“I, um, I think …” She gulped down a deep breath of air. “My name is Esmeralda, and I think you are my dad.”
There was a long pause before he said, “Wow. Let me sit down.” Another long pause. She imagined him walking across his office in the hospital and sitting at his desk. “Okay. Tell me everything. Start at the beginning, with your mom.”
“Trn Thúy Linh. You met her twenty-four years ago during a business trip, but you left before—”
“Wait, wait, hold on a second. Where was this business trip?”
An uneasy feeling shivered through her. “Vi?t Nam.”
He cleared his throat. “I feel bad saying this, but I’ve never been there. I think …” He cleared his throat again. “You have the wrong person.”
Her heart fell. Her stomach fell. Everything fell, and her hopes shattered on the concrete sidewalk. “Oh.”
“I’m sure you’re absolutely lovely, and now that I’m somewhat over the shock, I would love to have another daughter. But I’m not your dad. I’m so sorry—what was your name again?”
“Esmeralda,” she replied.
“I’m so sorry, Esmeralda,” he said, sounding like he was giving one patient in a long line of patients bad news. “Can I help in any way?”
“No, thank—Wait, yes. He went to Cal Berkeley. Like you. Do you know a Phil who went to Vi?t Nam twenty-four years ago?”
“Oh, gosh.” The man—Phil—released a long breath. “I … maybe? But his name isn’t Phil, it’s Gleaves. So, no. I’m so sorry, Evange—Esmer—Esmeralda.”
“Thank you … Phil. For your time,” she said.
“No problem. Good luck. Good-bye.”
The line went dead, and she stood there, watching as the cars zipped past and the traffic lights changed colors. Green, yellow, red, back to green.
Kh?i wrapped her in a tight hug, and she broke apart. She smothered her face against his chest, drenching his shirt with her tears, but he didn’t complain. He continued holding her for what felt like ages.
When she finally calmed down and pulled away, he brushed the wet hairs from her face. He didn’t have to say a single thing. She saw everything in his achingly sad eyes, and it comforted her more than words could have.
“I thought he was the one.” Her voice came out much smaller than she’d hoped.
“Why?”
“I had a feeling.” She placed her hand over her gut.
“Feelings can be very inaccurate. To get all the facts, I’d recommend going over the list again and calling each of them,” he said. “I can help if you want.”
With how much he hated phone calls, that seemed an enormous thing to offer, and she kissed him as her heart overflowed. “I’ll call them. Thank you.” A car turned into the parking lot and pulled into the spot right next to Kh?i’s Porsche—a customer. “I should go back. We can talk about that other thing … later.”
He nodded. “Okay.”
They walked back to the restaurant hand in hand, and after a quick hug and kiss, she escaped inside. Later would come all too soon, but she was glad it wasn’t now.
? ? ?
Khai walked back to his car and got inside, but he didn’t start the engine. He couldn’t stop thinking about what she’d said.
He’ll say all I want is a green card and his money. It is true, I want a different life, but …
It was shocking he hadn’t seen it earlier. That was her primary objective for this entire trip: a different life. Not a romantic relationship. It made perfect sense to him. If he were in her shoes, he would have done the same thing, except he wouldn’t have focused so much effort on one marriage candidate—him. He would have done much more dating to increase his chances of success. Why hadn’t she? Because she thought she’d find her dad and gain citizenship that way?