“What did he do to make you hate him?”
She popped the fry into her mouth and chewed, then delicately wiped her mouth with the napkin.
“He left.”
There was a long silence after that bombshell.Rafi stared as Carys chose another fry and popped it into her mouth.
“How old were you?”
“I was twelve when he left me and my mom and moved in with his mistress.”She chose another fry.“I was thirteen when he divorced my mom.But even then, I still had a relationship with him, although it was strained.”
“Was your mother hurt?”
Carys laughed flatly.“She was devastated.But she never said anything bad about my dad.She kept it together during the day, but I could hear her crying at night.”She stole a perfect fry, pushing his hand out of the way when Rafi tried to snag it first.He let her because he wanted to hear the rest of the story more than he wanted the perfect fry.
“So, then what happened?Did your father leave completely?”
She sighed, her shoulders slumping.“Not initially.”She stared blankly out the window for a moment.
“We used to go camping together.Just the two of us.We’d hike and fish and roast marshmallows.And we’d talk.”She frowned sadly at the memories.“My friends used to complain about their dads, but I always thought my father was the best in the world.I could tell him anything.”
There was another long silence and, this time, Rafi didn’t prompt her.She ate several more fries, but didn’t concentrate on loading them as carefully as before.When she started talking again, his gut clenched.
“After my dad left us, he left me too.At first, after he moved in with his mistress, the camping trips turned into weekly dinners out.Then even the dinners with my dad slowed down to once a month, and then stopped, without explanation.”She grimaced and heaved a heavy sigh.“My stepmother, Beth, got pregnant quickly and by then, my dad stopped coming around completely.At first, my mom made excuses for his absence, explaining how difficult it was to have a newborn.She said that the first year is really rough.”Carys stared out through the window again.“So, I tried to be patient.But, the good times with my dad never started up again.”Her mouth twisted slightly before she continued.“I saw pictures online with him and his new family, going out to various places.Just innocent family events like picnics or pizza out.”Rafi watched as Carys rubbed her eyes.The unspoken words were that her father never invited Carys out to those picnics or pizza nights.Finally, she took a deep breath and continued.“But after Beth went back to work, she got a promotion.”Carys squeezed her eyes shut briefly, fighting back the tears.“The promotion meant that they had to move across the country to Arizona.”
“Oh no, that must have really hurt!”
Her chin trembled, but she inhaled deeply, clenched her teeth and let it out slowly.“He stopped calling after he moved.Eventually, I saw Beth posting pictures of my dad taking my half-sister camping.They had a great time.”
Rafi understood.His voice was raspy when he said, “Doing all the things that you used to do with him.”
Carys continued.“He didn’t call.He didn’t even bother sending me a card for my birthday by that point.It was as if this new family was everything he needed and I was…well, unnecessary.”
“That’s awful, Carys,” he hissed.Rafi wanted to reach out and touch her, but something warned him that she needed space right now.So, he kept his hands wrapped around his beer mug.Neither of them were interested in the cheesy fries anymore.
“It was.It still is.”
“So, why is he here now?”he asked.
She offered him a half smile.“He and his wife moved back to Philly.The letters started about a year ago.I read the first one.He said that he was back in town and wanted to get together for dinner whenever I had time.”
He looked into her eyes, noticing the sheen of tears.
She looked out the window.“After sixteen years of being gone, he wants to get together for dinner.He wants to be my dad again.”She was angry now, shaking her head.“He doesn’t get to ignore me for years, then come back into my life and pretend like nothing happened!”
“I agree,” he replied, relieved by the anger.Her pale cheeks warmed with her roiling emotions.
Suddenly, she lifted her head and straightened her shoulders.“Finally, I just started rejecting the letters, sending them back unopened.Then the phone calls started.And I blocked him.Then my stepmother cornered me at the grocery store.She said that she knew that my mother had passed away and that I needed a mother figure in my life again.Beth explained how she was here, ready to be that mother figure for me.”
“That’s…odd.”
Carys sighed, sliding her fingers into her hair as she gripped her head.“Yeah, it was creepy.Beth is like a Stepford wife.She doesn’t work anymore and bakes bread, then posts images of her perfectly baked bread online.”Carys looked up at Rafi incredulously.“Bread.Just bread!If you look at her social media, she has probably a hundred pictures of bread all styled and rustic looking or…whatever!It’s really weird.”
That sounded…absolutely insane!“Different kinds of bread?”
She shrugged and there was a hint of amusement in her eyes.“I don’t know.I’m not a baker so I’m not sure.I stopped looking a while ago.”
He nodded his head, taking in that bit of information.“So, what happened earlier?”
