The Men Who Walked Out novel · Chapter 12 of 24

Chapter 12: The Bracelet

I didn't say a word to either of them.

I walked down the corridor with my father's wallet in my hand and pushed through the door of room 214.

Dad lay propped on two pillows with a clip on his finger and a drip in his arm.

The stent was in, and a nurse had told me he'd be groggy for an hour.

He wasn't groggy.

He took one look at my face, and his eyes closed.

"You heard it from her," he said.

"In the hallway. With Gordon."

"I'm sorry."

"Don't be sorry. Just say it."

I shut the door behind me and stood against it.

"Gordon Wray is my father," I said.

"He's the man who gave you your eyebrow," Dad said. "And your left hand, and probably your stubbornness."

"Don't be funny."

"I'm not being funny, Daph. I'm trying to be careful."

He opened his eyes and looked at the ceiling.

"Your mother told me on our third date," he said.

"She was twenty-four and four months along, and he'd been gone nearly four months."

"She wasn't asking me for anything. She was telling me why she couldn't go to the movies."

"And you married her."

"Five months before you were born."

"Why?"

"Because I liked her," Dad said. "And because I had a bad feeling I'd like the baby more."

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