He gave a small shrug.

“He just said she was the only woman he ever truly loved.”

The sentence hit me with unexpected force.

“What happened?”

“I’ve asked him a hundred times.”

“And?”

“He always says he lost her because he waited too long to tell her the truth.”

A painful pressure formed in my chest.

Jordan continued, unaware that each word was loosening something I had held together for years.

His gaze dropped to the bear again.

“Just this.”

Stormy smiled.

“That’s actually kind of romantic.”

Jordan laughed.

“When I graduated high school, he handed it to me.”

A faint smile touched his face.

“He said, ‘One day you’ll love somebody enough to understand why some things are impossible to throw away.’”

He continued looking at the bear.

“I didn’t understand what he meant until tonight.”

I lowered my eyes to the plate so neither of them would notice my expression.

Twenty-two years before, Richard had been preparing for his final exams while I completed the last stitch.

“What if it brings you bad luck?” I’d joked, handing him the tiny bear.

He had immediately fastened it to his backpack.

“Impossible.”

Then he kissed my forehead.

“Because it came from you.”

Stormy gently bumped Jordan’s arm.

“I think your dad sounds sweet.”

Jordan smiled.

His affection for his father was unmistakable.

Whatever had happened between Richard and me, he had become a good parent.

That realization filled me with pride, grief, and more unanswered questions than I could manage.

I carried the dessert plates away before anyone could notice my trembling hands.

While standing at the sink, I heard Stormy laugh.

Then Jordan said something behind me.

“Why?” Stormy asked.

“He was supposed to pick me up after dinner.”

Jordan took out his phone.

A moment later, his eyebrows pulled together.

“That’s strange.”

“My battery died.”

Stormy checked the clock.

“Maybe he’s already outside.”

Jordan crossed to the front window.

Instead of looking relieved, he frowned.

At that moment, my phone began ringing.

The number was unfamiliar.

I answered.

“Hello?”

A man responded.

The voice was older and roughened by time, but I recognized it instantly.

“I’m sorry to bother you. My truck broke down about two streets over.”

“My son Jordan said he was having dinner with Stormy.”

A pause followed.

It lasted too long.

My hand tightened around the phone.

“Yes.”

His next breath trembled.

“If it’s not too much trouble…” Another pause. “Could someone possibly pick me up?”

I shut my eyes.

Twenty-two years vanished in one heartbeat.

I would have recognized that voice anywhere.

Richard.

“Dad?” Jordan asked.

I forced myself to swallow.

“Your father’s truck broke down.”

Stormy rose immediately.

“I can drive you.”

I spoke before she could move.

The response came far too quickly.

“I mean…” I drew a steadying breath. “It’s only a couple of streets away. I’ll take you.”

Stormy frowned at me.

“You don’t have to.”

“I don’t mind.”

“Thank you.”

We reached the location in under five minutes.

The car remained mostly quiet.

Stormy and Jordan spoke softly about a restaurant they wanted to visit, while I held the steering wheel so tightly my knuckles lost their color.

Each turn brought me nearer to the man I had spent years training myself not to imagine.

Jordan pointed through the windshield.

“There.”

A silver pickup truck stood along the roadside with its hazard lights flashing.

A man beside it was speaking to someone from roadside assistance.

His back faced us.

His dark hair was now silver at the temples.

Yet the way he stood—with one hand inside his pocket and the other resting on the truck—was familiar before he turned around.

Jordan climbed out first.

“Dad!”

The man looked up.

Then his eyes met mine through the windshield.

The mechanic spoke to him.

Richard did not respond.

For several long seconds, nothing existed beyond that quiet road in Massachusetts.

Stormy glanced at him, then at me.

“Mom?”

Neither Richard nor I stepped forward.

Age had changed him.

Life had placed its marks across his face.

The effortless confidence I remembered had faded into something restrained and cautious.

“Doron.”

Hearing my name spoken in his voice nearly broke through every defense I had built.

Jordan stared between us.

“You two know each other?”

Stormy gave a confused little laugh.

“I think that’s becoming the understatement of the century.”

Richard’s gaze shifted toward the blue bear hanging from Jordan’s bag.

When he looked at me again, recognition settled over his face.

I nodded once.

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