- 4.
Г
The train station was packed. I sat by the
window.
The train was about to leave.
My mind was blank, but I couldn’t help staring
at the platform.
Through the glass, I saw Mark push past the
ticket gate and run toward me.
“Lisa! Lisa, don’t go!”
My fingers twitched. I didn’t respond. I didn’t
look. The train started moving, the bumping
matching the pounding in my chest.
I was finally free.
I arrived in Chicago that evening.
The Chicago air felt familiar.
Stepping off the train, I was overcome with a
sense of longing.
I’d argued with my dad, determined to move
out to the country.
I wanted to get away from home, get away
from the woman who had taken my dad from
- me.
Dad had pulled strings to get me into
Northwestern.
But I’d married Mark, dropping out of school
and leaving without even saying goodbye to
Г
Last time, my relationship with Dad had
completely broken down. After he remarried, I
avoided him like the plague.
Mark and the town councilman had set me up
and sent me to that farm.
I never even sent Dad a letter before I died in
that barn.
He must have been devastated. Losing his
daughter like that.
My chest tightened.
I walked faster, almost running to the house I
remembered.
The house looked older, the paint peeling.
Г
“Lisa?” A voice called.
I looked up and saw Dad standing there, his
hair gray.
He’d lost weight, and he was stooped.
I hadn’t seen him in years.
“Dad…”
I lost it, running into his arms.
My sobbing got my stepmom’s attention.
She heard me crying and came running.
When she saw me, she looked surprised, then
nervous.
୮
“Lisa? What are you doing here?”
Dad was crying too.
He stroked my hair, his voice rough.
“What’s wrong, honey? Did someone hurt
you? Tell me.”
I cried harder.
I’d always thought Dad wouldn’t love me
anymore after he remarried.
I resented him, even when he was sick.
Now, I knew he was the only man who’d ever
truly love me.
I hugged him, holding on tight, feeling his
warmth.
I wiped Dad’s tears, trying to smile.
“I missed you, Dad. So much.”
Dad cried harder.
He held me tight, like I was a treasure he
thought he’d lost.
