“I’ve never heard of it.”
Richard stared at me.
“I have.”
Julia looked at her father.
“Dad?”
Richard sat down for the first time.
“My first restaurant was financed by a man named Arthur Merrick.”
The name meant nothing to me.
At first.
Then Emily whispered, “Merrick.”
I looked at her.
She was staring at the employment form.
At my father’s name.
Thomas Merrick.
I felt something inside me stop.
My father.
Thomas Merrick.
Richard looked at me slowly.
“That was your father’s name?”
I nodded.
“Yes.”
Julia whispered, “Oh my God.”
I turned toward Richard.
“What?”
He didn’t answer.
“What is it?”
Richard looked as shaken as I felt.
“Arthur Merrick had a younger brother.”
My mouth went dry.
“Thomas?”
“Yes.”
I sat down.
No.
It had to be coincidence.Merrick wasn’t the rarest name in the world.
There could be hundreds.
Thousands.
“My father repaired air conditioners.”
