His friend finished the letter and set it on the table.
“Who was he going to give this to?”
“Probably a girl he likes.”
“And this made you think about your daughter?”
“Yeah.”
He set down his glass.
“I write to her every year on her birthday.”
“Your daughter?”
“I don’t send them.”
His friend looked up.
“How many years?”
“Twelve.”
Around the time his daughter turned thirteen, his ex-wife had called. She had moved in with someone new. Their daughter was trying to settle into that life. She asked him not to contact them anymore. No calls. No letters.
“You haven’t sent anything since?”
“No.”
“How old is she now?”
“Twenty-five.”
His friend looked at the letter on the table.
“You know where she is?”
“No. Just the last place she lived.”
“And you’re going there?”
“I thought I might.”
“Just show up?”
He didn’t answer. His friend put his phone on the table.
“I know a guy at the local paper.”
“A newspaper?”
“I’ve known him forever. Every time I see him, he asks if I’ve got any stories for him.”
“What are you supposed to do, hand him this?”
“One time I actually got something in.”
“What?”
“About five years ago, I found a wallet.”
“A wallet?”
“There was a kid’s drawing inside, tucked into a plastic sleeve with a note. Said if someone found the wallet, they could keep the money, just please mail the drawing back.”
“And?”
“The address wasn’t far, so I took it over myself. Turned out it was the first picture the guy’s kid had ever drawn of him when she was little. He’d been carrying it in his wallet ever since.”
“And that got in the paper?”
“Tiny piece, but yeah. After that I sent him a few more ideas. He passed on every one.”
The man laughed.
“So this’ll get rejected too.”
“Maybe. But this one’s different.”
His friend looked at the teenager’s letter.
“A father writes to his daughter for twelve years and never sends a thing. Then he finds some kid’s letter and suddenly thinks about going to look for her.”
The man looked down at the paper.
“Let me at least talk to him.”
“This is about my daughter.”
“They don’t have to use names. And this is better than you just showing up somewhere after twelve years. If she reads it and thinks it might be about her, then she gets to decide whether she wants to do anything.”
“She might never see it.”
“Then she doesn’t. But at least you’re not showing up at her door.”
His friend picked up the phone.
“Can I call him?”
The man finished what was left in his glass.
“Just talk to him.”
His friend unlocked the screen.