The adoption agency no longer existed.<\/p>\n
Its office had become a dental practice.<\/p>\n
The old records had been transferred twice, then archived.<\/p>\n
It took nearly two weeks to obtain the first usable lead.<\/p>\n
By then, Jeremy and I had stopped arguing about whether we should continue.<\/p>\n
We were going to find Anna.<\/p>\n
The question was what we would do when we did.<\/p>\n
The records gave us an adult name.<\/p>\n
Anna Reed.<\/p>\n
Age twenty-one.<\/p>\n
College student.<\/p>\n
Knoxville.<\/p>\n
The information was incomplete, but it was enough.<\/p>\n
I stared at the page.<\/p>\n
\u201cReed.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHer grandfather's name.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jeremy sat beside me.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe may have changed it.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMaybe.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMaybe she doesn't know she's adopted.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat would make this harder.\u201d<\/p>\n
He nodded.<\/p>\n
We didn't contact her immediately.<\/p>\n
Instead, we found an attorney who specialized in sealed adoption records.<\/p>\n
The attorney explained the situation carefully.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe can't simply approach her and demand a relationship.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe don't want that.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou need to understand that finding an adult adoptee can have consequences.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jeremy nodded.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe understand.\u201d<\/p>\n
The attorney looked at me.<\/p>\n
\u201cDo you?\u201d<\/p>\n
I thought about the hospital.<\/p>\n
About Lacey.<\/p>\n
About the little girl in the photograph.<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
He agreed to help us establish contact through a confidential intermediary.<\/p>\n
The waiting was unbearable.<\/p>\n
Every phone call made my heart jump.<\/p>\n
Every email felt like it might change everything.<\/p>\n
Then one afternoon, the attorney called.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe agreed to speak.\u201d<\/p>\n
I sat down.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnna?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDoes she know who we are?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cShe knows she's adopted.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jeremy closed his eyes.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe knows about Lacey?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAbout me?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
The attorney paused.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe knows her biological mother is deceased.\u201d<\/p>\n
My throat tightened.<\/p>\n
\u201cWho told her?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHer adoptive parents.\u201d<\/p>\n
I looked at Jeremy.<\/p>\n
He couldn't speak.<\/p>\n
We arranged to meet at a small caf\u00e9 in Knoxville.<\/p>\n
I went alone.<\/p>\n
Jeremy wanted to come, but Anna had agreed to meet me first.<\/p>\n
I didn't tell him why.<\/p>\n
He understood.<\/p>\n
The caf\u00e9 was nearly empty.<\/p>\n
I arrived early.<\/p>\n
At the table by the window, I placed the photograph of Lacey inside my purse.<\/p>\n
I didn't know whether I would show it to her.<\/p>\n
At twenty-one, Anna deserved the truth.<\/p>\n
But truth had to be given carefully.<\/p>\n
The door opened.<\/p>\n
A young woman walked inside.<\/p>\n
Dark hair.<\/p>\n
Blue eyes.<\/p>\n
Small silver bracelet.<\/p>\n
I knew immediately.<\/p>\n
My heart stopped.<\/p>\n
She looked at the room.<\/p>\n
Then toward me.<\/p>\n
\u201cJill?\u201d<\/p>\n
I stood.<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
She approached.<\/p>\n
For several seconds, neither of us spoke.<\/p>\n
She looked at my face.<\/p>\n
Then at the chair.<\/p>\n
\u201cCan I sit?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cOf course.\u201d<\/p>\n
She sat.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don't know why you wanted to meet me.\u201d<\/p>\n
I took a breath.<\/p>\n
\u201cI found your name through an adoption record.\u201d<\/p>\n
She stiffened.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo you know.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI know you're adopted.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMy parents told me.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThey didn't tell you everything.\u201d<\/p>\n
Her expression hardened.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat does that mean?\u201d<\/p>\n
I didn't answer immediately.<\/p>\n
Instead, I asked, \u201cDo you know your biological mother's name?\u201d<\/p>\n
She shook her head.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDo you know anything about her?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cShe died.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat part is true.\u201d<\/p>\n
Anna looked confused.<\/p>\n
\u201cHow do you know?\u201d<\/p>\n
I placed the photograph on the table.<\/p>\n
She looked down.<\/p>\n
Her expression changed.<\/p>\n
\u201cWho is that?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYour mother.\u201d<\/p>\n
Anna stared at the photograph.<\/p>\n
Then back at me.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cShe was named Lacey.\u201d<\/p>\n
Anna shook her head.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy mother is Sarah.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSarah is your adoptive mother.\u201d<\/p>\n
Anna pushed the photograph away.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou're wrong.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI wish I were.\u201d<\/p>\n
She stood.<\/p>\n
\u201cWho are you?\u201d<\/p>\n
I looked at her.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy name is Jill Tolley.\u201d<\/p>\n
The color disappeared from her face.<\/p>\n
\u201cTolley?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
