Chapter 4 - Tony's Garage
Tony lived forty minutes out, in a house with a repair bay built onto the back.
When we pulled in, he came out wiping his hands on a rag. He looked older. Thinner. Jumpy. Then Josie climbed out of the truck, and he went completely still.
She noticed. "You know who I am."
Tony nodded. "Yeah."
I held up the letter.
He walked us into the bay and pulled the door down behind us.
"Start talking," I said.
"My little sister is Renee." He said it slow. "Sixteen years ago she was pregnant. Almost nobody knew."
Josie crossed her arms. "Was she my mother?"
Tony looked right at her. "Yes."
Nobody said anything.
I stepped closer. "Did Renee expect you to be the one who found Josie?"
"Yes."
"Did you know she was going to leave a newborn in the trunk of a car?"
"No. Not until she called me that morning."
"What did she say?"
"She told me to go open the blue sedan at work and not ask any questions."
Josie stared at him. "And you just understood?"
"Not at first."
Tony dragged a hand down his face. "I knew she was pregnant. I knew she was scared out of her mind. I'd already told her I'd raise the baby myself if it came to that."
"Then why didn't she let you?" Josie asked.
"I had two kids already. Our dad was sick and living with me. She got it in her head that she'd wreck my life."
"So why the car?" I said.
Tony looked at me. "She knew a blue sedan was coming into our shop that morning. I must've mentioned it at some family thing without thinking. And she knew I was always the first one in."
His jaw went tight.
"Except that morning my truck wouldn't start."
Josie blinked. "Seriously?"
"Dead battery." He let out a short, bitter laugh. "By the time I got a jump and made it in, the ambulance was already there."
I remembered him rolling in late that day and thinking it was odd.
"Did Renee call you afterward?" I asked.
"Yes."
"What did she say?"
"She made me swear I'd never tell anyone who she was."
"And you agreed."
"At first."
I took another step toward him. "Did you know the police were trying to find Josie's family?"
"Yes."
"And you stayed quiet."
He looked away. "Yes."
"Even after I started the foster application?"
"Yes."
"Even after she moved in with me?"
His voice dropped. "Yes."
Something hot started climbing up behind my ribs.
Then I remembered one more thing.
"You shook my hand outside that courthouse. You told me to take care of her." I stared at him. "You already knew exactly who she was."
"Yeah."
"Why?" Josie's voice was quiet, and somehow that made it land harder.
Tony looked at the floor. "At first, because Renee begged me to."
He swallowed.
"After that... because every few weeks Dave changed something else. Parenting classes. A bigger place. A safer car." He looked at me. "He wasn't fixing somebody's mistake."
He looked back at Josie.
"He just loved you."
I wasn't ready to forgive him. Maybe I never would be.
Josie stared at him for a long time. Then she said, "Who left that car at Dad's shop this morning?"
Tony glanced toward the house. "Renee."
My stomach dropped. "Where is she?"
"The diner near your shop. Marlene's."
Josie's face went hard. "Did she send the blanket?"
"Yeah."
"The photo?"
"Yeah."
"The note?"
Tony nodded. "She said sixteen years was long enough."
My temper snapped. "She doesn't get to decide that."
"I told her the same thing," Tony said.
"Good. We're leaving." I turned to Josie. "You don't owe that woman anything."
"I know."
"Then let's go home."
She stepped in front of me. "Dad."
I stopped.
"I spent sixteen years letting you make every choice for me because I was little." Her voice softened. "And I'm glad you did."
She looked toward the road.
May you like
"But let me make this one."
That shut me up.
