Chapter 5 - Evelyn Had Tried to Take Caleb BackDerek did not know what to do with the fact.
Evelyn had wanted Caleb back.
Even briefly.
Every adoptive parent’s oldest fear rose immediately.
What if the adoption should never have happened?
Naomi saw it on his face.
“Do not catastrophize.”
“She withdrew consent.”
“For several hours.”
“That matters.”
“Yes.”
“Could she challenge the adoption?”
“Ten years later, with a final decree and no evidence yet that statutory consent requirements were violated? Extremely difficult.”
“Extremely difficult isn’t impossible.”
“Derek.”
“He’s my son.”
“No one is disputing that.”
“Evelyn might.”
“You haven’t even spoken to her.”
That stopped him.
He was turning a woman he hadn’t seen in eleven years into a threat because of choices Lenora made.
Exactly the kind of distortion he was learning to distrust.
“Find her.”
Naomi nodded.
“I already started.”
They found Evelyn Mercer Shaw forty-eight hours later.
Denver, Colorado.
Thirty-one years old.
Married.
Works as a graphic designer.
No criminal record.
No children listed in public databases.
Derek stared at her professional profile photograph.
Black hair shorter now.
Same dark eyes.
Same crooked smile.
Evie.
He remembered her at seventeen stealing fries from his plate.
It felt impossible that she had given birth to Caleb.
Then he noticed something.
The ears.
Melanie had written it in her notebook.
Caleb’s left ear had a slight outward curve.
Evelyn’s did too.
Derek hated that such a tiny physical detail could feel like proof.
Naomi contacted Evelyn’s attorney rather than Evelyn directly.
Derek didn’t know she had one.
That frightened him.
“She already has counsel?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Naomi looked at him.
“Apparently she has been trying to obtain information about the adoption for years.”
Derek sat down.
“She’s been trying to find Caleb.”
“Yes.”
“Why didn’t anyone contact me?”
“Her attorney says letters were sent.”
“To where?”
“Your home.”
Derek went still.
“How many?”
“Seven over five years.”
He had received none.
Naomi continued:
“Some were certified.”
“Signed by who?”
Silence.
Derek already knew.
“Lenora.”
“Several.”
Derek felt sick.
Lenora had a key.
She brought in mail while Derek traveled.
After Melanie became ill, she practically ran the household.
She could have intercepted anything.
“What did Evelyn want?”
“Initially? Confirmation Caleb was safe.”
“Then?”
“Contact.”
“What kind?”
“Letters. Photographs. Eventually a meeting if you and Caleb agreed.”
Derek looked toward the window.
She had not tried to take him.
She had tried to know him.
Naomi continued:
“Her attorney says Evelyn does not intend to challenge your parentage.”
Derek exhaled.
He hated the relief because it meant some part of him had seen Evelyn as danger.
“She wants to speak to me?”
“Yes.”
“When?”
“Tomorrow by video.”
Derek did not sleep.
The next afternoon, he sat at his dining room table.
Caleb was with a trusted friend and counselor.
Naomi sat nearby but off camera.
The screen connected.
Evelyn appeared.
For several seconds, neither spoke.
She looked older.
Of course she did.
So did Derek.
Then Evie smiled faintly.
“Hi, Derek.”
His throat closed.
“Hi.”
“You still do that thing with your eyebrow.”
He almost laughed.
“You still start conversations with insults.”
“Some things survive.”
Then silence returned.
Derek did not know whether to say:
You gave birth to my son.
I’m sorry.
Why didn’t you tell me?
All sounded wrong.
Evelyn solved it.
“Is Caleb okay?”
“Yes.”
“Really?”
“Yes.”
She closed her eyes briefly.
“Thank God.”
Derek watched.
Not performance.
Not ownership.
Concern.
“What did Lenora do to you?”
Evelyn opened her eyes.
“A lot.”
“I mean the adoption.”
“I know.”
She took a breath.
“I was seventeen when I got pregnant.”
“Who was the father?”
“Later.”
Derek nodded.
“Okay.”
“I didn’t want Mom to know.”
“But she found out.”
“She read my clinic paperwork.”
Of course.
“She wanted me to end the pregnancy.”
“You refused.”
“Yes.”
“She told Victor?”
“Eventually.”
“Why did you leave?”
Evelyn smiled bitterly.
“Because Mom started telling everyone I was unstable.”
Derek froze.
“She said I was dramatic. Hormonal. Making bad decisions.”
Same pattern.
“Did you contact me?”
“I tried.”
Derek’s heart dropped.
“When?”
“Before I left.”
“How?”
“I came to your apartment.”
Memory returned.
Tea.
Melanie.
Evie crying.
Derek telling her every teenager wanted to leave.
His stomach twisted.
“You were trying to tell me.”
“Yes.”
“I didn’t listen.”
“You were twenty-four.”
“That’s not an excuse.”
“No.”
Evelyn looked surprised.
Derek continued:
“I’m sorry.”
She nodded.
Not absolution.
Acknowledgment.
“I should have said it directly.”
“You were seventeen.”
“Apparently we can both do this forever.”
Derek almost smiled.
Then Evelyn explained the pregnancy.
Lenora found her transitional housing.
Not to help.
To monitor.
She appeared repeatedly.
When Evelyn considered adoption, Lenora offered Derek and Melanie.
“At first I thought maybe…”
Evelyn stopped.
“What?”
“That if my baby had to go somewhere, maybe with you he would still be loved by people I knew.”
Derek’s eyes filled.
“Then why hide your identity?”
“Because I didn’t trust her.”
“Lenora.”
“Yes.”
“What did she tell you about us?”
“That Melanie was fragile.”
Derek frowned.
“She wasn’t.”
“I know now.”
“That we were desperate for a baby?”
“That part was probably true.”
Derek nodded.
It was.
“She told me you knew exactly who I was.”
“We didn’t.”
“I know.”
“She said you and Melanie agreed I could never contact him.”
“We didn’t.”
“I know.”
Evelyn’s eyes filled.
“I found out when Caleb was five.”
“How?”
“A photo.”
“What photo?”
“Victor’s funeral.”
Derek went still.
Victor died when Caleb was five.
Family photographs had been posted publicly.
One showed Derek holding Caleb’s hand.
Evelyn saw it.
Recognized him.
“How?”
Evelyn smiled through tears.
“His ear.”
Derek laughed unexpectedly.
Melanie.
The ear.
Everyone noticed the same tiny thing.
“I called Wren.”
“He told me.”
“I hired a lawyer.”
“And wrote us.”
“Yes.”
Derek swallowed.
“I never saw them.”
“I know now.”
Evelyn looked away.
“Melanie saw one.”
Derek froze.
“How do you know?”
“She called me.”
His heart stopped.
“When?”
“Two months before she died.”
Derek gripped the table.
“What did she say?”
Evelyn started crying.
“She apologized.”
“For what?”
“For raising my son?”
The words hurt, but Derek stayed.
Evelyn shook her head.
“No.”
“For believing the lie.”
Then she said something Derek never expected.
“She told me she wanted you to know.”
Derek whispered:
“Why didn’t she tell me?”
May you like
Evelyn looked directly at him.
“Because I asked her not to.”
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