Unexpected Family

He’d stood Stephanie up for countless dates during their brief marriage. How many meals had she eaten alone? When she married Tom, she’d never guessed he’d treat her the way her own mother did—unimportant. An accessory to his life.

It hurt. She squeezed her eyes shut. Still hurt.

If Tom wanted to be a father, he’d better commit all the way. If he broke Macy’s heart...

She was getting ahead of herself. She didn’t know his plans. Besides, Macy deserved to know who her dad was. But how should they break the news to her? And when?

* * *

“What do you mean you have a daughter?” Dad stopped pacing and spun to face Tom.

“What I said. I have a daughter.” Tom extended his arm across the back of the tan couch. He’d called Dad and driven straight to Granddad’s cottage from McDonald’s. “Imagine how I felt coming home from my run and finding Stephanie, all bruised up, on my porch.”

“A car accident, you said? She’s okay?”

“Yeah.”

Dad shook his head slowly, opened his mouth to speak, shut it and snapped his attention to Tom. “I’m a grandfather.”

“You sure are.”

“I have a granddaughter.” Wonder filled his tone. Tom nodded, completely understanding his father’s reaction. “Before I get too ahead of myself, Tommy, we need to consider a few things. I don’t know how to put this...but given what you told us about...well, you know, how can you be sure the girl is yours?”

“I’m sure. Stephanie didn’t cheat on me. I refused to believe her back then, told myself she wanted a future with that other guy, but I was wrong.” Tom crossed to the large picture window with its endless views of the lake lined with evergreens. The familiar landscape of his childhood grounded him. Filled him with resolve he’d lacked earlier. “Macy looks just like me. Undeniable. The eyes. She’s mine.”

“She’s got the Sheffield eyes? Imagine that.” Dad jingled his key ring. His Carhartt jacket, faded baggy jeans and work boots gave him the appearance of a man in his early fifties, not his midsixties. Even his thick silver hair didn’t age him. The man projected energy in motion at all times. “How old did you say she was?”

“Four.” Tom wiped his hand over the back of his neck. The rawness of his discovery had choked him up off and on for the past hour.

“I’m sorry, Tommy. This must be hard to take in. Are you happy about it? At all?”

The concern in his eyes strangled Tom’s throat even more. He coughed. “Yeah, Dad, I’m happy. I mean, a daughter—my daughter. It’s...hard to describe. When I looked at her face and saw how small and cute she was, all I wanted to do was pick her up, buy her the contents of a toy store and protect her from everything that could hurt her. I can’t explain. It was instant.”

“Good. That’s the way it’s meant to be.” Dad nodded. “What did you say her name was?”

“Macy.”

“Macy.” Dad tilted his head to the side. “You know she needs you, right? She needs her father.”

“I know.” The revelations had worn him out, and Tom returned to the couch, his legs splaying and his neck falling back against the cushions. “I still can’t believe Stephanie kept this from me.”

“I can’t, either.” Dad perched on the arm of the chair.

“How could she?” The loss of time with Macy hit him again. “How could she not tell me? I’ve been walking around in a daze all these years when I could have been spending time with my daughter.”

All the wasted weekends, the boring nights, the hours at work—the aimless battery inside him that could have been sparked. If only he’d known.

“It’s hard to understand. It will be harder to forgive.”

Tom let out a dry laugh. “Forgive her? I can’t. This is—”

“The hardest thing you’ll have to do.” Dad leveled the you-know-I’m-right stare he’d perfected years ago. Tom shifted his jaw but listened. “I’m not saying forgiveness has to happen immediately, but anger and bitterness won’t help Macy. Take my advice and give this to God as soon as possible or it will eat you alive.”

It was already eating him alive. And he knew all about regrets and the way they hollowed a person out. The day he’d signed the divorce papers had set in motion a chain of choices he regretted as much as his brief marriage. Now Stephanie and her secrets flooded him with the past he’d fought hard to forget.

“I mean it, Tommy.”

“You don’t know what you’re asking.”

“I know exactly what I’m asking. Forgiving isn’t pretending she didn’t hurt you. I’m not saying you act like nothing happened. Pray for her. Pray for the mother of your child.”

Tom shook his head. His neck was so tight, one more problem and it would snap.

Dad rose, his hand tapping against his thigh. “Do you want what’s best for Macy?”

“Of course.” He glared at him.

“Then find a way to forgive her mother.”

Tom jumped to his feet, his fists balled at his sides. “She didn’t think about me—did she, Dad? It’s common knowledge you don’t see other guys when you’re married!”

Dad moved closer and looked him in the eye. “I’m not taking her side. You have the right to be angry with her. She hurt you. But for Macy’s sake, you’ll have to work on a civil relationship. I don’t know what Stephanie is like anymore, but when you two got married, I saw an insecure girl who had never heard of Jesus and didn’t want to. I prayed for her then. I’m praying for her now.”

Tom ground his teeth together. He spent enough time with his worn Bible each night to know that what Dad said made sense. But it didn’t change the past. Tom would never get those early years with Macy back.

“She robbed me. She robbed me of my daughter. She robbed me of our marriage. You go ahead and pray for her. I’m not.” Even as he said it, Stephanie’s bruised face from earlier came to mind. The way she stood tall and maintained eye contact. Confidence infused her that hadn’t been there before.

The front door opened and his sister Claire breezed inside. “This is a treat. You got here early for once.”

Got here early? No. It couldn’t be Tuesday.

Dinner at the cottage. With the family.

“Uh,” Tom said, grabbing his keys. “I got to go.”

“No. You backed out last week. You’re staying.” She set a huge orange Tupperware bowl on the table. “Besides, Reed and I have barely seen you lately. How’s the training going?”

“Fine.” If he made a break for it, he might be able to skip dinner. But he stayed rooted. “It’s going fine.”

“Are you going to tell her or am I?” Dad raised his hands in a gesture of surrender. “I can’t keep a secret to save my life.”

Tom’s insides shriveled. It was true. Dad couldn’t keep a secret. He’d blown Sam’s surprise birthday party a mere two months ago. But...tell everyone? Tonight? After the divorce, his siblings had treated him like a trauma patient for months. Did Tom really want to blab the news now?

“What’s going on?” Claire raised an eyebrow. “You two are acting weird.”

If he didn’t say it, Dad would. Tom sighed. “I’ve got some news.”

“What kind of news?” Wariness hung on her words.