Julian drove because my hands were shaking too badly to trust behind a steering wheel even if I still had one.<\/p>\n
Rebecca sat beside him. I rode in the back, looking through the window at streets I had known most of my life and barely recognizing them beneath the pressure building behind my ribs.<\/p>\n
No one spoke for the first ten minutes.<\/p>\n
Savannah moved past us in pieces. Brick walls. Live oaks. Gas stations. A boy pedaling a bicycle with one hand. A woman carrying groceries from a corner market.<\/p>\n
Ordinary life seemed almost insulting.<\/p>\n
Julian kept glancing at me in the rearview mirror.<\/p>\n
Finally he said, \u201cMom, we don\u2019t have to do this today.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes, we do.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019ve already had enough.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat has been everyone\u2019s favorite argument for keeping things from me.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI didn\u2019t mean it like that.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI know.\u201d<\/p>\n
That was the difficult part.<\/p>\n
Julian\u2019s instinct to protect me now was sincere.<\/p>\n
So had Arthur\u2019s been, perhaps.<\/p>\n
People could do terrible things under the name of protection and still believe they were acting out of love.<\/p>\n
Rebecca turned slightly in her seat.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen we arrive, Evelyn, remember that Samuel is elderly. His memory may be imperfect.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHow old?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNinety-three.\u201d<\/p>\n
Julian exhaled softly.<\/p>\n
\u201cThen we had better hope his memory is better than Candice says Mom\u2019s is.\u201d<\/p>\n
The bitterness in his voice surprised me.<\/p>\n
It also worried me.<\/p>\n
Candice had lied to him, but anger made people reckless. I had spent enough of the morning learning what happened when people acted before checking facts.<\/p>\n
\u201cJulian.\u201d<\/p>\n
He met my eyes in the mirror.<\/p>\n
\u201cDo not decide what Samuel knows before we hear him.\u201d<\/p>\n
His mouth tightened.<\/p>\n
\u201cFair.\u201d<\/p>\n
St. Catherine\u2019s sat behind a row of crepe myrtles near a medical complex south of town. The building was larger than I expected, with white columns, a covered entrance and flowerbeds too carefully maintained to look accidental.<\/p>\n
Julian parked near the front.<\/p>\n
When he came around to help me out, he did not touch me until I asked.<\/p>\n
That mattered.<\/p>\n
Inside, the air smelled faintly of lemon cleaner and coffee.<\/p>\n
A young woman at reception looked at Rebecca\u2019s identification, then at me.<\/p>\n
\u201cMrs. Evelyn Carter?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
Her expression changed.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019re expected.\u201d<\/p>\n
The words sent a chill through me.<\/p>\n
\u201cHow long have I been expected?\u201d<\/p>\n
The receptionist looked uncomfortable.<\/p>\n
\u201cI only know there is a note in Dr. Hayes\u2019s file.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSince when?\u201d<\/p>\n
She clicked through a screen.<\/p>\n
\u201c2019.\u201d<\/p>\n
Seven years.<\/p>\n
Samuel had apparently spent seven years making sure a woman he had not seen since childbirth could find a message he believed she might someday need.<\/p>\n
Julian looked at me.<\/p>\n
I could not read his expression.<\/p>\n
A nurse named Denise came for us.<\/p>\n
She had kind eyes and the practical walk of someone who spent her day solving problems no one else noticed.<\/p>\n
\u201cDr. Hayes is awake,\u201d she said. \u201cHe tires easily, but he\u2019s clear most mornings.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMost?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe has good days and less good ones.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rebecca asked, \u201cHas he been told who is here?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd?\u201d<\/p>\n
Denise looked at me.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe started crying.\u201d<\/p>\n
My knees weakened.<\/p>\n
Julian reached toward me, then stopped himself.<\/p>\n
I took his arm.<\/p>\n
\u201cLet\u2019s go.\u201d<\/p>\n
Samuel Hayes lived in a private room overlooking a courtyard.<\/p>\n
When Denise knocked, a thin voice called, \u201cCome.\u201d<\/p>\n
She opened the door.<\/p>\n
The man in the chair near the window was smaller than the doctor I remembered.<\/p>\n
Time had reduced him.<\/p>\n
His shoulders had narrowed. His hair was white and sparse. A blanket covered his legs despite the warmth. But his eyes were sharp.<\/p>\n
Those I remembered.<\/p>\n
He saw me.<\/p>\n
For several seconds he did not move.<\/p>\n
Then his mouth trembled.<\/p>\n
\u201cEvelyn Carter.\u201d<\/p>\n
I stopped inside the doorway.<\/p>\n
