Chapter 122 It Feels Like Fate
Byron felt strangely nervous to see his father again. He arrived at the farm and knocked on the door, hoping Teddy didn’t harbor a grudge for his recent lack of response to his emails. Of course, he couldn’t have known his father was possibly dying, but Byron still felt guilty about it.
Aitana greeted him like an old friend. They had already talked on the phone, and she had been gracious and welcoming, telling Byron he could come and stay as long as he wanted at the farm house.
“Come in,” she said, “Wow, you look so much like Teddy!”
“Thank you, I think that’s a compliment.” He winked in a friendly way.
“Of course it is,” Aitana said, smiling. “Make yourself at home, dear.”
“I know it’s a difficult time for you,” Byron said, “So if there’s any moment when you feel you just want to be alone with your family without house guests disturbing you, just let me know.”
“Byron, you are part of this family! I’ve been asking Teddy to get in touch with you for years, but only lately he finally got the courage to do it.”
“I could have reached out to him too,” Byron said, “but I didn’t realize how much he had changed.”
She showed him to the little guest room, where he dropped off his bags. Then they proceeded to the back of the house to see Teddy. Aitana opened the door onto the porch, and Byron nearly gasped in shock at how tired and frail his father looked. He sat in a rocking chair, warmed by the steady afternoon sun, but his face was bereft of all color except a pale greyish tinge.
Teddy opened his mouth as if to say something, but he was too overcome by emotion. Byron could hardly believe the change that had come over the man over such a short time period of a few weeks, from being lively and jaunty to a state where he could barely move. Even turning his head to look at the new arrival seemed to take quite an effort.
“I didn’t think you’d make it,” his father said at last.
When Byron came closer, he saw that Teddy’s eyes were brimming with tears.
“Hey, I’m here,” Byron said softly. “Don’t worry about a thing, dad.”
They spent a lot of time together on the back porch. Teddy liked being outdoors, and Aitana remarked that he became a little more energized when Byron was around.
Byron only went inside briefly to change out of his travel clothes while his father napped. When he returned to the porch, he found Teddy awake again, smiling wistfully.
“I guess I shouldn’t have done so much drinking,” Teddy said, chuckling. “Now my liver’s taking revenge on me. But I’m not complaining. I’ve had a good life. My wife is one in a million. She’ll carry on without me, and she’ll be just fine.”
“How did you ever find such a great woman?” Byron asked.
“You won’t believe me, but we met in a bar.” Teddy gazed into the distance, his eyes glazed over with long-ago memories. “You know, sometimes you meet someone, even if it’s in an unromantic place like a bar, you just have a feeling that you were meant to be together…”
Byron mused on this, recalling how he first met Nova Summers at a movie premiere. It seemed like he had that feeling of instantly falling in love, and Nova had meant so much to him, but the relationship failed at the first sign of trouble. He wondered if Teddy’s relationship with Sylvia was like that too.
Teddy shifted slightly in his chair, sitting up higher. “I know what you might be thinking: your mother was not ‘the one’ for me. But I think my marriage to her was meant to be too. Even if not every relationship lasts, even if you do something to screw it up the way I did, you’ll know that destiny made some special arrangements to bring you together. Nothing in the world could take away that feeling.”
Byron was suddenly brought back to that rainy night when he was about to take his own life. Was it fate that caused him to cross paths with the woman he would come to love? He never thought of it before, but now he wanted to believe it was true.
His fears that Emily would leave him, too intimidated by the heavy commitment of marriage, began to melt away. He realized just how much he had been trying to keep her committed, perhaps trying too hard. He knew now things would be different when he got back to Emily. He could breathe and let go, allowing destiny to take its course. If she wanted to leave, maybe that was meant to be too. But somehow he had a feeling she would stay.
He smiled, saying, “I’m glad you’re not too sick to dispense some good fatherly advice.”
Then he wondered how many moments like this they could have had if he had given Teddy a chance sooner, how many more they could have had if Teddy wasn’t dying. But he was truly grateful for the time they did have.