She sat slowly.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy do I know that name?\u201d<\/p>\n
I couldn't breathe.<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause your biological father is Jeremy Tolley.\u201d<\/p>\n
Her eyes widened.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe didn't know you survived.\u201d<\/p>\n
Anna stared at me.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause he was told your mother miscarried.\u201d<\/p>\n
She looked toward the door.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is a joke.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWho sent you?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo one.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou expect me to believe this?\u201d<\/p>\n
I opened my purse.<\/p>\n
I removed the second photograph.<\/p>\n
The baby.<\/p>\n
Lacey.<\/p>\n
I placed it in front of her.<\/p>\n
Anna stared.<\/p>\n
Then she touched the corner.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhere did you get this?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYour mother left it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Her eyes filled.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou met her?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBefore she died.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cRecently?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
Anna covered her mouth.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou're lying.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI understand why you think that.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDid she know me?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDid she see me?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDid she ever speak to me?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cShe was afraid of changing your life.\u201d<\/p>\n
Anna's tears fell.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe knew where I was?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cShe knew enough to find you.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThen why didn't she?\u201d<\/p>\n
I looked down.<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause she believed she had already lost you once.\u201d<\/p>\n
Anna wiped her cheeks.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd my father?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe never knew you were alive.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThen why are you here?\u201d<\/p>\n
I hesitated.<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause he deserves to know.\u201d<\/p>\n
She looked at me.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd you?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI deserve nothing.\u201d<\/p>\n
That answer surprised her.<\/p>\n
I continued.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was married to your father for twenty-two years before we learned about you.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMarried?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSo you're my father's wife.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
Anna stared at me.<\/p>\n
\u201cDid my mother hate you?\u201d<\/p>\n
I thought about Lacey's final days.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe did once.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat changed?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cShe forgave me.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cFor what?\u201d<\/p>\n
I took a breath.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor loving your father.\u201d<\/p>\n
Anna looked away.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd you loved him?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDo you still?\u201d<\/p>\n
I didn't answer immediately.<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
She nodded slowly.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don't know what I'm supposed to feel.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou don't have to feel anything.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI don't know if I want a father.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe won't force himself into your life.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHow do you know?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause I won't let him.\u201d<\/p>\n
Anna looked at me.<\/p>\n
There was almost a smile.<\/p>\n
Almost.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy are you protecting me?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause nobody protected you when you were born.\u201d<\/p>\n
The words escaped before I could soften them.<\/p>\n
Anna looked down.<\/p>\n
\u201cI had good parents.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI know.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThey loved me.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI believe you.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThey raised me.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThey're your parents.\u201d<\/p>\n
She looked at me.<\/p>\n
\u201cThen what am I supposed to call you?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cJill is fine.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd him?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou can decide later.\u201d<\/p>\n
She nodded.<\/p>\n
We sat quietly.<\/p>\n
Then she asked the question I had been dreading.<\/p>\n
\u201cDid my mother love me?\u201d<\/p>\n
I looked directly into her eyes.<\/p>\n
\u201cEvery day.\u201d<\/p>\n
Anna cried.<\/p>\n
Not loudly.<\/p>\n
She simply lowered her face into her hands.<\/p>\n
I waited.<\/p>\n
When she finally looked up, she whispered, \u201cI want to meet him.\u201d<\/p>\n
I closed my eyes.<\/p>\n
\u201cAre you sure?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
She laughed through tears.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut I want to.\u201d<\/p>\n
I called Jeremy from outside.<\/p>\n
He answered immediately.<\/p>\n
