I thought my father kept ruining every first date. Then I found the letter my mother had left behind eight years after her death.
My mother died eight years ago.
For the first three, Dad wouldn’t even look at another woman.
Then, at 68, he finally started dating.
I was happy for him until I noticed a pattern.
Six women in 18 months.
Every first date happened at the same Italian restaurant across town.
And every woman disappeared afterward.
No second date. No explanation. Most wouldn’t even answer Dad’s calls.
When the seventh woman canceled plans to see him again, I’d had enough.
I drove to the restaurant alone.
The waitress recognized the photo on my phone immediately.
“Oh. Tom.”
“You’ve served him before?”
Her expression changed.
“Several times.”
“Then please tell me. What does he do to these women?”
She stared at me. “Your father? Nothing.”
That wasn’t the answer I’d expected.
She glanced toward the kitchen, then lowered her voice.
“It’s what happens when they ask for the check.”
She led me to a corner booth.
“Your father always sits here. Same table. Same chair.”
Then she pointed at the wall behind it.
The wall was covered with photographs from opening night in 1987. Dozens of smiling people stood beneath strings of lights.
Years later, Dad had added one of his own. In it, three young people stood together.
Dad was near the back. So was Mom.
But beside them stood another young woman whose face had been scratched almost completely away.
My stomach tightened.
“Who is she?”
The waitress didn’t answer.
Instead, she reached beneath the booth and pulled out a small envelope taped underneath.
What happened next changed everything… FULL STORY on the next page.
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