“Of course you should accept it,” I said. “This way, you won’t have any excuse next time we race against each other and I beat you.”
He grinned. “Yeah, I don’t see that happening ever again. You just got lucky that time, seeing as, you know, one of my vital organs wasn’t functioning properly.”
I returned his grin. “We’ll just have to see about that.”
*****
I hung out with Parker a while longer. After I left, I went for a little drive, which took me past Lorraine’s. It was Monday, right around lunchtime. I pulled into the parking lot and saw my mother’s car. I figured I’d go in, say hello, see how she was doing. She was walking out though, as I was getting out of the truck. I held up a hand and waved.
“Hi, Mom,” I said.
“Well, you’re about the last person I expected to see here. I just finished eating! I would’ve waited if I knew that you were going to be around.”
“I was just driving by and thought I’d stop. I know you’re always here for lunch on Mondays.”
“That’s nice of you. Let’s sit over here for a minute.” She gestured to one of the wooden benches under the blue and white awning. “So,” she said. “Anything new with you?”
“You know, the usual. Working, hanging out with Chloe ... oh, and I met my father.”
She blinked. “You what?”
“I actually met my father. Interacted with him.”
“So, your father has acknowledged you.” My mother didn’t look particularly pleased about this, though I couldn’t say I was expecting her to.
“He has,” I said. “He’s actually not a bad guy. Would you like to know why it was we had this interaction?”
“I suppose.” She was trying to look uninterested, but I could tell that she was dying to know.
“He has a son. Two sons, actually, and a daughter. So my half-brothers and sister.”
“I think I knew that.”
“Well, one of those sons, Parker, is actually someone I’ve known for a while now, because we race bikes against each other. Funny, isn’t it? I’ve been competing against this guy for years now and I had no idea that we were actually related.”
“Your life is sounding more and more like a soap opera.”
“Anyway. Parker needs a kidney transplant.”
My mother widened her eyes. “Your father didn’t ask you to donate one of your organs, did he?”
“No; I offered. I happen to be a match, too, so I’m going to do it.”
“Really.”
“Yeah. Otherwise he could be on the waiting list for years.”
“No one else in his family was a match? I find that hard to believe.”
“His sister was a match, but it’s more than just finding someone with the same blood type. There was another test they did and his blood cells attacked hers. It’s called cross-matching, and even if you have the same blood type and the cross-match is positive, you can’t be a donor. For that person, anyway. It just won’t work.”
“I see.” My mother nodded slowly. “The timing seems a little convenient, wouldn’t you say?”
“What do you mean?”
“Well, your father spends your entire life not talking to you, but now that his son needs a kidney transplant, he’s suddenly appeared in your life.”
“It’s just the way it happened. I wouldn’t have known about any of this if I hadn’t happened to be with Chloe and her mother at the yacht club that day. I guess there’s a possibility that maybe Parker and I would’ve gotten talking at some point and he would’ve mentioned who his father was, but ... no. Dad had no idea that I’d be a match. And he didn’t ask me; I offered.”