Chapter 18 - Tracking Him Down
The next morning, I called Daniel into my office.
He arrived carrying coffee.
“You look terrible.”
“Thank you.”
“Long night?”
“Family archaeology.”
“That sounds expensive.”
“It might be.”
I handed him a page with my father’s old addresses.
“I want you to find someone.”
Daniel read the name.
“Thomas Hale.”
“My father.”
He looked up.
“You’ve never mentioned your father.”
“I’m aware.”
“Is he alive?”
“I don’t know.”
Daniel’s expression changed.
He sat down.
“You want me to find out?”
“Yes.”
“I can have someone run public records.”
“Nothing invasive.”
“Understood.”
“No contacting anyone yet.”
“Understood.”
He folded the paper once.
“Are you sure?”
“No.”
That seemed to surprise him.
I almost smiled.
“I’m still asking.”
He nodded.
“All right.”
Before he left, he stopped at the door.
“For what it’s worth, finding an answer doesn’t obligate you to do anything with it.”
I looked at him.
“Since when did you become philosophical?”
“Since you started asking me about childhood secrets and boilers in the same month.”
The search took several days.
During that time, ordinary life continued.
That mattered more than I expected.
The Cedar Street repairs moved forward.
Sarah completed her first contract for the company and sent an invoice so precise that accounting called to ask whether she had worked in finance.
Lily’s cardboard city gained a fire station, two parks, and what she called an “affordable ice cream shop.”
I began visiting less often.
Not because I wanted distance.
Because I noticed something uncomfortable.
I had entered their lives suddenly and started trying to solve everything.
The building.
The rent.
Sarah’s work.
My own history.
I had spent years believing efficiency was kindness.
See problem.
Fix problem.
Move on.
But people were not buildings.
Sometimes helping meant not taking over.
One afternoon, Sarah called me.
“I have a question.”
“That sounds dangerous.”
“Do you want to come to Lily’s school exhibit Friday?”
I paused.
“What exhibit?”
“Community project. They built model neighborhoods.”
“Is this related to the cardboard metropolis?”
“It has been renamed Lilyville.”
“Of course.”
“She asked if you could come.”
I looked at my calendar.
Friday at two contained a financing meeting I had rescheduled twice.
“I’ll be there.”
Sarah was quiet.
May you like
“You don’t have to cancel something important.”
“I said I’ll be there.”
