Return to Sender Read Free

crowded dormitory for freshmen located at Union Square. If all went as planned, Will would reside in New York City for the next four years before moving on to graduate school to study at North Carolina State University’s College of Veterinary Medicine, one of the most prestigious veterinary institutions in the country.
    “I just hate that you’re so far away from home. And in New York City, no less,” Lin said for the umpteenth time. “With all the remodeling and holiday parties going on at the restaurant, I doubt I’ll be able to make the trip north for Thanksgiving. I don’t want you to spend your holiday alone.”
    “Mom, I said I’d come home if I could. And I will. I promise,” Will said. “Besides, I’m a big boy now. I just might like spending some time alone in this big city full of hot chicks.”
    Laughing, Lin replied, “I’m sure you would.” She watched her son as they rode the elevator downstairs. Over six feet tall, with thick raven black hair, Will was the spitting image of his father, or at least her memory of him.
    Lin recalled all those years ago when she’d first met his father. She’d fallen head over heels in love while he’d been visiting a friend in Georgia. Briefly, Lin wondered if Will would follow in her footsteps or his father’s. She prayed it wasn’t the latter, though she had to admit, she really didn’t know how he’d turned out, but she didn’t want her son to take after a man who denied his son’s existence. Lin knew he was very wealthy, but that didn’t mean he was a good man. Good men took care of their children, acknowledged them.
    Three weeks after she’d brought Will home from the hospital, she’d sent his father a copy of their son’s birth announcement, along with a copy of the birth certificate. She’d shamelessly added a picture of herself just in case he’d forgotten their brief affair. Throughout the years, she had continued to send items marking Will’s accomplishments, the milestones reached as he grew up. Photos of the first day of school; first lost tooth; then, as he aged, driver’s license; first date—anything she thought a father would have been proud of. Again, all had come back, unopened and marked RETURN TO SENDER . After so many years of this, she should have learned, should have known that Will’s father had no desire to acknowledge him. To this very day she’d never told Will, for fear it would affect him in a way that she wouldn’t be able to handle. Recalling the hurt, then the anger each time she and her son were rejected, Lin tucked away the memories of the man she’d given herself to so many years ago, the man she’d loved, the man who had so callously discarded all traces of their romance and, in so doing, failed to acknowledge their son’s existence. When Will had turned twelve, she’d told him his father had died in an accident. It had seemed enough at the time.
    But as Jack, her former employer and substitute father, always said, “The past is prologue, kiddo.” And he was right. She’d put that part of her life behind her and moved forward.
    The elevator doors swished open. The main floor was empty but for a few couples gathered in the corner, speaking in hushed tones. Most of the parents were either visiting other dorms or preparing for the evening banquet. Will hadn’t wanted to attend, but Lin had insisted, telling him several of the university’s alumni would be speaking. She’d teased him, saying he might be among them one day. He’d reluctantly agreed, but Lin knew that if he truly hadn’t wanted to attend, he would have been more persistent.
    She glanced at the exquisite diamond watch on her slender wrist, a gift from Jack and Irma the day she’d made her last payment on the diner she’d purchased from them eight years ago. “I’ll meet you in the banquet hall at seven. Are you sure you don’t want to come back to the hotel?”
    Will cupped her elbow, guiding her toward the exit. “No. Actually, I