\u201cDr. Hayes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSamuel.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
The answer came out sharper than I intended.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou were Dr. Hayes when you delivered my son. You can remain Dr. Hayes until I know why Arthur told me to find you.\u201d<\/p>\n
His eyes lowered.<\/p>\n
\u201cFair.\u201d<\/p>\n
Denise looked between us.<\/p>\n
\u201cWould you like me to stay?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes,\u201d Rebecca said.<\/p>\n
Samuel gave a faint nod.<\/p>\n
Julian entered last.<\/p>\n
Samuel saw him.<\/p>\n
Whatever color remained in his face vanished.<\/p>\n
\u201cOh, God.\u201d<\/p>\n
Julian went still.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou know me?\u201d<\/p>\n
Samuel stared at him.<\/p>\n
\u201cI know your face.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cFrom where?\u201d<\/p>\n
The old doctor closed his eyes.<\/p>\n
\u201cArthur.\u201d<\/p>\n
Julian\u2019s jaw tightened.<\/p>\n
Rebecca moved closer to the bed.<\/p>\n
\u201cDr. Hayes, I\u2019m Rebecca Sterling, Mrs. Carter\u2019s attorney. Evelyn has recently discovered documents written by Arthur Carter. One directed her to you regarding the night Julian was born.\u201d<\/p>\n
Samuel opened his eyes again.<\/p>\n
\u201cI wondered when Candice would lose control.\u201d<\/p>\n
Every hair on my arms rose.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou knew Candice?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
Julian stepped forward.<\/p>\n
\u201cHow?\u201d<\/p>\n
Samuel looked at him.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe came here.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYears ago.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHow many?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cEight. Maybe nine.\u201d<\/p>\n
Julian stared.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe knew you before today?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
I gripped my walker.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat did she ask?\u201d<\/p>\n
Samuel\u2019s gaze moved toward me.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe same thing you came to ask.\u201d<\/p>\n
I heard my own breathing.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat happened the night Julian was born?\u201d<\/p>\n
Samuel looked toward Denise.<\/p>\n
\u201cTop drawer.\u201d<\/p>\n
She crossed to a cabinet and opened it.<\/p>\n
Inside lay a long white envelope with my name on the front.<\/p>\n
The handwriting was not Arthur\u2019s.<\/p>\n
Samuel\u2019s.<\/p>\n
Denise handed it to me.<\/p>\n
I did not open it.<\/p>\n
\u201cTell me first.\u201d<\/p>\n
Samuel swallowed.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was August 3, 1969.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThere was a storm.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou came in shortly after midnight.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYour labor became difficult.\u201d<\/p>\n
I remembered flashes.<\/p>\n
Bright lights.<\/p>\n
Sweat on Arthur\u2019s collar.<\/p>\n
A nurse telling me to breathe.<\/p>\n
The sound of thunder over the hospital roof.<\/p>\n
Samuel continued.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere was fetal distress. We prepared for an emergency cesarean.\u201d<\/p>\n
I frowned.<\/p>\n
\u201cI didn\u2019t have a cesarean.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
His fingers tightened around the blanket.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe baby recovered briefly. You delivered vaginally at 4:18 in the morning.\u201d<\/p>\n
Julian looked at me.<\/p>\n
I stared at Samuel.<\/p>\n
\u201cJulian?\u201d<\/p>\n
Samuel did not answer.<\/p>\n
I felt the room change.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat was wrong?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe baby was born alive.\u201d<\/p>\n
My mouth went dry.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut.\u201d<\/p>\n
He closed his eyes.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe stopped breathing.\u201d<\/p>\n
Julian whispered, \u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n
Samuel continued because stopping would have been worse.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe resuscitated him.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou told me he was healthy.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat came later.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat came first?\u201d<\/p>\n
Samuel\u2019s eyes filled.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe could not save him.\u201d<\/p>\n
No one spoke.<\/p>\n
I heard Denise inhale.<\/p>\n
Julian said, \u201cThat makes no sense.\u201d<\/p>\n
I did not understand either.<\/p>\n
I had held a baby that morning.<\/p>\n
I had fed him.<\/p>\n
I had taken him home three days later.<\/p>\n
