At the Sunny Side Café, a little restaurant between a florist and a bookshop in Springhill, the calm breakfast rush was filled with cups clinking, morning chats, and the smell of new coffee.
Claire Morgan, 24, gracefully moved between tables with a dish of eggs Benedict and steaming tea. The waitress was also a dreamer. She wanted to graduate college, own a café, and have children. Most of all, she wanted to understand Evelyn, her late mother, who had reared her with love and secrecy.
Evelyn Morgan died three years beforehand. She was loving, quiet, and passionately protective of Claire. But she never named Claire’s father, presented any photos, or stated a name. Claire asked her mother, who smiled and said, “What matters is I have you.”
Claire accepted that. Mostly.
However, life strangely reveals what the heart is ready to understand.
Claire gave a couple at table 4 a receipt that morning when the doorbell rang. A tall guy in an expensive navy suit entered with salt-and-pepper hair, piercing eyes, and a calm presence that turned heads.
“Table for one, please,” he murmured, voice warm and deep.
“Of course,” Claire smiled, guiding him to a window booth.
Black coffee, bread, and scrambled eggs were ordered.
Though he seemed familiar, she couldn’t place him. A journalist or local politician?
He opened his wallet momentarily while drinking coffee, perhaps to check for a card or receipt. Claire saw something then.
Photograph.
Her tray stopped halfway to the next table.
The fading, crumpled photograph was ancient yet recognizable.
It was mom.
Evelyn.
Claire’s bedside portrait showed her young, gorgeous, and smiling. However, this one was taken before Claire was born.
She choked on her breath.
She returned to the table with shaky hands and said, “Sir… may I ask something personal?”
He glanced up, astonished. “Sure.”
Claire approached and pointed to his wallet.
“That woman in the picture. Why is my mother’s photo in your wallet?
Silence covered the table.
He blinked, looked at her, and gently raised the wallet again. His fingers hesitated before opening it. He lingered at the snapshot, as if reliving it.
“Your mother?” he said slowly.
Claire croaked, “Yes.”
Evelyn Morgan. Her death was three years ago. However, how did you get her photo?
Shaken, he reclined. His eyes sparkled.
He muttered, “My God.” “You look like her.”
Tightening throat, Claire.
“I’m sorry,” she mumbled. My intent was not to pry. Simply put, my mother never discussed her history. Never knew my father, and when I saw her photo—
“No,” he said softly.
You weren’t nosy. I… I owe you an explanation.”
He pointed to the seat across. “Please. Settle down.”
Claire slipped into the booth, fists tensed.
The guy inhaled deeply.
Alexander Bennett. I know your mother long ago. We were in love. Deeply. Intensely. “Life got in the way.”
Paused, eyes remote.
We met in college. She studied English literature. I studied business. She was brilliant, clever, and enthusiastic about poetry and tea. I was driven and ambitious, sometimes too much. Dad disapproved of her. Declared she was not from ‘our world.’ I was too cowardly to fight him.”
Claire’s heart hammered. “You left her?”
His face showed embarrassment as he nodded. “Yes. My father told me to break up or lose everything. My choice was incorrect. We were done, I informed her. I never saw her again.”
Claire cried.
“She never told me. Never criticised anybody. Just stated she was glad to have me.”
Alexander stared at her with anguish. “I’ve carried this picture for 30 years. I always hated abandoning her. She may have married someone else and started a new life.
“She didn’t,” Claire muttered.
“She raised me alone. She had three jobs. We had little, yet she gave me everything.”
Alexander forced a swallow. “Claire… How old are you?
“Twenty-four.”
When he opened his eyes, tears fell.
“She was pregnant when I left, wasn’t she?”
Claire nods. “She must have. I suppose mom didn’t want me to be bitter.”
Alexander grabbed a monogrammed handkerchief from his coat pocket to wipe his tears. “Now you are right in front of me.”
“I don’t know what this means,” Claire whispered. “I just… I have several queries.”
“You deserve answers,” he continued. All of them.”
After some hesitation, he said, “May I ask you something… Will you join me for lunch this week? No stress. I want to know more about your mother’s remarkable womanhood. What about you?”
Claire glanced at him intently. Familiarity was evident in his eyes, demeanor, and grin.
“I’d like that,” she whispered.
Three weeks later, they settled in the quiet booth behind The Sunny Side Café.
Claire discovered Alexander never married. He developed a billion-dollar investment enterprise but never found serenity. Even though he couldn’t recall his face in the mirror, he kept her mother’s picture in his wallet for years.
Alexander learnt about Evelyn’s sacrifices, lullabies, and delight in simple moments with Claire.
While eating lemon scones and earl grey tea, he stretched across the table.
“I know I can’t make up for the years I missed,” he remarked.
What if you let me? Want to be in your life. Any way you want.”
Claire inspected his face. She nodded despite her knotted, aching emotions.
“Start with coffee. Cup by cup.”
Claire waited outside a modest business on Oakridge Avenue one year later. Sign over door:
Evelyn’s Garden Café
The inside smelled like rosemary and warm croissants. The walls had poetry, teacups, and a giant framed Evelyn Morgan smiling portrait.
Alexander sponsored the whole thing but requested Claire’s name and concept.
“I’m proud of you,” he said, standing by her as they watched people fill the tables.
Claire grinned, tears in her eyes.
“I think she knew you’d come back one day,” she added.
He appeared astonished at her.
“Why say that?”
Claire took a folded letter from her apron pocket.
One night after we met, I discovered this in her old recipe book. Dated my birth.”
He got it from her.
It read:
My Dear Claire,
Your inquiries will come. Your father. About history. Just know he loved me. Truly. Though life separated us, I never lost faith in love. Please be polite if he finds you. Long life, growing hearts.
All my love,
Mom
Shaking, Alexander held the letter to his chest.
Claire leaned forward and said, “Welcome home, Dad.”
Alexander Bennett sobbed for the first time in decades, not from remorse but from the overwhelming grace of second chances.