She whispered, “Sorry.”
“No.”
He smiled despite himself.
“No, absolutely not.”
Evelyn began crying.
Daniel held out his good hand.
She took it.
After that she alternated.
Daniel in professional settings.
Dad when frightened.
Sometimes Dad when annoyed.
Those were Daniel’s favorite.
“Dad, you cannot repair the roof yourself.”
“I own a ladder.”
“That is not a qualification.”
“Your generation lacks courage.”
“My generation has contractors.”
Sophie usually sided with Evelyn.
Daniel accused them of conspiracy.
They accepted the charge.
The Friday dinners changed.
At first all three attended.
Then Sophie returned to Oregon.
Evelyn started traveling for work again.
Some Fridays Daniel still arrived alone.
But he no longer ordered two meals automatically.
The first time Megan asked, “Usual?” Daniel hesitated.
Then shook his head.
“One meatloaf.”
Megan smiled.
“Coming up.”
Daniel looked at the empty chair.
It no longer represented waiting.
Just furniture.
That was harder than expected.
For eighteen years, hope had given his week structure.
Losing the ritual felt almost like losing Maddy again.
He told Evelyn.
She understood.
The following Friday, she arrived unexpectedly at 6:14.
Daniel smiled.
“Thought you were in Seattle.”
“Flight landed an hour ago.”
“You came straight here?”
“I had a reservation.”
She nodded toward the empty chair.
Daniel laughed.
“Sit.”
She did.
But over time, the Fridays became less sacred.
Some weeks they met Thursday.
Some Saturdays.
Once they skipped a month because Evelyn traveled to Europe and Daniel took a fishing trip with Sophie.
That was healing too.
Love did not require ritual to prove itself anymore.
Evelyn eventually decided to investigate the adoption system beyond her own case.
Not publicly at first.
She funded an independent audit of closed interstate adoptions connected to Garner’s foundation.
Rachel warned the project could uncover more pain.
It did.
Seven additional cases contained serious irregularities.
Three families had been falsely recorded as abandoning children.
Two birth mothers had signed documents they believed were temporary guardianship orders.
One father had died never knowing where his son went.
Evelyn sat in her office after reading the reports.
Daniel found her there late.
“You knew this might happen.”
“I know.”
“That doesn’t help.”
“No.”
She looked at him.
“What do we do?”
Daniel remembered eighteen years at Marlowe’s.
“Find who can still be found.”
Carter Aerospace funded legal assistance.
Not public relations.
Evelyn forbade the communications department from putting her face on anything.
The program became the Mercer Family Records Initiative.
Daniel objected to the name.
“You’re the CEO.”
“That is exactly why my name isn’t on it.”
“Why mine?”
“Because you waited.”
He looked uncomfortable.
“So did you.”
“No.”
Evelyn shook her head.
“I didn’t know what I was waiting for.”
Daniel eventually accepted.
Families reunited.
Some did not.
One adult child refused contact with a biological parent.
Daniel struggled with that case.
Evelyn understood faster.
“Finding the truth doesn’t obligate anyone to rebuild the relationship.”
He frowned.
“If Maddy had refused me…”