the table.
Across the top were the words:
ACKNOWLEDGMENT OF PATERNITY.
Below them was my name.
And another name.
Adrian Walker.
I whispered it.
"Adrian?"
Daniel nodded.
"Adrian James Walker."
My father's name.
I said it again, trying to imagine what kind of person carried it.
"Does he know me?"
Daniel hesitated.
"He knows about you."
I felt my chest tighten.
"Then why hasn't he come?"
Grandma immediately answered.
"Because he doesn't care."
Daniel turned toward her.
"That isn't true."
She slammed her hand against the table.
"You don't know everything!"
Daniel's voice became firm.
"I know enough."
He turned back to me.
"Your father tried to establish contact with you several times."
I stared at him.
"When?"
"Beginning shortly after your mother died."
I stopped breathing.
My mother.
Her name was Jasmine.
She had beautiful dark eyes and thick curls like mine.
I remembered her singing while she brushed my hair.
I remembered her perfume.
I remembered falling asleep against her shoulder.
Then one rainy afternoon, a police officer came to our house.
And everything changed.
I was five.
Grandpa told me Mommy had gone to heaven.
I never saw her again.
Now Daniel was saying my father tried to find me after she died.
"Why didn't he?"
Daniel looked toward Claire.
"Because he was told you had been placed with relatives who refused contact."
My hands curled into fists.
"Who told him that?"
Grandma's silence answered before Daniel did.
I turned toward her.
"You?"
She looked down.
"Maya, I was protecting you."
"From my father?"
"From disappointment."
Daniel opened another folder.
"Claire, you sent Adrian a letter stating that Maya wanted no relationship with him."
I stared at her.
"I was six!"
Several mourners gasped.
Grandma looked furious.
"That letter was meant to stop him from upsetting her!"
I stood.
"How could I decide that when I was six?"
Claire opened her mouth.
Then closed it.
Daniel continued.
"Marcus didn't learn about the correspondence until last year."
My throat tightened.
"Grandpa didn't know?"
"Not originally."
I looked toward his portrait.
"Then why didn't he tell me?"
Daniel's expression softened.
"Because he wanted to make sure he had the facts before putting you through more pain."
I wanted to believe that.
But a small part of me felt betrayed.
Grandpa knew how much I wondered about my father.
He knew how many nights I'd cried.
Why hadn't he told me?
Daniel seemed to understand.
"He was preparing to arrange a meeting, Maya."
I looked up.
"Really?"
"He became ill before he could finish."
My eyes filled.
I pictured Grandpa lying in his hospital bed.
His hands thin.
His voice weak.
And the promise he had made.
I've made sure you'll be okay.
I slowly sat down again.
"What else is in the envelope?"
Daniel looked at Grandma.
Her face tightened.
"Daniel."
He ignored her.
"There is also a statement concerning your grandfather's estate."
I frowned.
"Estate?"
"The property and money he left behind."
Grandma stepped forward.
"That is my business."
Daniel shook his head.
"Not entirely."
I looked between them.
"What did Grandpa leave me?"
Claire laughed coldly.
"I already told you. Nothing."
Daniel opened the trust document.
"Your grandfather established a trust for your care, education, and future."
I stared at him.
"A trust?"
"Yes."
Grandma reached for the paper.
Daniel moved it away.
"Claire, please."
Her voice rose.
"That money belongs to this family!"
Daniel looked directly at her.
"It was created for Maya."
My heart raced.
I didn't care about money.
I wanted Grandpa back.
I wanted someone to explain why my father had been kept away.
But something about Grandma's reaction frightened me.
Daniel continued.
"Marcus left a house and financial assets in trust for Maya's benefit, subject to the terms of the estate documents."
I frowned.
"What house?"
He looked at me.
"The house where you've lived since your mother died."
My stomach dropped.
Grandma had always called it her house.
She told me I was lucky to have a bedroom there.
Whenever I forgot chores, she threatened to send me somewhere else.
I looked at her.
"Grandpa left me our house?"
Daniel nodded.
"Through a trust, yes."
Claire began shaking.
"Marcus had no right."
Daniel's expression hardened.
"He owned the property."
Grandma looked around the room.
Her composure was disappearing.
"Everyone needs to leave."
Nobody moved.
Then Daniel reached into his briefcase again.
"There's another matter."
I felt my stomach twist.
"What?"
He placed a printed photograph on the table.
It showed my father standing outside a courthouse.
A little older than the picture attached to the paternity document.
He had short hair, a neatly trimmed beard, and eyes that looked strangely familiar.
My eyes.
I touched the photograph.
"That's him?"
Daniel nodded.
"Yes."
I stared.
Then he said something that made my heart stop.
"Adrian has been trying to reach you again."
I looked up.
"When?"
"Last month."
My breath caught.
"Does Grandma know?"
Daniel didn't answer.
He didn't need to.
Claire suddenly grabbed her purse.
"I won't be humiliated in my own home!"
Daniel stood.
"Claire, there is one final instruction."
She froze.
He looked toward the doorway.
Then he spoke clearly.
"Marcus requested that Adrian Walker be notified immediately after this envelope was delivered."
I stared at him.
"Have you called him?"
Daniel nodded.
"Yes."
My heart began pounding.
"Where is he?"
Daniel looked directly at me.
"He's on his way here."
I stopped breathing.
My father.
The man I'd spent my entire childhood imagining.
May you like
Was coming to Grandpa's memorial.
And Grandma looked absolutely terrified.
