Retired.
Widowed.
And very much alive.
But that was not the strangest part.
He already knew Daniel existed.
Three months before Robert d/i/e/d, Robert had contacted him.
Daniel nearly dropped the phone.
“Robert called you?”
Jonathan explained that Robert had reached him after years of searching.
He told Jonathan he might have a son.
Jonathan had wanted to contact Daniel immediately.
Robert asked him not to.
“Why?” Daniel said.
I could hear Jonathan through the phone.
“Because he said the truth belonged to you, not to him.”
Robert had given Jonathan only one instruction.
Wait.
Wait until Daniel found Evelyn’s letters.
Wait until Daniel chose to know.
“And how did you know I found them today?” Daniel asked.
Jonathan laughed softly.
“I didn’t.”
“Then why did you call?”
“I’ve called that old number every October fifteenth for three years.”
I frowned.
October fifteenth.
My birthday.
