Chapter 10: Forgiveness

"I'm Dash. I hope to see you again, Cara."

Cara smiled, thinking about what had happened a while ago as she was slowly walking on the sidewalk. Dash took away all of her sadness and resentment for a while.

Remembering the reason she ran outside made her ponder again. It's true that she resented her father but reminiscing the days when she was young made her genuinely miss him.

Every night before she goes to bed, her dad will sit beside her in bed and ask things like how did her day go and Cara will tell him everything good and bad that is happening in her life. For instance, when she got a perfect score on the test or funny stories like when she tripped over a few steps on the school stairs or unlucky days like spilled chocolate drink on her uniform. They laughed together and her father will give him something to remember by heart. One time, Brian told her to 'Always begin with the end in mind'. He meant that she must think of what the outcome would be before she starts doing or deciding on something.

It became their routine.

Unfortunately, he changed one day. It was after he went on a 1-week business trip outside the country. When Brian came back from the trip, his aura changed and that's when it all started.

When Cara reached her destination, she lifted her head up and stared at the familiar place. She took a deep breath and went inside the café.

When she entered, there was no sign of her father nor her mother at the table. She faced Wendy with a questioning look "She went back to the kitchen." Wendy mouthed when she understood Cara’s expression. Cara nodded and went past the counter to the kitchen.

She saw her mother arranging eggs on the egg shelf. She went up to Lillian and helped her "Shaun came here?" Cara asked her mother as she emptied the egg carton "Yes, he delivered these eggs a while ago."

Shaun Anderson is a farm owner and their regular supplier of eggs and milk. They've been doing business since the café first opened and Shaun helped them a lot on strategizing and giving suggestions for their café to be successful. Shaun is not difficult to be comfortable with, it didn't take Cara long to treat him like he’s a member of the family and eventually, she found a father-figure in him.

"Oh, okay." She replied to Lillian "Mom." Cara then added after a beat. 

"Hmm?" Lillian hummed as a response, not turning around to face her daughter. Cara wrapped her arms around her waist from behind. "I’m sorry, I was rude for acting like that a while ago. I was too angry to see dad after all these years since he left us. I just can't forgive him now, maybe I just need a little more time." She is now crying and her mother turned to her to embrace her back.

 "It's okay, Cara, I understand." She said, wiping her daughter's tears and continued "There's something I didn't tell you."

"What’s that, mom?"

"We first met about a week ago. Brian came to the house one night, he said that he went to our old house and we weren't there so he searched for us." Lillian gulped nervously before sitting on a chair and Cara sat next to her facing her mother.

"He told me the whole story.” Lillian began “The week when he went on a business trip, they had a mini party and got drunk. Something happened between him and his colleague." Her mother sighed "I know that something was up when Brian started coming home from work late at night and he began to be cold. That's when I had a hunch that he had another woman." Cara saw her mother's eyes water and felt her own tears start to pool too. That day when her dad left them is when her mom confronted him and Brian didn't deny it and even told that he loves the woman and got her pregnant. Yes, Brian left them for a woman with his baby.

"When he came to me last week, he told me that his colleague left work after finding out she was pregnant and they lived together but she had a miscarriage. They still continued their relationship but it didn't work out and she left him. That's when he regretted everything. Brian said he was drunk every night, got fired from his job and eventually went homeless. He said that one day he decided to fix himself and find us."

"After telling me all of that, he cried. Cara, he even went down on his knees and wailed hard that night, Brian said he was sorry and that he regretted everything. I was angry at him too but the way he asked for our forgiveness just broke my heart. I can't forget what he has done to us but whatever he may have become does not change the fact that we have loved each other. And I realize that even if things will not go back to the way it was, he will always have a special place in my heart and that is enough to forgive him." Tears are now wetting her cheeks.

"Oh, mom." crying, Cara leaned and hugged her mother tight "I love dad too, mom. Even if you turn the world upside down, he is still my father. My heart just needs time."