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<\/figure>\n\n\n\nWhen we were finally discharged, there was only one place I wanted to go.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bruno\u2019s.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He was sitting outside when I pulled up. The moment he recognized my car, he stood so quickly that his cup nearly tipped off the table.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThere you are!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I climbed the porch steps with Brucie tucked against my chest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cReady to meet your newest reason to lose sleep?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He laughed and held out his arms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI\u2019ve been waiting long enough. Let me see her.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I carefully settled my daughter into his hands.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For a few seconds, he looked completely content. He studied her little nose, her cheeks, the dark hair peeking above her blanket.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Then she opened her eyes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
His expression changed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cGrandpa?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He didn\u2019t answer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
His gaze moved from one of Brucie\u2019s eyes to the other. The color drained from his face, and his hands began to shake.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I stepped closer and supported the baby beneath his arms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cBruno, are you feeling all right?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He looked up at me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cClover\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Something in his voice made my stomach tighten.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWhat\u2019s wrong?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He glanced down at Brucie again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cTell me who her father is.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I stared at him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cLuke. You know that.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWhat\u2019s his full name?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cLuke Sterling.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bruno shut his eyes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When he opened them, tears were gathering along his lashes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cOh, no,\u201d he whispered.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I gently took Brucie back.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWhat do you mean?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He lowered himself into his chair, moving with a sudden heaviness that frightened me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWhy didn\u2019t you ever mention his surname?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI didn\u2019t think it mattered. You never met him.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For a moment, he simply sat there with one hand pressed over his mouth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Then he asked, \u201cDo you have a photograph?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A cold feeling spread through me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I opened my phone and found a picture I had never quite managed to delete.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Luke and I were sitting together at a caf\u00e9, smiling across a little table. Looking at it now, I could barely recognize the woman who had believed everything was going well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I handed the phone to Bruno.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
His face tightened as soon as he saw it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cYou know him?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He remained silent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cPlease answer me.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bruno shook his head slowly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI don\u2019t know this young man.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThen why are you looking at him like that?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cBecause he reminds me very much of someone I knew.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWho?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He looked toward the house, then at the baby in my arms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI thought I would never have to revisit this.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cRevisit what?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He stood and motioned toward the door.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cCome inside.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I stayed where I was.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cGrandpa, you\u2019re scaring me.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He turned back.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI know. But there\u2019s something you need to see before I try to explain.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I followed him into the small room he used as an office.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He opened a cabinet, reached toward the back of a shelf, and brought out an old wooden box.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I had spent most of my childhood in that house, yet I had never seen it before.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Inside were faded photographs, folded letters, and documents with yellowing edges.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bruno searched through them until he found a photograph. He held it for several seconds before passing it to me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Three young adults stood together in the picture.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Their faces meant nothing to me at first.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Then I looked more closely at one of the men.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Dark hair. Familiar features. A resemblance strong enough to make me look twice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He wasn\u2019t Luke.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But I could understand why my grandfather had reacted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWho is this man?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bruno rested his hands on the desk.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cBefore we draw any conclusions, we need to check what\u2019s in these papers.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWhat conclusions?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cA resemblance isn\u2019t proof, Clover. Neither are your daughter\u2019s eyes.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI understand that. But you clearly think something is wrong.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He looked at Brucie, asleep now against my shoulder.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Then he met my gaze.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI\u2019m afraid Luke\u2019s appearance in your life may have had a reason you knew nothing about.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For a moment, I couldn\u2019t speak.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cYou think he deliberately found me?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI don\u2019t know,\u201d Bruno answered. \u201cAnd I won\u2019t tell you that he did until we have facts.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThen tell me what you do know.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
His eyes dropped to the box.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThere are things about our family I should have explained to you a long time ago.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I looked again at the unfamiliar man in the photograph.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
All those years, I had believed my grandfather and I had no secrets between us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Now he was standing in front of a box full of them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bruno reached inside once more and withdrew another envelope.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A name had been written across the front.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He turned it toward me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The moment I read it, the question I had been about to ask died in my throat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n