"Emily what?" he asked.
Lucy frowned.
"Emily Cole."
Bear closed his eyes.
He had found her.
Or at least, he had found someone who belonged to her.
And the little girl standing beside him might be the granddaughter he had never met.
Chapter 3: A Grandfather's Forgotten Promise
Bear lowered himself onto one knee.
He did not want to frighten Lucy with his reaction.
His heart was pounding.
"Lucy, sweetheart, how old are you?"
"Seven."
"What's your birthday?"
She told him.
Bear felt the world shift beneath him.
He remembered the year.
He remembered the month.
It matched the information he had once heard from an old neighbor.
Emily had given birth seven years earlier.
He looked at Lucy.
"Does your mommy ever talk about your grandpa?"
Lucy nodded.
"Sometimes."
"What does she say?"
"She says he rides a big motorcycle. And that he used to make her pancakes."
Bear felt tears gather in his eyes.
Pancakes.
Every Sunday morning, he had made Emily pancakes shaped like stars, hearts, and occasionally badly formed animals.
He remembered how she used to laugh when he burned the first batch.
"Those are not stars, Daddy. They're rocks."
He had pretended to be offended.
"These are premium motorcycle-shaped pancakes."
Lucy watched him carefully.
"Are you crying?"
Bear quickly wiped his eyes.
"No, sweetheart. I think there's something in my eye."
She tilted her head.
"Like dust?"
"Something like that."
Lucy looked at the ring in his hand.
"Can I have it back?"
Bear looked at the little silver object.
"Of course."
He placed it carefully in her palm.
"Your mommy must love this ring very much."
Lucy nodded.
"She says it's the most important thing she owns."
Bear swallowed.
He wanted to ask a thousand questions.
He wanted to know where Emily had been living, whether she was happy, whether she had forgiven him, whether she ever thought about him.
But the child in front of him needed help.
And whatever emotions were rising inside him would have to wait.
"Lucy, I need to ask you something."
She looked at him.
"Is your mommy still on this path?"
Lucy nodded.
"Yes."
"Then let's find her."
He stood and gently held her hand again.
They continued down the trail.
A few minutes later, Bear noticed something near a fallen tree.
A piece of blue fabric had caught on a branch.
He stopped.
"Lucy, is that from your mommy's clothes?"
She looked.
Then she nodded.
"Yes. That's her shirt."
Bear examined the area.
There were footprints leading around the tree.
Some appeared to have been made by someone running.
He called out.
"Emily!"
His voice echoed through the trees.
No answer.
He tried again.
"Emily! It's Daniel!"
Lucy looked up at him.
"That's Mommy's daddy's name."
Bear's throat tightened.
"Yes, sweetheart."
He called once more.
"Emily! It's Dad!"
For several seconds, there was only silence.
Then, from somewhere beyond the trees, he heard a faint voice.
"Lucy?"
The little girl gasped.
"Mommy!"
She started running.
Bear followed immediately.
And there, beside a fallen tree near a shallow ditch, lay a woman.
Her clothes were dirty.
One arm was wrapped around her side.
Her face was pale, and she looked exhausted.
But when she saw Lucy, she tried to sit up.
"Lucy..."
The girl ran to her.
"Mommy!"
Emily reached out and pulled her daughter into her arms.
Bear stopped a few feet away.
He could barely recognize the woman standing before him.
She was no longer the seventeen-year-old girl who used to sit on his motorcycle.
She was a grown woman.
A mother.
A person who had lived an entire life without him.
But when she turned her head and looked at him, he saw the same eyes.
The same expression.
The same little crease between her eyebrows.
Emily stared.
Her lips parted.
"Dad?"
Bear could not speak.
He simply stood there, looking at the daughter he had not seen in more than ten years.
Then he whispered:
"Hello, sweetheart."
Emily began to cry.
Not because she was hurt.
Not because she was frightened.
But because the one person she had spent years trying not to miss was suddenly standing in front of her.
And he was holding the same gentle expression he had worn when she was a little girl.
Chapter 4: The Daughter Who Thought Her Father Had Forgotten Her
For several seconds, neither of them moved.
Lucy looked between her mother and the biker.
"Mommy, you know him?"
Emily nodded.
Tears ran down her cheeks.
"Yes, baby."
"Who is he?"
Emily looked at Bear.
Her voice trembled.
"He's my daddy."
Lucy stared.
Then she looked at the man in the leather vest.
"The pancake grandpa?"
Bear let out a broken laugh.
He had never expected to hear those words.
"That's me, sweetheart."
Lucy looked delighted.
"Mommy told me about you!"
Bear crouched beside her.
"She did?"
"She said you made funny pancakes."
Bear smiled.
"I did make some terrible pancakes."
Emily tried to laugh, but the movement made her wince.
Bear immediately became serious.
"Emily, what happened?"
She looked toward the trail.
"Not now, Dad."
"Are you hurt?"
"Just my side."
"Can you stand?"
"I think so."