I had raised him.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat are you saying?\u201d<\/p>\n
Samuel looked at me.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe son you delivered died at 5:06 a.m.\u201d<\/p>\n
Julian stepped backward as though someone had struck him.<\/p>\n
I stared at Samuel.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
He began to cry.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cEvelyn\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
I turned toward Julian.<\/p>\n
His face was white.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat is my son.\u201d<\/p>\n
Samuel nodded desperately.<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThen do not tell me my son died.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe baby you delivered died.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThere is no difference.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThere is.\u201d<\/p>\n
I looked at him.<\/p>\n
And the room became colder.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat difference?\u201d<\/p>\n
Samuel wiped his face with trembling fingers.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere was another baby.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rebecca spoke first.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnother patient?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWho?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cRose Whitaker.\u201d<\/p>\n
The name struck harder the second time.<\/p>\n
I stared.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat is impossible.\u201d<\/p>\n
Samuel shook his head.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe was sixteen.\u201d<\/p>\n
Julian gripped the back of a chair.<\/p>\n
Rebecca asked, \u201cWas she at the hospital that night?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
Samuel\u2019s voice dropped.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe had delivered a boy two hours before you arrived.\u201d<\/p>\n
Julian said nothing.<\/p>\n
I could barely breathe.<\/p>\n
\u201cArthur already knew Rose?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
Samuel shook his head.<\/p>\n
\u201cNot then.\u201d<\/p>\n
That answer confused me more.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut Nora\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cRose and Arthur met years later.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rebecca\u2019s head lifted sharply.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe relationship Arthur described in 1984 occurred fifteen years after Julian\u2019s birth?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThen why does Rose matter to this night?\u201d<\/p>\n
Samuel looked at Julian.<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause the child she delivered in 1969 was you.\u201d<\/p>\n
Silence is not really silence when your life is breaking.<\/p>\n
You hear air conditioning.<\/p>\n
A cart rolling somewhere down a hallway.<\/p>\n
Your own pulse.<\/p>\n
A nurse\u2019s shoes shifting against vinyl.<\/p>\n
Julian lowered himself into the chair beside Samuel.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
Samuel nodded.<\/p>\n
\u201cI am sorry.\u201d<\/p>\n
Julian stared at him.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy mother is Evelyn Carter.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThen what are you saying?\u201d<\/p>\n
Samuel\u2019s eyes filled again.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat Rose Whitaker gave birth to you.\u201d<\/p>\n
I heard myself ask, \u201cWhere was her baby\u2019s father?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo one knew.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHer family?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cRose\u2019s mother was there.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat did she want?\u201d<\/p>\n
Samuel looked ashamed.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe wanted the baby gone.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rebecca crossed her arms.<\/p>\n
\u201cExplain that precisely.\u201d<\/p>\n
Samuel nodded.<\/p>\n
\u201cRose\u2019s family had money. Influence. Her mother insisted the pregnancy had already caused enough scandal. Adoption had been arranged.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThen why wasn\u2019t he adopted?\u201d<\/p>\n
Samuel looked toward me.<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause your son died.\u201d<\/p>\n
I closed my eyes.<\/p>\n
There it was.<\/p>\n
The shape of what had happened.<\/p>\n
Not an accident.<\/p>\n
Not a mistaken bassinet.<\/p>\n
A decision.<\/p>\n
I opened my eyes.<\/p>\n
\u201cWho made the switch?\u201d<\/p>\n
Samuel whispered, \u201cArthur.\u201d<\/p>\n
Julian stood so quickly the chair scraped backward.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy father stole me?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
