Chapter 13 - Meeting Laura Became Caleb's Choice
Caleb decided he wanted to meet his mother.
Nobody scheduled it for him.
His therapist suggested neutral ground.
Laura drove from Pittsburgh to Indianapolis.
Helen offered to bring Caleb.
He said no.
He wanted Grant to drive him.
Grant stared at him.
“Why?”
“Because I need you to stop being the reason I don’t see her.”
The request hurt.
Grant agreed.
They drove forty minutes to a quiet park in silence.
Laura waited beside a picnic shelter.
Caleb recognized her immediately.
Not because he remembered her face clearly.
Because she had his eyes.
Blue-gray.
She did not run toward him.
She stayed where she was.
Caleb appreciated that.
Grant stopped the car.
“You want me to stay?”
“No.”
Grant nodded.
Caleb opened the door.
Then paused.
“Dad.”
Grant looked at him.
“If I like her, that doesn’t mean everything you did for me disappears.”
Grant’s face tightened.
Caleb continued.
“And if I’m angry at her, that doesn’t mean what you did was okay.”
Grant looked down at the steering wheel.
“I know.”
It was the first time he said those words without adding anything afterward.
Caleb got out.
Laura waited until he reached her.
“Hi,” she said.
“Hi.”
She started crying.
Caleb did not.
Not yet.
They spent ninety minutes together.
Laura answered questions.
Some answers hurt.
Some disappointed him.
None fixed childhood.
When Caleb returned to Grant’s car, his father did not ask whether Laura had said anything about him.
He asked only:
“Are you okay?”
Caleb looked out the window.
“I don’t know.”
May you like
Grant nodded.
For once, he allowed his son to have an answer Grant could not control.
