She could count on one hand the number of times she'd seen Grandma Nora cry in her entire life. The only time was when Hilda had gotten into a top high school but started talking about dropping out because of the staggering cost of tuition and textbooks. Her grandmother had slapped her across the face, tears streaming down her own cheeks.
Then she'd pulled Hilda into her arms and sobbed. That night, Grandma Nora had gone deep into the back of the old cabinet and brought out a tin box. Inside was a small gold locket engraved with the character for "Summers."
That was the first time Hilda had ever touched the secret of her own origins.
But reality didn't leave room for dwelling on it. The little locket became numbers in a bank account, carrying her through high school and then through college.
She didn't know when her father had come in. He picked up the photograph of her and Grandma Nora from the table and studied it for a long time.
"I searched for you for over twenty years."
His eyes were rimmed with red. "After your mother passed, I was a wreck for a long time. I neglected you, and that's how they got the chance to take you."
Hilda looked at the silver threading through his hair. After a long silence, she asked, "How come you never remarried?"
This enormous house was so empty. The housekeeper only came on Sundays. Every other day, her father lived here alone.
He blinked, then smiled. "I was waiting for you."
"I was afraid a stepmother wouldn't treat you right, so I stayed single. And then after you went missing, I had even less heart for it. All I could think about was finding you and bringing you home."
Hilda's nose stung.
After Grandma Nora's death, after the man she loved betrayed her, after the car accident left her lying on the operating table, she had genuinely wanted to die.
It was her father who had kept her alive. He'd flown in equipment from overseas, tracked down the best surgeons from every corner of the country, and fought with everything he had to pull her back.
She owed it to him to live well from now on.
Calvin wiped his eyes, then said suddenly, "That young man from the Fairmont family came looking for me just now."
"He seemed like he knew you pretty well. Kept asking if he could see you. Do you two know each other?"
Hilda's chest seized. The color drained from her face.