Samuel\u2019s voice cracked.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe thought he was saving two families.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat is not an answer.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cArthur learned your baby had died. You were hemorrhaging. We had sedated you. You were in unstable condition.\u201d<\/p>\n
I remembered waking groggy.<\/p>\n
Arthur beside me.<\/p>\n
A baby nowhere in sight.<\/p>\n
They had said observation.<\/p>\n
Tests.<\/p>\n
Routine.<\/p>\n
Nothing had been routine.<\/p>\n
Samuel continued.<\/p>\n
\u201cRose\u2019s mother was pressing for immediate surrender. Rose was begging to keep the child. Arthur overheard part of the argument.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHow?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe was walking the corridor.\u201d<\/p>\n
Julian looked sick.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cRose\u2019s mother told him she did not care who raised the baby as long as he never came back into their lives.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rebecca\u2019s voice hardened.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd Arthur decided that justified giving him to Evelyn?\u201d<\/p>\n
Samuel looked at the floor.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe came to me.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou agreed?\u201d<\/p>\n
Samuel\u2019s silence answered.<\/p>\n
I stared at the man I had once thanked for delivering my son.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou handed me another woman\u2019s baby.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI did.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou falsified records.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou lied to me.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cFor fifty-seven years.\u201d<\/p>\n
Samuel\u2019s face crumpled.<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
I wanted to hate him cleanly.<\/p>\n
It would have been easier.<\/p>\n
But the old man in front of me looked less like a villain than someone who had spent half a century waiting for punishment.<\/p>\n
That did not absolve him.<\/p>\n
It only made the crime uglier.<\/p>\n
Human beings did terrible things for motives that were not always terrible.<\/p>\n
Julian began pacing.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo Rose knew?\u201d<\/p>\n
Samuel shook his head.<\/p>\n
\u201cNot immediately.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat did she think happened?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat the adoption went through.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou gave her baby to someone else and let her believe he had been adopted?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
Julian pressed both hands to his head.<\/p>\n
\u201cJesus Christ.\u201d<\/p>\n
I asked the question that mattered most.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen did Arthur tell Rose?\u201d<\/p>\n
Samuel looked at me.<\/p>\n
\u201c1984.\u201d<\/p>\n
Everything clicked.<\/p>\n
Macon.<\/p>\n
The affair.<\/p>\n
Nora.<\/p>\n
Arthur had not met Rose by chance.<\/p>\n
He had sought her out.<\/p>\n
\u201cArthur went looking for her.\u201d<\/p>\n
Samuel nodded.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe could not live with the secret anymore.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd then slept with her.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
The disgust rose slowly.<\/p>\n
Not only betrayal.<\/p>\n
Guilt tangled with desire.<\/p>\n
History folding back on itself.<\/p>\n
Julian whispered, \u201cNora.\u201d<\/p>\n
Samuel looked at him.<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cShe\u2019s my\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n
He could not finish.<\/p>\n
I did.<\/p>\n
\u201cHalf sister.\u201d<\/p>\n
Samuel shook his head.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
We all looked at him.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n
He closed his eyes.<\/p>\n
\u201cNora is not Rose\u2019s daughter.\u201d<\/p>\n
My exhaustion broke into anger.<\/p>\n
\u201cThen whose daughter is she?\u201d<\/p>\n
Samuel hesitated.<\/p>\n
\u201cArthur\u2019s.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rebecca frowned.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe know that.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
Samuel looked at me.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou do not.\u201d<\/p>\n
He pointed toward the sealed envelope in my hand.<\/p>\n
\u201cOpen it.\u201d<\/p>\n
My fingers would not cooperate, so Rebecca did.<\/p>\n
Inside were three documents.<\/p>\n
A copy of a birth certificate.<\/p>\n
A handwritten statement.<\/p>\n
And a laboratory report.<\/p>\n
Rebecca read the report first.<\/p>\n
Her eyebrows lifted.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat is it?\u201d<\/p>\n
She looked at Julian.<\/p>\n
