Later that day, Evelyn came down to the dish room.
“Lida, could you step into the office for a minute?”
Lida wiped her hands and followed. Arthur was there, looking oddly unsettled. He gestured to the chair opposite him.
“Where did you get that photo?” he asked.
“I’ve had it my whole life. My mother kept it,” Lida replied cautiously.
Arthur swallowed hard.
“The man in that photo… he’s my father.”
Lida blinked. “Your father?”
“Victor Miller,” Arthur said slowly. “I’ve never seen that picture before. My mom told me he had another family before us, but I didn’t know… I didn’t know he had a daughter.”
The words hit Lida like a wave.
“Wait. Are you saying… you’re Arthur? The son from the other town?”
Arthur nodded.
“I didn’t even know your name until now. My mom never talked about it. My father died when I was fifteen. I wish I could say he explained everything before he passed, but he didn’t. He just… looked sad whenever he thought I wasn’t watching.”
Lida sat in stunned silence. The man she’d despised her entire life — the one she thought had abandoned her — was Arthur’s father too. That made Arthur her half-brother.
