Brody (4 page)

Chapter Five

Maddie
was sweet. His mother had always told him that a person only got one Christmas
wish, so what a selfless thing for Maddie to use hers on him. He opened up the
slip of paper she’d given him and looked at the number. He’d keep it safe
because he
was
going to contact her.
If this whole thing didn’t work out, he would need someone to talk to because
he couldn’t face it alone, and he didn’t want to burden his dad.
 
Brody tapped his fingers. If he hadn’t been
so picky, he would have had a wife and family to help him with this ordeal. He
shook his head. The thought of leaving a wife and kids so young all alone…well,
maybe it was best he’d never found the right woman.

What
if he died alone? That thought scared him most of all. Could he be bashful
enough to ask Maddie, an almost total stranger, to hold his hand until he
passed? A tear ran down his cheek. He was going to die, and he hadn’t done half
the things he’d always wanted to.

He
pulled out his mother’s diary. His last hope of seeing forty was here within
its pages.

Brody
thumbed through it. His mother hadn’t left anything to the imagination about
her encounters with the three men. He guessed everyone was shocked when they
thought about their parents having sex, like it never happened or something.
Reality was they were sexual creatures just like their kids.

Mike
Saunderson had been the first man she’d met at the commune, and according to
her entries, he’d grown up in Riker’s Creek. He’d probably be in his seventies
now. Brody leaned back on the chair in the motel. Maybe he should reconsider
finding these men just in case they didn’t want to be reminded of the past or
let their families know about their relationship with his mother—that they’d
lived in a commune and fathered a child. “Let sleeping dogs lie,” as the saying
goes.

Brody’s
doctor had told him there was always a chance that a total stranger might be a
match, and she’d added him to the national donor list. He might get lucky.
However, bottom line was family was his best hope. A stranger’s kidney might
work for a while, but then there was the chance he could reject it. He couldn’t
go through all this again. Part of him was scared to be opened up again. The
first surgery had been hell. Besides the odd cold or flu, he hadn’t been sick a
day in his life, so being in the hospital had been a nightmare.

Now
something else scared him—the thought of coming face to face with a stranger
who was his real father. He glanced at his watch. If he was going to visit Mike,
then he should get on with it and not waste valuable time. He stood and pulled
on his jacket, glancing in the mirror to see if he looked half decent. He
guessed Mike would be in for a shock.

Brody
locked the door and headed toward his car. Snow would be falling shortly. He
could smell it, feel it, and in a way, it would be welcomed to give everywhere
that true holiday feel. He got into the car, started the ignition, and headed
out of the lot. He passed the center of town where a tall spruce tree stood,
and a couple of people were stringing lights around it.

If
he’d done his research correctly, Mike lived on the outskirts of Riker’s Creek.
Well, he hoped he had the right Mike Saunderson. He was the only one with that
name in town. He knew people didn’t always stay in one spot all their lives,
but the chances of this being another Mike Saunderson had to be slim.

Brody
hit the accelerator and turned onto the main road. Riker’s Creek wasn’t a huge
place, and the edge of town came up before he knew it. He indicated left and
turned down Oak Street. Number 456 was on the left.
 
A dark truck sat in the driveway. He hoped Mike
was retired, at home, the man who’d fathered him, would agree to get tested and
be a perfect match, so he wouldn’t have to go through this two more times.

He
decided not to park in the driveway, but instead pulled up by the curb. He took
a deep breath and got out of the car before he lost his nerve. He walked up to
the front door and was about to ring the bell, but then he froze, his hand
hovering over the bell like it was suddenly paralyzed.

He’d
rehearsed what he was going to say over and over again, but now he didn’t think
he could go through with this or have the nerve to ask a man outright if he’d
gotten his mother pregnant and would he be willing to take a DNA test to find
out.

Brody
was about to turn and leave, but realized he wasn’t here to sell something. This
was life or death. He pressed the bell and waited. A woman who looked to be in
her late sixties answered the door.

“Hi,
I’m Brody Williams, and I hope I’ve come to the right place. I’m looking for
Mike Saunderson.”

“He’s
my husband.”

“I’d
like to talk to him. Would he be at home?”

“Yes,
he’s working out back if you want to walk around the side of the house. He’s in
his workshop at the side of the property.”

“Thank
you.”

She
closed the door and then Brody saw her at the window peering out at him as he
went around the corner. He looked at her. She pointed to the back of the house.
Brody nodded and kept walking. He saw a shed up ahead, approached it, and
tapped on the door.

“Mr.
Saunderson,” he called out.

The
door swung open, and there stood a man with grey hair and green eyes, and Brody
tried to ascertain if he could see any resemblance to him.

“Can
I help you?” he asked.

“Yes,
I’m Brody Williams, and I need to talk to you about a private matter.”

“Private,
that’s sounds interesting. You want to step inside so I don’t let any of the
warm air escape.”

“Sure.”

Brody
took off his gloves and walked into the shed, which looked like Santa’s
workshop. Mike walked over to a bench where he was making a doll’s crib.

“I
have to get this finished soon. It’s for my granddaughter.”

If
he was Brody’s dad, that would mean he had a niece.

“She’s
been begging for one of these all year,” continued Mike. “You want to sit down
and fill me in on what this private matter is about? Hope you don’t mind me
continuing to work as we chat.”

“No,
no, you go ahead.” Brody pulled up a stool and sat, watching in awe as Mike
whittled the wood for the crib’s rail.

“I’m
hoping that you’re the right Mike Saunderson.”

“The
right one. Don’t tell me I’ve been left a fortune in someone’s will.”

“No,
nothing like that. I was wondering if you remember a woman by the name of
Kathleen Paul.”

