Chapter 8 - Miles Came To The Wedding And Left Before Daniel Saw Him
Miles answered on the fourth ring.
“Daniel.”
“You came to my wedding.”
Silence.
“Did you?”
“Yes.”
I sat across from Daniel.
Lily had gone to bed.
“Why?”
“Helen asked me to drive her.”
“Mom was at my wedding?”
“No.”
Daniel stared at the wall.
“Explain.”
Miles sighed.
“She wanted to go.”
“Why didn’t she?”
“She got scared.”
“Of me?”
“Of Thomas.”
Dad.
Daniel’s father had been alive then.
Standing at the church entrance greeting guests as if the family had never split.
Miles continued.
“We parked across the street.”
“You sat there?”
“For twenty minutes.”
“Then?”
“Your mother asked me to go in and see if Thomas was near the front.”
Daniel laughed.
“That sounds healthy.”
“No argument.”
Miles crossed the street.
Blue tie.
Dark suit.
He saw Daniel through the church doors.
Then saw Thomas.
Thomas saw him too.
“What did Dad do?”
“Nothing.”
Daniel frowned.
“Nothing?”
“He looked at me.”
“And?”
“I left.”
Daniel stared.
“That’s it?”
“Pretty much.”
“You drove three hours, crossed a street, saw Dad and ran.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Miles’s voice changed.
“Because I was twenty-five again for about ten seconds.”
He had been thirty-three.
Age does not always arrive in the room with you.
“What did Mom do?”
“She was furious.”
“With you?”
“Yes.”
“Then?”
“She asked if she could go alone.”
“And?”
“I said yes.”
Daniel waited.
“She didn't.”
“Why?”
“I don't know.”
“Ask her.”
“No.”
Miles sounded tired now.
“She can answer for herself.”
Daniel leaned back.
“Did you ever try to see me after Dad died?”
“Yes.”
“When?”
“A month after the funeral.”
Daniel froze.
I saw memory arrive before he spoke.
A voicemail.
One he had deleted in our kitchen without listening.
I remembered because he stared at the screen for almost a minute first.
MILES CARTER.
I had asked who it was.
He said:
“Nobody.”
“You called.”
“Yes.”
“I deleted it.”
“I know.”
“How?”
“It stopped ringing.”
Daniel rubbed his forehead.
“Why only once?”
Miles laughed softly.
“You want the flattering answer?”
“No.”
“I was angry.”
At Daniel.
“After nineteen years?”
“Especially after nineteen years.”
Miles continued.
“I told myself if you wanted me, you knew my name.”
“That’s the same thing you accuse me of.”
“Probably.”
Daniel looked toward Lily’s dark hallway.
“Did Mom ask you to stop calling?”
“No.”
“Claire?”
“No.”
“So that part belongs to you.”
“Yes.”
Miles did not sound proud of it.
Good.
Then Daniel asked:
“Why did you come to the restaurant?”
I looked up.
I hadn't known.
Miles answered:
“Claire texted.”
Daniel slowly turned toward me.
I closed my eyes.
Of course.
“When?”
“After I arrived.”
“What did you write?”
I took out my phone.
Again he shook his head.
“Tell me.”
I had texted:
Daniel is questioning Lily. She may tell him she saw you. Please stay away.
Daniel stared.
Miles continued:
“I was already nearby.”
“Why?”
“Mom asked me to bring her prescription from the pharmacy.”
“Then why enter the restaurant?”
Silence.
That answer was going to belong to Miles.
Finally:
“Because I saw Lily crying through the window.”
Daniel's jaw tightened.
“You decided to intervene.”
“Yes.”
“Did Claire ask?”
“No.”
“So you walked in and made it worse.”
“Yes.”
Daniel laughed once.
Miles added:
“I saw you hit the table.”
Daniel stopped.
“I lost my temper.”
“I know.”
“Don't.”
Miles went quiet.
Daniel’s voice lowered.
“You don't know me.”
“No.”
That hurt both of them.
Miles continued.
“I knew a nineteen-year-old who watched one moment and decided what his family was.”
Daniel’s face hardened.
“And I knew a twenty-four-year-old who ran.”
Silence.
Neither won.
Then Miles said:
“You want to know why Mom told Lily about the wedding?”
“Yes.”
“She didn't.”
Daniel looked toward Lily’s room.
“What?”
“She told Claire.”
I looked up.
I had heard the story during my second visit.
Lily must have overheard.
Another secret traveling through a child because adults assumed a room belonged only to them.
Daniel ended the call.
Then looked at me.
“How many stories about my life have you heard in that house?”
May you like
I couldn't answer quickly.
He understood anyway.
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