Chapter 3: The Question No One Would Answer
“Say something.””
My voice sounded too loud in the nearly empty chapel.
Mr. Hayes stood beneath the bright white lights, his gaze fixed on the silver locket in my trembling hand.
“Clara,” he began carefully, “I need you to understand that what I know and what I suspect may not be the same thing.””
“You just told me that man is my father.””
“I recognized him.””
“Then tell me his name.””
Mr. Hayes glanced toward the open chapel doors.
Outside, I could hear guests laughing as they waited for the wedding party. Somewhere beyond the entrance, a car horn sounded twice.
The world continued as if my life hadn't just split in half.
“Please,” I said.
“I have spent my entire life wondering who he was. My mother wouldn't tell me. She wouldn't even let me keep photographs of him. And now you're standing here telling me you recognize him, but you won't tell me his name?””
Mr. Hayes rubbed his thumb along the edge of his wedding band.
“Because I haven't seen that face in a very long time.””
“That doesn't answer my question.””
“No,” he admitted.
“It doesn't.””
I opened the locket again and held it toward him.
“Look at the photograph. Look at his face. Tell me what you see.””
He leaned closer.
The expression in his eyes shifted from shock to something more complicated. Recognition, certainly. But there was something else there, too—an uneasiness that made my skin prickle.
“Where has Linda been all these years?”” he asked.
I stared at him.
“She lives in the same apartment she's lived in for almost twenty years. She works at a dry cleaner now. Before that, she cleaned offices.””
His mouth tightened.
“Has she ever mentioned the Hayes family?””
I frowned.
“What?””
“Has your mother ever mentioned my family before today?””
“No. Why would she?””
Mr. Hayes looked away.
I stepped toward him.
“Why are you asking me that?””
“Because I need to be certain about something.””
“Certain of what?””
He took a slow breath.
“Clara, there are things about my past that I have never discussed with Grant. Not because I wanted to deceive him, but because I believed they belonged to a time that was over.””
My stomach twisted.
“Does this have something to do with my father?””
He didn't answer.
“Mr. Hayes?””
He looked at me again.
“I can't tell you something I haven't verified.””
I let out a short, bitter laugh.
“My mother gives me a thirty-two-year-old secret on my wedding day, and now you're telling me everyone needs more time?””
“I understand you're upset.””
“No, you don't.””
I held up the locket.
“This is my life. This is my family. I don't want another carefully worded answer from someone who knows more than he's willing to admit.””
His expression hardened, though his voice remained quiet.
“Be careful, Clara. Sometimes the truth arrives with consequences you aren't prepared for.””
“That's not your decision to make.””
For a moment, neither of us spoke.
Then I heard footsteps approaching from the entrance.
Grant appeared in the doorway, his tuxedo jacket unbuttoned and his bow tie hanging loose around his neck.
“What's going on?””
I turned toward him.
“Your father says the man in this photograph is my real father.””
Grant stopped walking.
“What?””
Mr. Hayes closed his eyes briefly.
“Grant, this isn't the time.””
“Dad, she just told me you said her father is in that locket. What does that mean?””
“It means I recognized someone I haven't seen in decades.””
Grant looked between us.
“Who?””
Mr. Hayes shook his head.
“I need to make a few calls.””
“No,” I said.
Both men looked at me.
“You don't get to drop a bomb like that and walk away.””
Mr. Hayes regarded me for a long moment.
Then he reached into his jacket and removed a business card.
“If you want answers, come to my office tomorrow morning. Nine o'clock. I'll tell you what I can.””
I didn't take the card.
“I want answers now.””
“And I want to give you accurate ones.””
Grant stepped between us.
“Dad, if you know something about Clara's family, you need to tell us.””
Mr. Hayes looked at his son, and something like pain crossed his face.
“Not here.””
He placed the card on the altar beside the abandoned tissue paper.
Then he walked away.
I watched him leave through the chapel doors, his polished shoes making almost no sound against the marble.
Grant turned toward me.
“Let me see the locket.””
I hesitated before handing it over.
He studied the photograph carefully, moving it closer to the light.
“Do you recognize him?”” I asked.
Grant shook his head.
“No. I've never seen him before.””
“Your father has.””
“Apparently.””
Grant closed the locket gently.
“Clara, I know today has been difficult, but we need to slow down and think.””
I pulled the locket from his hand.
“My mother knew I would ask questions eventually. That's why she gave this to me today.””
“Maybe she was finally ready to tell you.””
“Then why did she leave?””
Grant had no answer.
I looked toward the chapel doors, remembering my mother's face when I shoved her away. The way she'd apologized. The way she'd placed the gift beside the flowers as though she had already accepted that I might never open it.
I had spent the morning believing she was the person who had embarrassed me.
Now I wondered whether she had come to the chapel carrying something far heavier than a gift.
I took out my phone.
My mother's name appeared at the top of my contacts.
I pressed call.
One ring.
Two.
Three.
Finally, she answered.
“Clara?””
Her voice was small, almost breathless.
“Mom, I opened the box.””
Silence.
“I saw the photographs,” I continued.
“I saw the message inside the locket.””
A shaky breath came through the speaker.
“Clara, sweetheart—”
“Who is the man in the picture?””
She didn't answer.
“Mom, Mr. Hayes recognized him. He said that man is my real father.””
A faint sound escaped her, somewhere between a gasp and a sob.
I gripped the phone harder.
“You knew this day would come, didn't you?””
“Please,” Linda whispered.
“You have to listen to me.””
“Then tell me the truth.””
“I wanted to tell you.””
“When?””
Another silence.
“Mom, when?””
Her breathing grew uneven.
Then she said something that made my blood run cold.
“Clara, before you go to that office tomorrow, you need to promise me one thing.””
“What?””
“Whatever Mr. Hayes tells you, don't assume you know the whole story.””
I stared at the locket.
“What are you talking about?””
My mother began to cry.
“I should never have let you marry into that family without telling you.””
I gripped the edge of the altar to steady myself.
“Why?””
Her answer came in a whisper.
“Because the truth about your father isn't the only secret that family has kept.””
The call ended.
I stood motionless in my wedding dress, the silver heart open in my hand.
Grant stared at me.
“What did she say?””
I looked toward the chapel doors through which both my mother and father-in-law had disappeared.
Then I repeated her words.
May you like
And for the first time that day, I realized the question wasn't simply who my father was.
It was what had happened all those years ago—and why the people who should have told me the truth were terrified of what I might discover.
