Page 89 of Going Once

“Hello.”

“Tate, it’s me. Don’t hang up.”

Tate closed his eyes and then pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration.

“What do you want? I’m busy.”

Don was unaccustomed to feeling inadequate, but he was getting a hard lesson in it right now.

“I wanted to thank you for donating blood.”

“You’re welcome. I hope you heal. Thanks for calling.”

“Wait!” Don cried. “I didn’t know. I honestly thought your mother was telling the truth.”

Tate sighed. “Do you hear yourself? You still don’t get it. You were ready to forgive her but not me, and I was the only innocent one in the picture you thought you saw.”

“You don’t understand. Look at it from my point of view. It was a horrible shock.”

Sarcasm was thick in Tate’s voice. “Not half as big a shock as having your own father punch you in the face, and throw you and everything you owned out of your own home.”

Don frowned. “I know. All I can say is I’m sorry.”

“Well, you should be. However, it’s past repairing. Forget it. I know I have.”

“I don’t want to forget it, but I do want you to forgive me.”

“Mom always said, ‘Son, you don’t always get what you want in life. Be happy with what you have.’ Well, you threw me away. It’s over. Deal with it.”

Don wasn’t happy, and yet it was nothing more than what he’d expected. “When did you know the truth?” he asked.

“Almost from the start I suspected it. Six months after you kicked us out, I found your hairbrush in some of Mom’s stuff and ran a DNA test.”

“Why didn’t you say something?”

“Because I didn’t want you anymore. My bloodline shouldn’t have mattered. You were the only father I knew, and you threw me away. It’s good that you’re healing, but I do not want, nor will I resume, a relationship with you. You revealed your true self eight years ago, and you no longer matter to me.”

The line went dead in Don’s ear. He put down the phone. His hands were trembling, and the walls had begun to blur.

* * *

Tate dropped his cell phone in his pocket and then turned around. Nola was standing behind him. He shrugged.

“The call was inevitable. It’s over.”

“Are you okay?” she asked.

“I will always be okay with you in my life.” He scooped her up in his arms and kissed her soundly. “We had hopes of viewing the kill site but found out it’s already under water. However, the witness is talking to the Tidewater police at the moment, so we’re going to go talk to her, too. Cameron will be here with you, okay?”

“Of course.”

“There’s a big Walmart in Tidewater. I think you’re due a sketch pad and some supplies, yes?”

Nola’s eyes lit up. “Oh, thank you, Tate, thank you. At last I’ll get a piece of my life back.”

“And we’ll bring back some food for supper, too, so don’t think about cooking for everybody. You’re not the maid.”

“I didn’t mind, but I’ll gladly pass on the job. Wade is never full.”

---