I recalled Rachel telling me about it once.
“He packed his bags and left,” she said. “He decided none of us were worth staying for.”
I asked Nora about Maisie’s father.
“The records indicate he was identified, but he did not pursue custody. I can’t give you more than that.”
I nodded.
I was not entitled to more.
I left Colfax two hours later.
I should have gone home as I intended.
Instead, I drove to Marlene’s house.
I still remembered the address.
The neighborhood appeared smaller than it had when I was young.
Marlene’s house looked worse.
The grass was tall.
One shutter hung crooked.
There were empty cans beside the recycling bin.
I knocked.
Nobody answered.
I knocked again.
Eventually the door opened.
Marlene looked 30 years older than I recalled.
She stared at me.
Then she said, “Who are you?”
“Hi, Marlene. I’m Pete. I don’t know if you remember me.”
Her eyes fixed on my face, and then her expression shifted.
She gripped the doorframe. “You heard.”
“I just learned about it today. I would have come earlier had I known. I’ve also met Maisie.”
For a second, I thought she was going to cry.
Her eyes flooded. “You saw her?”
“Yes.”
Marlene looked away.
“She looks like Rachel.”
“I know.”
She allowed me inside.
The house smelled stale.
There were bottles on the kitchen counter.
One was open.
Marlene made no effort to hide it.
I sat across from her at the same kitchen table where Rachel and I used to do homework.
“What happened?” I asked.
Marlene drew a long breath.
“Rachel met someone.”
“Who?”
“Derek. A good-for-nothing man. He was a floor manager at the restaurant she worked at.”
“Was he Maisie’s father?”
“Yes.”
“What happened to him?”
Marlene gave a bitter laugh.
“He was wonderful until things got hard.”
I already knew the type.
Rachel had spent her entire life afraid of becoming attached to someone who would leave.
Somehow she had found one anyway.
Marlene continued.
