Maryann was around five foot ten, with curly dark hair, a fiery temperament, and a slender yet fabulous shape, so back then the phone was always ringing off the hook with a nervous high school boy at the other end of the line. Their inside joke had been that any guy who wanted to take her out on a date first had to obtain the “RC seal of approval,” or else he was out of luck. Now Maryann was twenty-two, engaged, and living with her fiancée. They were expecting their first child in the spring. Just a few weeks ago, Danny and Rachel had mentioned they intended to figure out some way to pay for the wedding that was planned for February. To Maryann, Danny had been her dad and Rachel her mom, and it was well known that the feeling had been mutual.

She was inconsolable. Not only had she been orphaned for the second time in her life less than twenty-four hours ago, but one of her little brothers was also gone, and her youngest brother had experienced something that was indescribably horrible. Worst of all, the cause of this misery was the man she had thought of as her father.

Rachel’s brothers, Pete and Sam, were now both in their early thirties. Rachel kept in touch with them, but, as with many siblings separated by distance and busy schedules, they would only get together around the holidays or for weddings and funerals. Pete and Sam both had settled in Minnesota after their father brought them back there on that fateful day after their mother’s funeral more than twenty years ago.

Rachel’s father had died in 1999, five years ago. Carolyn remembered the occasion because Evan and Christopher had stayed at the Bianci home while Danny and Rachel were in Minnesota. She remembered how funny Rachel had been when she called to check in on everyone.

“You won’t believe how many people showed up for my old man!”

“What do you mean, Rach?”

“I mean they are lined up in the street waiting to get into this place. They only should have known who he really was back in the day!”

In one of those fascinating twists of fate, Ted McKenna not only had sobered up when he was in his late fifties, but had become a paragon of sobriety. From that time until his death, he helped countless others overcome their alcoholism. Carolyn remembered the day Rachel called her to tell her the news.

“You’ll never guess who just left my house! Never in a million years!”

“Let’s see: Brad Pitt, Tom Cruise, or John Travolta?”

“Nope. Better than that. Ted McKenna!”

“No way, girl! Your father? Just out of the blue like that? Was he looking for money or something?”

Rachel started to cry, so Carolyn let up on the jokes. “Seriously, what happened? Why was he there?”