“Every birthday.”
“Every Christmas.”
“Every Mother’s Day.”
“She still waits.”
Jacob covered his face with one hand.
When he lowered it again, his own eyes were wet.
“He’ll be angry.”
“I don’t care.”
“He’ll think I betrayed him.”
“Jacob…”
I reached over and gently touched his arm.
“I’ve spent twenty-three years wondering if my brother died alone.”
“I’ve imagined him cold.”
“Hurt.”
“Scared.”
“I’ve imagined a thousand endings.”
“But never this.”
“My parents deserve one chance to see their son again.”
“My family deserves one chance.”
He looked at me for what felt like forever.
Finally…
He nodded.
For illustrative purposes only
“Okay.”
Relief flooded through me so suddenly I nearly broke down again.
“But I have to call him first.”
“He needs warning.”
“If we just drive there…”
Jacob shook his head.
“He might run.”
I believed him.
“Okay.”
Jacob unlocked his phone.
His hands trembled so badly that he missed the contact twice before pressing it.
The phone rang.
Once.
Twice.
Three times.
Finally…
“Hi, Dad.”
His voice immediately changed.
“Dad… please don’t hang up.”
A long silence followed.
I couldn’t hear Daniel’s voice.
Only Jacob’s.
“No.”
“It’s important.”
“Please just listen.”
Another pause.
I watched Jacob grip the phone tighter.
His knuckles turned white.
Then he looked over at me.
His eyes filled with tears.
“Her name is Claire.”
Silence.
Longer this time.
“So…”
“So she says she’s your sister.”
Nothing.
Absolutely nothing.
Nearly an entire minute passed.
Jacob simply listened.
His breathing slowed.
Then his shoulders relaxed.
Finally he spoke again.
“…Okay.”
“…Yes.”
“We’ll stay here.”
“…I understand.”
He ended the call.
For several seconds he simply stared at the black screen.
Finally he whispered,
“He’s coming.”
I could barely speak.
“He is?”
Jacob nodded.
“He said not to come to the house.”
“He wants to meet here.”
“When?”
“He said twenty minutes.”
Twenty minutes.
It sounded so short.
It became the longest twenty minutes of my life.
Neither of us spoke much.
There wasn’t anything left to say.
I watched every single car entering the parking lot.
Every sedan.
Every pickup truck.
Every SUV.
Each time headlights turned toward us, my heart jumped into my throat before settling again.
My palms were sweating.
I kept checking the time even though only another minute seemed to pass each time.
Jacob stared through the windshield.
Neither of us touched our phones.
Neither of us moved.
Finally…
A silver sedan turned slowly into the lot.
It didn’t drive directly toward us.
Instead, it parked several spaces away.
The driver’s door opened.
A man stepped out.
He looked older.
His hair showed streaks of gray.
There were lines around his eyes that hadn’t existed when he was seventeen.
His shoulders were broader.
His posture more cautious.
But before he even lifted his head…
I knew.
Every part of me knew.
It was Daniel.
Twenty-three years had changed his face.
They hadn’t changed the feeling.
He looked across the parking lot.
Our eyes met.
Neither of us moved.
For several endless seconds, we simply stared.
His eyes shimmered.
Mine blurred completely.
Then I heard a voice I had not heard since I was twelve years old.
“Claire…”
His voice cracked the moment he said my name.
I didn’t remember opening the car door.
I didn’t remember crossing the parking lot.
One second we were apart.
The next…
I was in my brother’s arms for the first time in twenty-three years.
