Chương 5
One hundred and ten thousand had seemed worse.
Two hundred and fifty thousand changed the shape of the room.
Darcy asked, “Is the personal credit included in that figure or separate?”
Julian stared at her.
Camille answered again.
“Separate, as far as I can tell.”
Eleanor whispered, “Dear God.”
Julian snapped.
“It was a growth facility.”
“To grow what?” Camille said.
“A company with no revenue?”
“It has revenue.”
“It has pilot revenue.”
“That still counts.”
“You have three clients.”
“We have six.”
“Congratulations, you gambled a medical practice on six clients.”
“It is not gambled.”
Camille laughed again.
“You keep changing the word instead of changing the facts.”
Julian grabbed the phone and took it off speaker.
“Enough.”
He walked into the hallway.
We could hear only pieces after that.
“No.”
A pause.
“I said no.”
Another.
“You have no idea what you’re talking about.”
Then quieter.
“Because Dad trusted me.”
Eleanor flinched.
She looked down at her hands.
The sentence hit her harder than the numbers.
I had known Julian’s father, Martin, for only four years before pancreatic cancer took him.
He was careful with money and terrible at admitting fear.
He once spent an entire Thanksgiving repairing a loose cabinet hinge because his oncology appointment was the next morning and apparently a screwdriver was easier to hold than a conversation.
Julian had worshiped him.
Martin had praised Camille more.
Nobody ever said that out loud.
They did not need to.
Julian returned several minutes later.
“Camille is coming over.”
Eleanor looked up.
“You told her to?”
“No.”
“That sounds like Camille.”
Darcy checked her watch.
“I need copies of the lending documents before anyone makes another decision.”
Julian shook his head.
“They’re confidential.”
“To whom?”
“The company.”
“Which company?”
“My company.”
“What’s it called?”
He hesitated.
I had been married to him seven years and did not know the name of the business consuming six figures of our life.
“LatticeCare.”
The name was polished enough to sound expensive.
“What does it actually do?”
He rubbed his jaw.
“Staffing optimization.”
Eleanor frowned.
“That means nothing.”
“It helps outpatient clinics manage staffing shortages using scheduling software and a marketplace of credentialed temporary workers.”
Darcy nodded slowly.
“That is considerably more specific.”
“I’m not an idiot.”
“No one said you were.”
He glanced at his mother.
Eleanor looked away.
The doorbell rang twenty minutes later.
Camille did not wait for anyone to answer after the first ring.
She used the keypad code and came in carrying a laptop bag, a grocery-store coffee, and the expression of someone who had driven too fast.
She stopped when she saw me.
Then Darcy.
Then Eleanor.
“This is cozy.”
“Don’t start,” Julian said.
Camille took off her coat.
“I started at seven.”
She was three years younger than Julian and looked more like Martin than he did.
Same narrow face.
Same habit of examining a room before entering it fully.
She crossed to Eleanor and kissed her cheek.
“Hi, Mom.”
Eleanor caught her wrist before she could move away.
“How bad?”
Camille looked at Julian.
He shook his head once.
She ignored him.
“I don’t know yet.”
“Camille.”
“I said I don’t know.”
Eleanor released her.
Camille put her laptop on the table.
“I found the notice because the company’s outside bookkeeper forwarded it to me by mistake.”
Julian scoffed.
“By mistake.”
“You think I orchestrated that?”
“You’ve been waiting for me to screw up since Dad died.”
Camille stared at him.
“I did not make you sign anything.”
“You never miss a chance to point out when I do.”
“Because you keep doing it.”
“Stop.”
Eleanor’s voice was quiet.
Both of them stopped.
She rubbed the side of her thumb against the edge of the table.
“Your father is dead.”
Neither sibling moved.
“He has been dead four years.”
Her voice remained level.
“You two are still arguing with him through each other.”
Julian’s mouth tightened.
Camille looked down.
Eleanor continued.
“I have tolerated it because I thought grief made people foolish.”
She gave a humorless smile.
“Apparently that includes mothers.”
No one answered.
She turned to Camille.
“Show me the notice.”
Camille opened her laptop.
Julian moved around the table.
“Mom, before you read anything, you need context.”
“No.”
“You do.”
“No, Julian.”
“This lender is aggressive.”
Darcy said, “Most lenders become aggressive after a covenant breach.”
He ignored her.
“I had a funding commitment that fell through.”
Camille looked up.
“From whom?”
“An investor.”
“What investor?”
“Harbor Peak.”
Camille’s face changed.
Julian saw it.
“What?”
“You mean Greg Halpern?”
“Yeah.”
“He called the clinic two weeks ago.”
Julian froze.
Eleanor looked between them.
“Why?”
Camille turned toward her brother.
“He was trying to reach Dad.”
Nobody spoke.
Camille continued.
“I told him Martin had been dead four years.”
Julian’s face drained.
“He knew that.”
“No, he didn’t.”
“He absolutely knew.”
“He asked when the funeral was.”
Julian stared at her.
“That doesn’t make sense.”
“He also asked whether Martin was still personally guaranteeing the expansion facility.”
The silence that followed felt different from everything before it.
Even Darcy stopped moving.
Julian pulled out a chair.
“Say that again.”
Camille did.
His lips parted.
Then he shook his head.
“No.”
“What?”
“That’s impossible.”
Darcy leaned forward.
“Why?”
Julian looked at her as if he had forgotten she was there.
“Because Harbor Peak was supposed to be investing in LatticeCare.”
Camille frowned.
“I’m telling you what he said.”
“He had our deck.”
“Maybe.”
“He signed a term sheet.”
Darcy asked, “Do you have it?”
“Yes.”
“Signed by whom?”
Julian hesitated.
“Greg.”
“Electronically?”
“Yes.”
“Through what platform?”
“I don’t know.”
“You should.”
“I was dealing with someone on his team.”
Camille folded her arms.
“What someone?”
Julian’s eyes moved toward the floor.
“Daniel Reese.”
Camille’s expression went blank.
“Who?”
“Harbor Peak’s director of strategic investments.”
Camille opened another browser tab.
Julian watched her type.
“What are you doing?”
“Looking him up.”
May you like
“You think I didn’t?”
“I think you believed a lot of things this year.”
