Chương 4
“Okay.”
“Try to rest.”
Claire looked at him.
He left.
She locked the door.
At three twenty in the morning, the yacht passed into calmer water.
Claire knew because she woke when the rolling stopped.
For several seconds she could not remember where she was.
Then her cheek throbbed.
Sophie slept diagonally across the bed, one knee outside the blanket, her braid almost entirely undone.
Claire stayed still.
Rain ticked against the windows.
Somewhere in the harbor, a foghorn sounded.
She thought of calling her sister.
She thought of calling a lawyer.
Instead she got up and found Sophie’s discarded cream shoes beside the sofa.
One had a small dark scuff across the toe.
Claire sat down and rubbed at it with her thumb.
It did nothing.
She kept rubbing anyway.
At seven, Elena knocked with coffee and an incident form.
Claire let her in.
“You don’t have to fill it out now,” Elena said.
“I should.”
Elena set the tray down.
Her hair was pulled back more tightly than usual. She looked as though she had not slept.
“Captain wants statements while memories are fresh.”
Claire nodded.
“Is Margaret awake?”
“Since five.”
“Of course.”
Elena almost smiled.
Almost.
“She asked to be taken ashore.”
“We’re docked?”
“Not yet. Harbor master gave us a temporary berth. We’re moving at eight-thirty.”
“Why didn’t Thomas wake me?”
“He didn’t think anything required it.”
Claire looked at her.
“Does this happen often?”
“People fighting on yachts?”
“People hitting each other.”
Elena folded her hands.
“No.”
Claire looked at the blank form.
“I hit her.”
“Yes.”
“You saw that.”
“Yes.”
“And she kicked my chair.”
“Yes.”
“Did you see her grab my wrist?”
“From the doorway.”
Claire nodded.
Elena shifted her weight.
“Mrs. Hale?”
“Claire.”
“Claire. Write what happened. Don’t write what you think it meant.”
That sounded like the advice of someone who had filled out incident reports after richer people behaved badly.
Claire picked up the pen.
“Thank you.”
Elena moved toward the door.
“Does my mother-in-law know I’m the owner?”
Elena turned.
“She does now.”
Claire looked at the coffee.
“Did she ask you?”
“She asked Captain Bell.”
“And?”
“He showed her the vessel registry information.”
Claire gave a small laugh.
“What did she say?”
Elena paused.
“I’m not sure repeating it would help you.”
That was probably the kindest thing anyone had said to Claire since dinner.
At eight forty-two, the yacht secured at the private marina.
The storm had moved northeast, leaving a harbor full of gray water and broken branches. Crew members worked on deck in waterproof gear. A line slapped wetly against a bollard.
Claire stood by the window with her second coffee.
Margaret came down the gangway before nine.
She did not say goodbye.
A car had been sent for her.
Daniel walked her ashore.
Claire watched from inside.
Sophie did not.
She had asked for pancakes and was now eating them in the crew mess because Elena had said the chef made better ones there.
Claire appreciated that Elena had not said it was more fun.
Nothing was fun.
When Daniel returned, he found Claire in the salon.
The broken champagne flute was gone.
The chair had been set upright.
That bothered her.
She wanted the room to look different.
It did not.
Only a faint scrape on the walnut floor suggested anything had happened.
Daniel stood in the doorway.
“She’s going to Boston.”
Claire kept looking at the chair.
“Okay.”
“She wants her attorney to contact us.”
“Us?”
“You.”
“Then say me.”
Daniel nodded.
“She says you humiliated her deliberately.”
Claire turned.
“I slapped her deliberately.”
He looked surprised.
“I’m not going to pretend I lost control. I chose to do it. It was wrong. Those things can coexist.”
“She’s furious.”
“Daniel, your mother kicked a chair out from under me.”
“I know what she did.”
“Then stop reporting her emotional state to me like I’m responsible for managing it.”
He pulled out a chair.
Not the chair.
Another one.
He sat.
Claire remained standing.
“Why did she do it?”
“She thinks you’re planning to divorce me.”
Claire looked at him.
“Why?”
“Because I asked the family office for copies of my trust documents.”
“You did?”
“Last week.”
“Why?”
Daniel stared at the table.
Claire felt another piece move.
“What aren’t you telling me?”
“I was going to tell you.”
“When?”
“After this trip.”
“Why after?”
“Because I didn’t want to ruin Sophie’s weekend.”
Claire laughed softly.
That excuse had become obscene.
Daniel rubbed his hands together.
“The family business has a problem.”
“Again?”
“Not liquidity.”
“What kind of problem?”
“My mother changed the voting agreement.”
Claire pulled out a chair and sat across from him.
“When?”
“Three months ago.”
“Can she do that?”
“With the shares she controls, yes.”
“What did she change?”
“If I separate from you, my voting rights increase.”
Claire stared at him.
Daniel continued before she could speak.
“It was structured as a marital-risk provision. She claims it protects family control if there’s a divorce.”
“She incentivized you to divorce me.”
“Yes.”
“And you found out three months ago.”
“Yes.”
“And you didn’t tell me.”
“I was trying to fix it.”
“How?”
“I asked outside counsel if it could be challenged.”
“And?”
“Probably not.”
The yacht was perfectly still now.
Claire wished for the storm.
Movement had been easier.
“So she thinks you’re planning to divorce me because you requested the trust documents.”
“She thinks I’m considering it.”
“Are you?”
“No.”
The answer came quickly.
Claire believed him.
That made almost no difference.
“Did you tell her that?”
“Yes.”
“What did she say?”
“She said I was being manipulated.”
Claire closed her eyes.
There it was again. Margaret’s explanation for any decision Daniel made that she disliked.
Claire opened them.
“Why tonight?”
“She found out the yacht wasn’t mine.”
Claire stared.
May you like
“You said she only found out after I told her.”
“She found out something was wrong before dinner. One of the family accountants saw the marina invoice last week. Cormorant paid it. Mom asked me what Cormorant was.”
