Would I Lie to You by Mary Lou Dickinson

Author:Mary Lou Dickinson
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Inanna Publications
Published: 2015-09-15T00:00:00+00:00

5.

THOMAS RIPPED OPEN a slender envelope that had just fallen onto the floor from the mail slot. The return address was now familiar.

What about coming for a visit? Sue had written. Although she had invited Kate also, he had told Sue when he called that he would be coming on his own.

Walking up the front steps, his limbs shook slightly. He thought this silly, as he was not nervous about seeing Sue. He picked up the knocker and let it fall against the plate under it. Sue answered right away, almost as if she had been waiting just inside the door.

“Hello,” he said, feeling more shy than he had when he first met her. “I’ve missed you,” he added quietly. There was a vein in his forehead that throbbed from time to time. His eyes were bloodshot.

“You look thinner,” she said. “Are you all right?”

“Yes,” he said. “Just tired.” There was more work to these university courses than he had expected, he told her. “How about you?” He was surprised at how much time had passed since he had last seen her at the memorial for his father. But he had been preoccupied with Kate and with his courses. Also, he knew Sue had returned to teaching.

“Mostly all right.”

She told him about the accident and that it had taken two months for the pain to disappear entirely. That sometimes, when walking down Bloor Street on a windy day, she still felt tightness in her chest when she breathed.

“I miss Jerry,” she added. “But I’m often angry with him, too.”

“I was angry with my mother after she died,” Thomas said. “You know, how could she do that to me? Leave me alone? Behind? But after a while, I stopped being so mad. She should have told me about my father sooner though. And I’ve been thinking a lot about that.”

“I’ve been angry with Jerry for not being that father.” She brushed a strand of hair off her forehead and backed into the hallway, gesturing for him to follow. In the kitchen, she pulled out stools. They both sat down at the counter.

“Maybe he did what he could.” What else could explain it? He already had the impression of Jerry Reid as someone who would have found it difficult to conceal his own son’s existence for all these years.

“If he’d ever let himself meet you, there would have been worlds more he could have done. He likely knew that.”

She did like to go on and on, Thomas thought. This might be part of why he had taken so long to make contact again. It was tiring. He was grateful for her unexpected friendship, but he could not deal with the feelings that often seemed to pour out in his presence. He had enough of his own to deal with. Still, he and Kate wanted her in their lives. He also intended to visit Martin.

“Kate and I are getting married in June,” Thomas said.

The worried lines on her face evaporated as a smile softened her features.

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