I felt like such an idiot. God, Takata had asked my opinion of the lyrics of “Red Ribbons” last year, and I hadn’t gotten it. He had been trying to tell me, and I had been too dense to see it. But how could I have even guessed? “Who else knows?” I asked somewhat fearfully.

He smiled without showing his teeth, looking almost shy. “I told Ripley. But she has her own past to deal with and she will keep her mouth shut.”

“Trent?” I accused.

“Trent knows everything,” he muttered. Seeing my unease, he added, “He knows only because his father needed a genetic blueprint to help base your treatment on. Mr. Kalamack could have used Robbie’s, but the repair would have been slower and not as perfect. When your dad asked, I said yes. Not just for you, but so Robbie wouldn’t have a summer of missing memories.”

I made a face, remembering. Or remembering not remembering, maybe.

“So Trent knows I’m your birth father, but not why.” Takata leaned into his chair with his tall glass of milk, his long leg hitting the table leg on my side before jerking it back. “It was none of his business,” he said defensively.

I couldn’t taste my toast anymore, and I set it down. I stared at my soup, took a breath to find my courage, then said softly, “Why?”

“Thank you,” Takata whispered.

His eyes were heavy with moisture when I looked, but he was smiling. He set his glass down and stared out the window at the growing brightness. “Your dad and I met your mother at the university.”

I’d heard this before, just not knowing that the other guy had been Takata. “She said she met my dad when she signed up for a ley line class she had no business being in. That she took it to meet the gorgeous hunk of witch in front of her, but ended up falling in love with his best friend.”

His smile grew, showing his teeth. “I’d love to know which one of us she considered the hunk of witch.”

Confused, I pulled my soup closer. “But my dad, Monty, I mean, was human.”

Takata’s head was bobbing. “There was a lot more prejudice back then. No, not more, just that no one was as afraid to show it. To avoid getting a lot of flack, he told everyone he was a witch. Until your mother, he would ransack my closet just to smell right.”

I thought about that for a moment, then returned to eating.

“Your dad and me?” he continued, his pleasant voice seeming to fill the kitchen and sounding right. “I don’t know how we got through those last years without killing each other. We both loved your mother, and she loved both of us.” He hesitated, then added, “For different reasons. She thought it was hilarious when her scent charms worked so well that even the instructors couldn’t tell he was a human. His ley line skills were more than good enough. It was crazy, the both of us vying for her, and her caught in the middle.”