My throat suddenly went tight. I cleared it. “I think we would both like that.”
He took us to his living room that was smartly designed. Inside was a pretty woman with incredibly short blonde hair and a few tattoos on her arms. She looked to be around the same age as my father. He sat down next to her and immediately they took each other's hands in a way that looked natural.
“This is Carol.” He gestured to his wife. “And Carol this is Taylor, my son, and Lydia my wife.”
“I have seen you before,” Lydia said. “I pass you in the elevator all the time. I always think to myself that your tattoos are so cool.”
“Aw, thanks. And I’ve seen you too,” Carol had a nice voice that had a rough edge to it. I felt weird thinking about it, but my first thought was that she was nothing like Hana. “It’s always funny to see a rack of fancy clothes in the elevator on my way to work.”
“You’re a private home decorator, right?” Lydia said.
“Yes,” Carol said. Both of them started going on about their jobs and telling jokes I couldn’t quite follow about the building they both worked in.
“Can I get you anything to drink?” My father looked at us.
“A water would be nice,” Lydia asked before jumping back into the fire alarm story again.
“Anything for you, Taylor?”
“I’ll come with you,” I said, deciding at that moment.
We went back to the kitchen together, the faint chattering of our wives felt distant even though we hadn’t gone too far.
“I talked to Hana today.” I decided to speak about it plainly.
My dad’s face fell, clearly thinking about his ex-wife. I would have to ask him one day about why they split, maybe one day when things between us were better.
“I told her I never want to see her again. And one day maybe I’ll tell you why.” I couldn’t keep my voice steady.
“Taylor.” He looked conflicted. He wanted to ask. He wanted to say something. “Whenever you’re ready.”
“I just wanted you to know that you don’t need to bring her to see me. I don’t ever want her around.” I paused. “I want you to try having you around.”
“I would love that, son.” He put a hand on my shoulder and even after all my work I still flinched. Healing was definitely a process.
“I think Lydia would love for you and Carol to come visit more. She’s been wanting me to ask you to come to our Christmas party, and I agree. Both you and Carol can come if you want.”
“Carol and Lydia get on like a house on fire.” My father laughed.
We went back to the living room with drinks and spent almost two hours talking and catching up. It was obvious how much Carol loved my dad and how much he loved her back. I remembered what Lydia said about starting a family.
My phone rang, interrupting a story about their wedding. They apparently also had a courthouse wedding. I checked and saw it was my grandfather. I had planned on speaking to him privately some other day and telling him the full truth about Hana. Hopefully this was just business.
“I have to take this,” I said apologetically and went out the front door to take the call in peace.
“Hello?”
“Taylor your mother has called me crying. What did you say to her?” He demanded.
I ground my teeth as I considered how I was going to respond. Everything seemed to have to happen today.
“I told her to never visit and that I would get a restraining order if she didn’t listen,” I said the truth calmly. I didn’t regret anything I told her that morning.
“How can you say something like that to the person who raised you?”
He wouldn’t be able to understand if all he thought was that we got into an argument over ten years ago. “Jiji. When I was a teenager, she abused me. I don’t want her around me or my future family.”
He was silent over the line. I thought he was processing what I told him. Instead I heard him sigh. “I had...my suspicions.”
My blood turned to ice. “What?”
“But I think that your mother has changed from so long ago,” he explained.
“You knew.” Part of my world was falling apart.
“Not exactly.”
“No, you just said you were suspicious, but you did nothing. I lived through that for years years and you could have done something about it. I was a kid you were supposed to be the adult. You let it happen.” I swallowed down my building rage. “Don’t ever bring Hana to see me again. And if you don’t want your reputation at my company tarnished, I would suggest limiting contact with me after you retire.”
“Taylor, you’re being unreasonable.” He sounded just like her. “She’s your mother, my daughter.”
“I’m your grandson.” But I knew now he picked his daughter over me years ago. All I was good for was making more heirs for his empire, I could do that for him even broken into pieces as I was. “Goodbye, Mr. Hirano.” I hung up the phone and put my phone in my pocket.
I stepped back inside. I smiled to cover up how shaken I was, but I found the smile settling as I sat back down. More and more weights were floating away. My father looked excited to see me, even though I had just gone. He looked like he couldn’t believe I was here.
I had cut out everyone in my life who didn’t care for me and I was left with so many people who did. I never expected to have so many, I didn’t ever think I would deserve it.
“What did he want?” Lydia asked.
“Oh. It was all just business. I’ll tell you about it later.”
Chapter 17: Lydia
Taylor was different. He didn’t change into a new person who suddenly was a graceful speaker and never worried. But I could tell
