Chapter 9 - THE MAN WHO HAD BEEN DEAD FOR ELEVEN YEARS
The town was called Harbor Point.
Population: 1,800.
One grocery store.
One diner.
A small marina frozen beneath February ice.
Hannah had never been so frightened.
She had spent eleven years imagining her father alive.
But now that she might actually see him, she was terrified.
What if he wasn't there?
What if the letter was old?
What if hope had brought her all this way for nothing?
Vincent parked outside a repair shop.
The sign read:
PETER'S CLOCK & RADIO REPAIR
Hannah stopped breathing.
Vincent looked at her.
“Do you want me to come inside?”
She shook her head.
“Not yet.”
He nodded.
“I'll wait here.”
Hannah walked toward the door.
A bell rang when she entered.
The shop smelled of dust, machine oil, and old wood.
Clocks covered the walls.
A radio played softly behind the counter.
An older man sat at a workbench repairing a pocket watch.
His hair was almost entirely gray.
His shoulders were thinner than she remembered.
But his hands—
She knew those hands.
Long fingers.
A small scar near the thumb.
The same hands that had taught her to write her name in five languages.
Hannah whispered, “Papa?”
The man froze.
Slowly, he looked up.
The pocket watch fell from his fingers.
“Hannah?”
She began crying.
He stood.
For a moment, neither moved.
Then she ran.
He caught her.
Held her.
Buried his face in her hair.
“My little star.”
Hannah sobbed.
“You're alive.”
Peter held her tighter.
“I'm sorry.”
“You're alive.”
“I know.”
“Why didn't you come home?”
His voice broke.
“Because I was afraid they'd kill you.”
She pulled back.
“I needed you.”
Tears streamed down his face.
“I know.”
Hannah looked at him.
Eleven years of grief.
Eleven years of birthdays.
Eleven years of believing her father was buried in a cemetery.
She wanted to scream.
She wanted to forgive him.
She wanted to hold him forever.
Instead, she whispered, “Mama's alive.”
Peter closed his eyes.
“Elena?”
Hannah nodded.
“She had a stroke.”
His face crumpled.
“Oh, God.”
Hannah took his hands.
“She remembers you.”
May you like
Peter began crying.
And for the first time in eleven years, Hannah knew her family might have a future.