\u201cJill?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cShe wants to meet you.\u201d<\/p>\n
There was silence.<\/p>\n
Then a broken breath.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhere are you?\u201d<\/p>\n
I gave him the address.<\/p>\n
He arrived twenty minutes later.<\/p>\n
I watched him enter the caf\u00e9.<\/p>\n
He stopped when he saw Anna.<\/p>\n
She stood.<\/p>\n
For several seconds, neither moved.<\/p>\n
Then Jeremy whispered her name.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnna.\u201d<\/p>\n
She looked at him.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou're my father?\u201d<\/p>\n
He nodded.<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
She stepped closer.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy didn't you find me?\u201d<\/p>\n
Jeremy's face collapsed.<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause I didn't know you were alive.\u201d<\/p>\n
She looked at him.<\/p>\n
\u201cWould you have?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
He didn't hesitate.<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
Anna studied his face.<\/p>\n
Then she reached for his hand.<\/p>\n
He took it.<\/p>\n
Neither of them spoke.<\/p>\n
I stepped back.<\/p>\n
For twenty-one years, this man had believed he had lost a child before she could be born.<\/p>\n
Now she was standing in front of him.<\/p>\n
Alive.<\/p>\n
Angry.<\/p>\n
Confused.<\/p>\n
And beautiful.<\/p>\n
Anna looked at me.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou're staying?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you want me to.\u201d<\/p>\n
She nodded.<\/p>\n
\u201cStay.\u201d<\/p>\n
So I did.<\/p>\n
We sat together for nearly two hours.<\/p>\n
Anna asked questions.<\/p>\n
Jeremy answered.<\/p>\n
Some answers were difficult.<\/p>\n
Some were incomplete.<\/p>\n
Some were impossible.<\/p>\n
She wanted to know about Lacey.<\/p>\n
Jeremy told her everything he knew.<\/p>\n
She wanted to know about her grandparents.<\/p>\n
He told her about Evelyn.<\/p>\n
He told her about the photograph.<\/p>\n
He told her about the lie.<\/p>\n
When he reached that part, Anna looked at me.<\/p>\n
\u201cDid your husband know?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDid you?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
She nodded.<\/p>\n
\u201cI believe you.\u201d<\/p>\n
That sentence meant more to me than I could explain.<\/p>\n
Before we left, Anna touched the photograph of Lacey.<\/p>\n
\u201cCan I keep this?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
She held it against her chest.<\/p>\n
Then she looked at Jeremy.<\/p>\n
\u201cCan I call you Dad?\u201d<\/p>\n
His eyes filled.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou can call me anything you want.\u201d<\/p>\n
She smiled.<\/p>\n
\u201cOkay.\u201d<\/p>\n
Outside, the evening air was cool.<\/p>\n
Jeremy stood beside me.<\/p>\n
For a while, we watched Anna walk toward her car.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe'll leave again,\u201d I said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI know.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cShe needs time.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI know.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou can't expect her to become your daughter overnight.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI know.\u201d<\/p>\n
He looked at me.<\/p>\n
\u201cThank you.\u201d<\/p>\n
I nodded.<\/p>\n
Then he reached for my hand.<\/p>\n
I let him hold it.<\/p>\n
But before we could walk away, Anna called out.<\/p>\n
\u201cJill!\u201d<\/p>\n
I turned.<\/p>\n
She was standing beside her car.<\/p>\n
\u201cI found something.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n
She held up a folded piece of paper.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy mother sent this to my adoptive parents years ago.\u201d<\/p>\n
My heart stopped.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat does it say?\u201d<\/p>\n
Anna looked at the paper.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt says she wasn't the only one who knew where I was.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jeremy's expression changed.<\/p>\n
\u201cWho else knew?\u201d<\/p>\n
Anna shook her head.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don't know.\u201d<\/p>\n
Then she looked toward us.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut the letter has your mother's signature.\u201d<\/p>\n
Evelyn.<\/p>\n
The secret wasn't finished.<\/p>\n
The adoption agency no longer existed. Its office had become a dental practice. The old records had been transferred twice, then archived. It took nearly two weeks to obtain the … <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":3371,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3378","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-readmore"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/readstoryus.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3378","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/readstoryus.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/readstoryus.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/readstoryus.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/readstoryus.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3378"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/readstoryus.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3378\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3393,"href":"https:\/\/readstoryus.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3378\/revisions\/3393"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/readstoryus.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/3371"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/readstoryus.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3378"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/readstoryus.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3378"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/readstoryus.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3378"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}