“Mike Senior and I… We don’t know what to say.”
“There’s nothing to say. It happened, and now we must deal with it.”
“And you had no idea?”
“None at all.”
“Where’s she been all this time?”
“I don’t know that either.”
“I’m so sorry. What in the world could he have been thinking?”
“God only knows.”
“Have you… Have you spoken to her?”
“Only by text so far.”
“We’re so torn between outrage and desire to know this other child he had, but we feel disloyal to you wanting to know the child.”
“Of course you want to know him. He’s your grandchild. Don’t worry about me. Do whatever you need to.”
“Iris, we’re devastated by this. You were a wonderful, loving wife to Mike, and even though we didn’t start off so well, we love you. I hope you know that.”
“I do. Thank you.”
“If you speak to her, I suppose you can ask if she’d like to connect with us.”
“I’ll do that.”
“And this NTSB thing… How could Mike be at fault?”
“It’s possible he was distracted from leading a double life.”
“You really think that’s possible?”
“We may never know what happened, but that’s definitely possible.”
“I suppose so,” she says, sighing. “How are the kids? We need to get down to see them soon.”
It’s been months since they’ve seen anyone but Rob from Mike’s family. “They’re doing well. Growing like weeds.”
“We’ll make a date to get together soon.”
“They’d like that.”
“You take care, Iris.”
“You, too.” I press the red button to end the call, but the awkwardness of the conversation hangs like a dark cloud over me.
“I take it that was Mike’s mother,” Gage says.
“Yep.”
“And you can’t stand her.”
“It’s not that. She was… How can I say this… Less than thrilled about her precious son marrying a biracial woman and was chilly to me for a long time after we started dating and well into our marriage.”