The second week of November, I called my father.
“Dad,” I said. “Can I take you to dinner? Just the two of us?”
He sounded surprised. “Sure, son. Where?”
“Taivera Luca. Thursday at seven.”
There was a pause. I heard him clear his throat.
“Michael,” he said quietly. “About my birthday. Vanessa said you couldn’t make it. That you had a work thing.”
I closed my eyes.
“Is that what she said, Dad?”
“She said you were busy.” He hesitated. “I missed you.”
“I’ll explain Thursday,” I said.
On Thursday night, I picked Dad up at his house in Bon Air. He was wearing his good tweed jacket. The one Mom bought him at Thalhimers for their thirtieth anniversary.
Halfway down Huguenot Road, he turned to me.
“Son,” he said gently. “Can I ask you something? Is your company in trouble? Vanessa mentioned some things. You know you can always come to me if you need help. I don’t care about the money. I just want you to be okay.”
I kept my eyes on the road.
“Dad,” I said. “In January, my company closed a $2.8 million deal. A shopping center in Midlothian. We cleared six hundred and forty thousand in profit.”
He turned all the way around in his seat and stared at me.
“Six hundred and forty thousand?”
“My house is paid off. My truck is paid off. I’ve got eleven employees. I’ve never borrowed one dollar from you in my life, and I never will.”
“But Vanessa said…”
“I can show you the filings, Dad,” I said. “Every one of them. Public records. Henrico County Circuit Court. Anybody could have looked them up. Nobody ever asked.”
My father was quiet for a long time.
“Why would she tell me you were broke?” he finally asked.
“I think you’re about to find out,” I said.
We pulled into the parking lot at Taivera Luca at 6:58.
Dad didn’t say anything as we walked across the lot. But he walked slower than usual. Like a man walking toward something he wasn’t sure he wanted to see.
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