Mike
dropped the chisel he was holding. Brody took that to mean he probably did.

“Kathleen
Paul, yes, yes, of course I do.” He looked at Brody. “You’re her son, aren’t
you? Now I can see the resemblance, because you have her beautiful blue eyes.”

“I
am.”

Mike
reached out and squeezed Brody’s hand. “Tell me, how is she? I’d hazard a guess
she’s still a beauty.”

“She
passed away two years ago. Pancreatic cancer,” said Brody.

Mike
squeezed his hand harder. “I’m so sorry. I only wish she’d kept in touch. I
would have come by to visit with her. And your father, is he still alive?”

“Yes,
but actually, that’s why I’m here.”

Mike
knitted his eyebrows together. Brody stood. This was the part where he had more
explaining to do, and despite the chill in the shed, sweat broke out on his
forehead and the back of his neck.

“My
mother married a man named Edward…Ted Williams. I grew up thinking he was my
father, but about eight months after Mom passed, I got really sick too.”

Brody
paused and swallowed. He began pacing in the small space and accidently kicked
over what looked like a toy train. He leaned over, picked it up, held it, and
guessed he’d hold onto it for something to focus on while he finished the
story.

“They
found out that one of my kidneys was failing, so the doctors had to remove it.”

“I’m
so, so sorry, and so soon after your dear mother’s death.”

Brody
nodded and ran his hands over the train thinking that if this was indeed his
father, he hadn’t inherited any of his woodworking skills. Brody couldn’t even
put up a shelf without it falling down within the week.

“My
other kidney’s failing too, and I need to find a donor. I asked my father if
he’d get tested to see if he’s a match, and that’s when he revealed to me that
he’s not my biological father.”

“I
think I know why you’re here,” said Mike.

“My
mother left a diary about her time in the commune here in Riker’s Creek.”

“Yes,
the commune. Seems like it was another lifetime ago. So you know that I was
only one of your mother’s lovers there?”

Brody
nodded. “You’re the first man I’ve spoken to.”

“You
want me to get tested?”

Brody
nodded. “First, we have to establish if you’re even my father.”

Mike
slapped both of his hands on his knees. “Well, this is the biggest surprise of
my life. Your mother left the commune in a big hurry one day. We didn’t know
why, but maybe her pregnancy explains it. If you’re my child, then I’ll have a
son at last. I have three daughters.”

Brody
smiled. He might have three half-sisters. Wow.

There
was a knock on the door, and the woman who’d greeted him when he’d first
arrived looked in on them.

“Just
wondering if I can get you anything to drink?” she asked looking at Brody.

“No,
that’s fine, thank you,” said Brody.

“Nonsense,”
said Mike standing. “Let’s go inside the house because we have more catching up
to do, and then we’re taking Brody out for meal at the Big Horn Steakhouse.”

“You
really don’t have to.”

“Oh,
but I do,” said Mike.

****

Maddie
was supposed to be on her honeymoon. It meant she had two weeks off from school
and three more weeks after that for the holidays. She had lots of time now that
she wasn’t lying around on a beach and then coming back home to unwrap wedding
gifts and send out thank-you cards. Time was the last thing she wanted.

Her
parents had left six phone calls. Mark, eight. She definitely didn’t want to
talk to him ever again. Her parents would have to wait a day or two longer,
because she wasn’t up to explaining what happened to them. They’d thought a lot
of Mark, had welcomed him into the family. On the drive home, she’d debated
whether or not to tell them the true reason behind her fleeing. She now decided
she would come clean and let them know he’d been the one who’d ruined things
and not her.

She
poured herself some herbal tea, curled up on the couch, and tossed the throw
over her. One thing that helped take away the sting of yesterday was last night
and being with Brody. She wondered how he was getting on and if he’d spoken to
the first of the three men yet.

How
brave of him. She admired him for his obvious strength in setting out to find a
donor and hopefully prolonging his life. Maddie couldn’t imagine facing such a
thing. In fact, Brody’s problem made hers look minuscule.

She
closed her eyes and sent good thoughts out into the universe for him.

****

Brody
had insisted twice that there wasn’t a need to buy him an expensive meal, but
Mike wouldn’t take no for an answer. Brody sat watching the TV while Mike and
his wife, Ada, had retreated to the kitchen where he’d filled her in on who
Brody was and why he’d come to their home.

He’d
thought perhaps she’d be angry, angry at both Mike and Brody, but she’d simply
walked over to him and hugged him. She’d then sat down and shared photos of the
family, her three girls and their children, who might also be Brody’s family.

“And
what do you do for a living?” asked Ada while the waiter cleared away their
plates.

“I’m
a cowboy. I love the outdoors and hope to have a ranch of my own one day.”

“And
you will, Brody, you will,” said Mike, slapping him on the back.

“How
does all this DNA testing work?” asked Ada.

“It’s
not painful or intrusive—just a swab of the tissues in your mouth, and they’ll
see if Mike’s my dad,” said Brody.

“He’s
always wanted a son. I know he loves our girls, but he’s always wanted to throw
a football around and roughhouse with a boy.”

Mike
shrugged his shoulders. “Guess Brody’s too big to do that with me now,” said
Mike.

“I
can’t believe my Mike lived in a commune. You said it was a ranch you worked
on,” said Ada, turning to her husband.

“I
didn’t want you or your parents thinking I was some sort of hippie that hadn’t
done a day’s work and couldn’t provide for you. Did your mother ever mention it
to you or us?”

Brody
shook his head.

“By
the way, if I am your dad and a match, I’ve already made up my mind, my
kidney’s yours. I think I owe that to your mother.”