Page 96 of Making the Save
“Don’t get romantic about it, Dad,” Wyatt said, and handed him a glass of whiskey.
“Oh, don’t spoil my fun,” Danny said. He took a sip and smacked his lips. Wyatt went back to the kitchen and put a tea bag in my favorite mug and put the kettle on. “A man needs to get romantic about some things and why shouldn’t it be love?”
“I’m a romantic too,” I said with a laugh. “I mean, I write enough songs about it.”
“I love how it comes out of nowhere, you know?” he asked and I nodded, because I understood now how that could happen.
“Dad,” Wyatt said in a warning kind of voice.
“Come on now, son. You know I’m right,” Danny said. “Look at me and your mother.”
“Oh, how did you two meet? If it’s okay for you to talk about her,” I asked.
“I love talking about her, Sydney. Even if it hurts my heart.”
I sat on the couch, legs folded underneath me. Wyatt had told me a little about the hard times with his mom. I thought it might be nice to hear the good parts too. To know a part of this woman who had a hand in making Wyatt who he was.
She’d raised two good men. I knew that much.
Wyatt sat next to me on the couch and if it was any other time, I’d curl right up to him. But after the argument we’d had and the arrival of his dad, I wasn’t sure what Wyatt wanted. He was looking down at his glass of whiskey and giving me nothing, so I stayed on my side of the couch.
“I met Wyatt’s mother on a cold, miserable, wet night in October,” Danny said. “It was pouring rain, sleeting actually, and she was walking along the side of the road, alone, in a coat too thin to protect her. Her arms wrapped around her so hard they practically circled her body twice.”
“What are you talking about?” Wyatt interjected. “Mom said you met at the diner in downtown Barre. She’d just moved to Vermont and got a job as a waitress at Hometown’s where you ate breakfast every day.”
Danny’s eyebrows, which were nearly as fuzzy as his head of hair and beard, dipped over his nose. “Who’s telling this story?”
Wyatt sighed and rolled his eyes. “Fine.”
Danny turned to me. “What Wyatt said is true. Belinda was a waitress in my town’s local diner. She never wanted you to know about the night in the rain. She was proud and didn’t want toupset you boys. So we always told you the easier version of the truth.”
He sighed and I could tell he was struggling to keep his emotions in check. I reached over and rested my hand on his forearm. He patted my hand, took a sip of his whiskey and continued.
“Anyway, it was pitch dark, just on the outskirts of town. I was coming back from a game. I coached the high school hockey team back then. I saw her walking on the side of the road and I pulled over to see if she needed a ride. Of course, she said no. It was plain as day, she was scared out of her mind. Back then, I looked pretty much how I do now, except I was more of a black bear than polar bear, so I understood her concern. Still, I couldn’t just leave her there. What if the next guy who drove by wasn’t nice like me? So I just slowed down alongside of her and tried to keep pace with her. I rolled down my window and explained, I wouldn’t get out of the car, but I’d escort her into town. And I tossed my coat out the window for her. She said thank you and I just started talking. I told her my name, what I did for a job. Eventually, she must have figured out I wasn’t going to hurt her because she stopped walking, and when she did, I stopped too. Surprised the heck out of me when she got in my truck. Asked her where she was going and she said she needed to find a cheap motel room. Instead, I took her to Granny’s. Granny is this miserable old woman, mean as a possum, but would rent out rooms in her big old house to people who needed a safe place to stay. Granny took one look at Belinda and immediately went into rescue mode.”
“Wait? Mom stayed with Granny?” Wyatt questioned. “Granny hated everyone in town.”
“Everyone in town except your mother and me. Anyway, she got her all set up for the night and Granny told me Belinda would need a job. I was to pick her up first thing in themorning and take her to Hometown’s because they were always looking for waitresses. Sue Ellen had left town to be with her biker boyfriend. Something that everyone thought was a huge mistake, but there was no telling Sue Ellen anything when she got her mind set on something-”
“Dad,” Wyatt interjected. “We’re talking about Mom.”
“So we are. I have a tendency to wander in my stories.”
I shrugged. “I have a tendency to wander in my songs. Critics say it’s because I’m not disciplined, but I just like to see where the story goes.”
“I adore you already,” Danny said, and I matched his wink with one of my own. “Anyway there’s not much left to it. I picked Belinda up the next morning and drove her to Hometown’s. She didn’t say a word on the drive over. I walked her inside, introduced her to Betty and she was hired on the spot. And I knew right then and there.”
“Knew what?” I asked.
“That she was mine. To have and to hold, in sickness and in health. She was mine.”
I sighed. It seemed so improbable, but there wasn’t a thing about that story that didn’t sound absolutely true.
“And when did you find out that she’d left behind another family? Another son?” Wyatt’s voice had an edge and I reached past all his Do Not Disturb signs to put my hand on his shoulder. It was hard as a rock and I stroked him until he calmed down.
Danny tilted his head. “Son, I ate at the counter of Hometown’s every day for almost a year before she would even agree to have a cup of coffee with me. It wasn’t until after you were born that she finally told me. At that point, I did reach out to a lawyer to contact the child’s father. To talk about joint custody. He basically told me to go fuck myself. He was the child’s parent and it wasn’t likely a court was going to give custody to a woman who…who…”
“Abandoned her son,” Wyatt said flatly.