Chapter 9 #3
“I think you have a sadder childhood than the guys did. He only beat her the one time, but other than that, I guess they had an all right relationship with their mother. But not their dad. But you didn’t do anything wrong, and they still cut you out of their lives.
” She told her that she really was all right with it the way it was happening for her.
“I think I’m going to find them and see what I can find out.
If you don’t want to know, tell me, and I’ll just look for myself. ”
“I don’t mind if you want to look. It would be nice to know if they’d had anymore children than myself.
When I left, they were in their late thirties, so still young enough to have another child.
” Meggie didn’t waste any time but went ahead and called in a search for them.
In a matter of minutes, she had a hit on them. “What did you find out?”
She was curious to know now what was found.
If someone had asked her even a week ago if she wanted to find out where her parents were, she’d tell them no.
Now she not only wanted to talk to them but wanted to know what they’d been up to all these years.
It had been nine years since she’d left home, and she was really curious if they had another child or not.
“Your mother is in the paper for her clubs.” Hailey didn’t know anything about what sort of clubs she’d be in. “One of them is the Rose Club. It’s called something else, but I know from Grannie that’s what it is. Your father still goes to work every day, too.” She gave her the address.
“That’s where they lived when I was a child.” She said that she figured as much. “Anything else? I am really curious if they had other children than me.”
“The article only talks about them. There is no mention of you at all. It’s been in the paper because your father has been working at the same job since he was fourteen, and they gave him an award for that.
” She said she didn’t even know what he did for a living.
“He’s the president of the company that his family has owned for more than six generations.
I guess they wanted to know what he was going to do when he retired. ”
Printing out the article so that she could read it, there was a mention of her in the article.
It said that she was off doing things that she’d always wanted to do, and they had lost contact with her.
She did wonder if they had run that in the paper since she’d lost her phone, but didn’t know the date on the article.
Finding out when it was, it was about the time she’d started working for the Golden Sheep.
Picking up her new cell phone, she called them before she lost her nerve.
“Hello, Dad.” She had had to go through the staff to get to talk to her dad. When she told the person who answered the phone who she was, she was told to wait one moment. That’s all it had been before her dad was on the line. “It’s Hailey Pennington. I’ve recently gotten married.”
He didn’t say anything, but she could hear his breathing in the background. When she asked him if it was all right that she’d called. He said it had been wonderful. She didn’t know what else to say, so she waited for him.
“I’ve been trying to reach you for the past five years.” She said that she’d lost her phone recently but hadn’t heard from him. “I’ve had an investigator looking for you, too. He was able to narrow down that you were working somewhere in Ohio.”
“I live here now.” She told him where they lived and Gleason’s name. “We were just married the day before yesterday. It’s been a quick romance.”
“Your mother passed away last year. I was trying to get in touch with you to let you know. The damned attorneys haven’t had any success in finding you either.
I just hoped that you’d call again.” She noticed that Meggie had left her in the office alone and was grateful for that.
“I miss you, child. I know you’re an adult now, but I miss you very much.
I guess we didn’t know how good we had it until the end of your mother’s life. She had cancer, you see.”
“I’m sorry to hear that. I truly am. Had I known, and you would have allowed it, I would have been there for the two of you.” He said he wanted her to come home now. “I have a husband who would be coming with me. Is that all right?”
“Of course. I would love to meet the man who took your heart. I was a selfish man, both your mother and I. It wasn’t until the end, there, like I said, that we realized what fools we’d been in letting you leave like you did.
I would be happy to see you both again. Anytime.
Soon would be good.” She asked him about the article in the paper.
“Oh, that. That was a fluff piece that your grandda ran. He and my mother are still alive, too. They’ve been pestering me to no end to get in touch with you.
And here you are calling me. I just don’t know what to say about that. ”
She let the tears fall down her cheeks as her father told her things that she’d not known about.
Hailey was sad that her mother had died, but she still had her father.
As they were making arrangements to meet up, she told him how she’d been working with the Rose Gold company.
That her husband was brother-in-law to Meggie Gold Pennington.
“I know that owner well. Grace Gold was her name. I heard that she retired some years ago and that her granddaughter is running it. Doing a damned fine job of it, too, or so I’m told. I don’t have anything to do with that end of the business. I just run my little department and go from there.”
“I bet it’s not little at all. I remember you having to go out in the middle of the night to fix things. I might not know what it is you do, but I know that you were good at it.” He told her that he was president of the company now that his father had retired. “I’m proud of you, Dad.”
“You’ve no idea how good it is to hear you say that, child. I wish you were here now. I’d give you the biggest hug to make up for the ones that I didn’t give you as a child. I was a right bastard for treating you as if you didn’t mean anything to us. If I had to do over, I’d be a better father.”
“You can be now.” He said there was time, especially if she was willing to give it to him. “I am if you’re willing.”
After getting off the phone over an hour later, she had made arrangements to go and see him and her grandparents.
Even if Gleason couldn’t make it, she’d go just so she could see her parent again.
It was well past the time, and she wanted to make up for the time lost. She’d also have to thank Meggie for finding him in the newspaper for her.
She didn’t know what she’d say to them when she met up with them, but she was willing to go see them.
As far as she was concerned, they were her dad and grandparents, and she wanted to see them.
It might go badly, but she wouldn’t know unless she tried, she told herself.
Not expecting anything, she went home to tell Gleason.
They’d go as soon as he could make arrangements to be off work for a few days.