“I’m sorry for what you went through.”
He lifted a shoulder. “The point is I recognized what was happening to you, Linc. I saw the signs. When your mom died, you changed. The happy kid I knew disappeared, and a frightened, standoffish person replaced him. I tried to let you know I understood, but I got it when you refused to get close to anyone but Sunny. Your father was a force unto himself and, frankly, scary. Still, when I could, I tried to let you know you had a friend.”
“Like the day in the diner.”
He met my gaze, both of us thinking of that day. “Your father was so angry, and I knew if he found you hanging with Sunny, hell was going to rain down on you. I heard him, more than once, talk about his plans for you and that they didn’t include some low-level waitress.”
I was surprised at his words, and it must have shown on my face.
“I was a clerk in the dry cleaners and the drug store. A nothing to your father. Invisible. He would be on his phone talking, and I could hear him. He never even noticed me most of the time.” He barked out a laugh. “Unless he wanted his dry cleaning carried to his car, then he’d snap his fingers and tell me to get it done. But that was the only time he ever spoke to or took notice of me. I can guarantee if I passed him on the street, he’d have no clue who I was.”
“Yeah, he was like that.”
“So, I understood your wariness, Linc. I know a lot of kids thought you were a snob and too good for them, but I knew you were just trying to survive.” He met my gaze. “And protect Sunny.”
“I was.” I sucked in a long breath. “Thank you for being a friend, even when I wasn’t.”
“You were okay. You kept to yourself, but you were never a jerk.” He paused. “Until you left her.”
I rubbed my eyes. “I know how it looked.”
“Your father?” he guessed.
“Yeah.” I laughed bitterly. “My father.”
Then I did something I never thought I would do. I told the truth about where I had been and what I had done. He listened in silence, whistling low when I finished.
“Wow. He was some piece of work.”
I acknowledged his words with a nod. I felt exhausted after telling him. Drained. But I was done hiding. I was also done talking about myself.
“What about you, Michael? What has life been like for you?”
For the first time, I saw a cloud of sadness pass over face, and his smile faded.
“I’m still here,” he stated.
“Here, as in Mission Cove? Or the world in general?” I asked.
He scrubbed his face. “Both, I suppose. There were a few years I wanted to leave Mission Cove, but the bottom line was, despite your father and his underhanded ways, I loved this town.” His voice dropped. “I loved Molly Jones, too.”
I remembered they had dated all through high school. “And now?”
He was quiet for a moment, filling his cup, then taking a long sip. “She got pregnant the last year of school. We got married.”
I kept silent, knowing there was more to his story.
“It was hard to give up on my dreams. I wanted to go to university—into business management. But I had a family I needed to look after.”
“It must have been difficult.”
“At times. But my son, Jesse, and my wife made up for it. Then a few years later, we had a daughter.” He hesitated, his eyes blinking rapidly. “My mom died not long after Jenny was born.”
“I’m sorry, Michael.”
He cleared his throat. “Not long after that, I was able to buy the dry-cleaning business from Old Man Tate. Molly got a job at the day care, and things were going good for us. Some unknown benefactor gave a bunch of people in town the chance to buy their buildings outright—dirt cheap.” He cocked his head, studying me. “Happened after your father died. Know anything about that?”
I shook my head, trying to look surprised and puzzled. That had given me a lot of pleasure. Giving back to the people my father had stolen from for years, but I intended to keep it anonymous.
“Interesting turn of events,” I mused.
He looked skeptical. “Isn’t it just?”
“So, you bought the building?” I asked, already knowing the answer.
“I couldn’t refuse at the price and terms it was being offered for. Luckily, people still need dry cleaning and laundry done, so we stayed busy. Not as busy as I need at times, but I get by.”
I sensed there was more. “Good. So, things are going well for you.”
“They were. Then Molly got sick.”
The way he stated it, I knew Molly hadn’t survived.
“Michael, I’m sorry to hear that.”
This time, he didn’t try to hide his emotions. “Breast cancer. She fought so hard, but in the end, it won.”
“How long ago?”
He wiped away the tears under his eyes. “Almost two years.”
“So now you’re a single dad, running a business and looking after your family.”
“Yeah. But I have great friends—” he indicated the kitchen with a jerk of his head “—including Sunny. She and Molly got closer after you were gone, and I know how much Sunny misses her as well. She’s been a great help, and my kids love her. I have other people, and they help out too.” He studied me in silence. “The town has changed, Linc. It’s a great place—better than you remember it. Thanks to the unknown benefactor, the community has become tight. We’re prospering.”
“Good.” I cleared my throat of the lump that had grown as Michael spoke. He had lost so much in his life, and I wanted to do something to help him. I would have to figure out what I could do.
“Do you have pictures of your kids?”
A genuine smile crossed his face, and he spent the next ten minutes showing me the pictures he had on his phone. Baby and toddler pictures. Family photos. Jesse and Jenny growing up. Michael and Molly, young on their wedding day and maturing over the years. One of Molly and the kids, her illness evident, but the smile on her face still bright and filled with love.
“That was about three weeks before she died,” he explained. “She spent as much time with the kids as she could.”
I handed him back the phone. “I’m sure they miss her. I’m sure you do as well.”
“Every second of every day.”
“Your kids are lucky to have you.”
He scrubbed a hand over his face. “I try to be the dad I need to be for them. A mom too.” He smiled ruefully. “I don’t think I’ll ever get the hair thing right for Jenny, but god knows I try.” He mimicked making a ponytail in the air. “I never seem to get it in the right place, and my hair clips fall out.” He grinned. “Luckily, Sunny’s place is across the street, and she often steps in and helps.”
I felt unease drip into my chest. Did Michael have feelings for Sunny? He spoke of her with great affection.
How close, I wondered, was she to his family?
To him?
Sunny had a life. An entire life I knew nothing about. Ten years of memories I wasn’t a part of.
Had my arrival back in town, in her life, been a mistake? Was I robbing someone else of their happiness by trying to seek my own? I opened my mouth to ask when my phone beeped, and I glanced at the screen. Seeing the message, I stood.