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to be the one bring IT up, but I realized my time was running out. Soon, the staffer would be back to drive me to the airport, and we hadn’t discussed my reason for being here. I finally gathered my guts and went back into the room armed with my question.
    “So, do I look like anyone on your side of the family?
    Pause.
    “No,” he said with a good poker face.
    My heart sank. Really? Is that it? He doesn’t think I’m his? But we seemed to get along so well. The only thing certain was this meeting was almost over, and my plane would be leaving soon.
    “Look, they have asked me to take a blood test, so I will take a blood test. We’ll get the results and go from there. Regardless, it was nice meeting you,” he said matter-of-factly.
    He had put so much effort into battling against me, but my stubborn spirit wasn’t about to let him win. Despite the barriers he put up, my younger, more open, heart felt something he wasn’t revealing.
    I kept my smile intact in order to hide the disappointment that sucked the air right out of me. My rational side protected my heart, and I told myself that once we got the DNA results, he would say or do more. I knew we weren’t alone, and I could tell he was being careful about what he said out loud. It wasn’t until years later that I uncovered a file in his basement and discovered he had been advised by his attorneys to keep his answers to me vague and noncommittal. At the time, I’d have given anything for some telepathic powers to hear his private thoughts and feelings.
    We were both infinitely changed at our secret meeting, with that first handshake. It was a major fork in the road of our lives, and an unspoken healing energy was set in motion. I was determined that one day I’d unlock his heart, and he would protect mine. But we had a long way to go before we reached that point.
    I thanked him and Patti for the popcorn and walked to the door. The biggest moment of my life was over, and I had no idea what it meant. I held on to the feeling that I just knew he liked me.
    David, the staffer, was waiting by the car to take me back to the airport. I didn’t want to say too much, but would later learn that David didn’t need me to say anything. He’d been holed up in an empty office across the street with other senior staffers and already told them I was clearly my father’s daughter. “She looks and acts just like him.” He says he saw it in my face, but it was my confidence that reminded him of my father. He thought I was quite poised for a teenager.
    I had always been good at covering up my emotions with a smile, but underneath my confident exterior I was just hoping the blood tests would prove Mom had been right.
    When I arrived home that night, Mom wanted to know all about my trip. “Did you see that you looked just like him?”
    “Not really—maybe—I couldn’t really tell.”
    Mom was dying to know every detail, but I was so overwhelmed by my day, I just wanted to go to my room and be alone to process it all.
    “What did he say?”
    “He was nice, but very formal. He showed me pictures and shook my hand firmly, like you said he would.”
    “Yep, that’s Bruce. What else?”
    “He said that we’d talk more after the DNA test comes back.”
    Mom instantly got defensive. “Oh, Kara, we don’t even need that test. We can get it, but I know you’re his, and so does he. He better do the right thing, so help me God.”
    I was so exhausted, all I wanted to do was sleep, and I couldn’t bear to think about what the “so help me” next steps would be if he didn’t do the right thing.
    Mom would later tell me she saw so much of my father in me that day. “You’re blessed with those rational, analytical genes.”
    While Mom was a bundle of nerves, she told me I’d appeared so calm, and ready for the next step. She’s always had difficulty disconnecting from her emotions, but she says my ability to pull the plug comes from my father’s wiring.
    The following