\u201cA genetic relationship test.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBetween whom?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cArthur Carter and Nora Whitaker.\u201d<\/p>\n
Julian stared.<\/p>\n
\u201cFather and daughter?\u201d<\/p>\n
Rebecca shook her head.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
I felt fear return.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat relationship?\u201d<\/p>\n
Rebecca turned the page.<\/p>\n
\u201cGrandfather and granddaughter.\u201d<\/p>\n
Julian whispered, \u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n
Samuel covered his face.<\/p>\n
\u201cNora was Rose\u2019s daughter.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat makes Arthur her father,\u201d I said.<\/p>\n
Samuel shook his head.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
My stomach turned before my mind caught up.<\/p>\n
\u201cThen\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n
Samuel looked at Julian.<\/p>\n
\u201cArthur was her grandfather.\u201d<\/p>\n
Julian stopped breathing.<\/p>\n
Rebecca said it first.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhich means Nora\u2019s biological father was Arthur\u2019s son.\u201d<\/p>\n
We all looked at Julian.<\/p>\n
He backed toward the wall.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
Samuel whispered, \u201cI am sorry.\u201d<\/p>\n
Julian shook his head violently.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
I stood despite the weakness in my knees.<\/p>\n
\u201cAre you saying Julian fathered Nora?\u201d<\/p>\n
Samuel nodded.<\/p>\n
Julian stared at him.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat is impossible.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNora was born in 1985,\u201d Rebecca said quietly.<\/p>\n
Julian looked at her.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou were sixteen in 1984.\u201d<\/p>\n
His face drained.<\/p>\n
He turned away.<\/p>\n
I watched memory arrive.<\/p>\n
Not fully.<\/p>\n
Not yet.<\/p>\n
But enough.<\/p>\n
\u201cJulian?\u201d<\/p>\n
He rubbed both hands over his face.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere was a girl.\u201d<\/p>\n
No one spoke.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn Macon.\u201d<\/p>\n
My stomach dropped.<\/p>\n
Arthur had taken him to the work site for part of that summer.<\/p>\n
I remembered.<\/p>\n
Julian had begged to go because he wanted money for a car.<\/p>\n
He spent six weeks there.<\/p>\n
\u201cRose?\u201d I asked.<\/p>\n
Julian shook his head.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rebecca looked at Samuel.<\/p>\n
\u201cThen who was Nora\u2019s mother?\u201d<\/p>\n
Samuel stared toward the window.<\/p>\n
\u201cRose\u2019s younger daughter.\u201d<\/p>\n
I could not understand.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat younger daughter?\u201d<\/p>\n
Samuel turned back to us.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe child Rose had after Julian.\u201d<\/p>\n
Julian looked ill.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat was her name?\u201d<\/p>\n
Samuel whispered, \u201cClaire.\u201d<\/p>\n
Then he said the sentence that changed the shape of the entire family again.<\/p>\n
\u201cClaire was Julian\u2019s full biological sister.\u201d<\/p>\n
Julian drove because my hands were shaking too badly to trust behind a steering wheel even if I still had one. Rebecca sat beside him. I rode in the back, … <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6364,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6369","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-chapter-story"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thechapterstory.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6369","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thechapterstory.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thechapterstory.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thechapterstory.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thechapterstory.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=6369"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/thechapterstory.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6369\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6387,"href":"https:\/\/thechapterstory.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6369\/revisions\/6387"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thechapterstory.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/6364"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thechapterstory.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6369"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thechapterstory.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6369"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thechapterstory.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6369"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}