"Yeah, Dad knows a lot of people, and Robert had a lot of friends. I'm not seeing many familiar faces, though."
The funeral was a short one, and Greg stepped back when the reception line started to form. "Do you want to go speak with him?"
Greg shook his head. "I don't think so. Let's head back to the car."
They were walking away when Greg was stopped by a hand on his shoulder. "Excuse me - aren't you Gregory Sanders?"
Greg turned to face a bright-eyed, haggard-looking man who appeared to be in his mid 50's. "Yes, that's me. Do I know you?"
The man was silent for a few moments, just stood looking intently at Greg. "No, you don't. You should, but you don't. If you would be kind enough to join me for dinner, I'd like to talk to you. There are - things - about yourself you don't know, but you should, you need to. I've remained silent for far too long."
Greg glanced at Sara, then back at the man. "Um, sure. Where do you want to go?"
"If you'll be good enough to follow me, I'll show you..."
Ten minutes later they were sitting in the booth of a tiny Chinese restaurant. Greg and Sara were seated facing the stranger. Sara studied the man before her. He was slim, average height, his light brown hair generously peppered with grey. What truly drew her attention, however, was his face. He looked like an older version of Greg. From the long, straight nose to the startling brown eyes, the resemblance was uncanny.
The man sighed. "I'm Dr. David Hale. For the past twenty years I've been a researcher for Burroughs-Wellcome, but in late 1973 I was an associate professor at UCLA. That was the year I met your mother. She was separated at the time, no intentions of getting back together, so we began dating. It wasn't long before we were in love." He swallowed hard. "We were together for a little over a year. I wanted to marry her, tried to get her to finalize the divorce, but she was afraid he'd take Wills away from her, and Wills was already, um, troubled. Then we, ah, she found out she was pregnant." He sighed. "I begged her to marry me, pleaded with her not to go back to Sanders but she said she didn't have any choice. She said he'd use her pregnancy against her, make sure she never saw Wills again. She left me, made me promise not to try to contact you. She said he'd make you pay if I did, but it looks like he did that anyway."
Greg looked down at the table. "Yeah, he did that." He sighed. "You were at her funeral."
Hale nodded. "And at your awards ceremonies, and your science fairs, at your high school and college graduations, and at the hospital visiting your mother when she was sick. I saw her regularly over the years, you know. Before she died she made me promise again not to contact you. Still, when your lab blew up I came to see you. You were asleep, but I got ice for you, refilled your water, went down to the lobby and got you some cans of soda and some crackers. If you'd been awake I would've told you I was a volunteer."
"Why did you finally decide to make contact now, after all these years?"
Hale's gaze was steady. "Because I saw how he looked at you. That look told me my presence wasn't going to ruin your relationship with Sanders - he'd already done that himself. When you headed away from him after the service, I made my move. I hope you don't mind."
"You and my mother... did your relationship continue after she and my fa-, after I was born?"
Hale sighed. "I can't lie to you, Greg. She was the love of my life. It was wrong, but yes, we did get together infrequently after she and Sanders got back together."
"How long did it last?"
"From the time we broke up until she died." His voice was sad. "He had his affairs, she had me. I always hoped once Wills got into college she'd take you and come back to me. Then she had Robert, and I knew that wasn't ever going to happen. From that point on I made do with what she gave me - some time with her every now and then, copies of your report cards and a few photos of you every year, the chance to see you from afar once in a while. You never knew, but I was always very proud of you. You got a birthday and a Christmas present from me every year - you just never knew who they were from. "
"Is... Was Robert yours?"
"No." Hale's voice was clipped. "I was out of the country that year. He and Wills have the same father. I am saddened at his tragic death, though. I know this must be horrible for you. I know you were close."
"Yeah, well, Wills wasn't much of a brother to him either."
Hale nodded. "It's hard to have any sort of positive relationship with a sociopath, I'm sure. You look surprised. Surely you've suspected that was his problem."
Greg shook his head. "Yeah, but it's kind of strange hearing it said out loud."
"While your mother and I were together, she had him tested. He - did things, terrible things - to a stray cat, and I convinced her she needed to follow through and find out why. She did, and he was diagnosed. It was a sad time for her. I felt bad for both of them - for her, knowing her child could never return her love for him, and for him, that he would never truly relate to another living creature. I have always thought psychopathy was the most tragic of all possible deficits."
"For everyone in the family. His father is pleased with him, though." Greg's voice was bitter.
"Mmmhmmm. That's because sociopaths are master manipulators. He tells Sanders what he wants to hear, gives him what he wants, but not out of love. It's all part of an agenda. William Sanders is a very wealthy man, and Wills is his eldest son."
"His ONLY son now. I mean nothing to him. I won't be hearing from him again. " Greg sighed. "It's a relief in a sense. All he ever had to say to me was negative - comparing me to Wills, putting me down for being a dork, not popular enough, not athletic enough, not manly enough. He didn't like my hair, my clothes, my apartment, my car, my choice of colleges, my profession. The list was endless. I loved him. When I was younger I tried so hard to make him proud. I was captain of the chess club. When we won the state and regional championships I thought for sure he would be pleased, but he never said anything. After that, I realized he was never going to see anything positive in me. I kind of gave up."
"Is that why you gave up competing? You were very good." Hale glanced at Sara. "Greg was one of the best young chess players in the country at one point. He was outstanding - would be again, if he chose to."
"So, son, now we've met. I assume you'll be wanting to do a DNA test to confirm what I've told you. Once you have your confirmation, you'll have a decision to make. Can you forgive an old man for wasting too many years lurking in the shadows? My motives were good, but I made a bad decision when I agreed not to approach you. Your mother was a good woman, a wise one as well, but in this one thing she was wrong. We should have been honest with you. Believe me when I tell you I wanted to, more than anything I wanted to."
"Yeah, I forgive you. You were only doing what she asked you to do. When she told me about you, she wouldn't tell me who you were, only that you were a good man, a brilliant scientist. You did what you thought was the right thing to do. I can't condemn you for that."
"I made a lot of bad decisions in my time with your mother. I'm not proud of how I handled it. I'm not an evil man, Greg, just a very weak one. I'd like to have the chance to get to know my only son better, though."
Greg smiled a little then. "I'd like that. I really would."