Chương 13
“It did.”
“Then document it.”
Chelsea rubbed her forehead.
“Can we get the money back?”
“I do not know yet.”
“What if Megan has it?”
“I do not know that either.”
“What if Evan and Megan did this together?”
“Chelsea.”
Fiona’s voice hardened.
“You are skipping six steps ahead.”
Chelsea sat down again.
I understood the impulse.
People under pressure prefer the worst explanation because certainty feels better than waiting.
I had watched executives do it before audits.
I had done it myself after Margaret’s diagnosis.
One abnormal test result, and by midnight I had planned a funeral she would not need for another eighteen months.
“Fiona,” I said, “what do you need from me?”
“Nothing yet.”
“That is unusual.”
“It is also intentional.”
I almost smiled.
She continued.
“You are financially connected to Logan and Chelsea, but you are not a party to this agreement.”
“Unless someone tried to make me one.”
“Correct.”
Chelsea looked at me.
“What does that mean?”
“It means we verify before we imagine.”
Fiona said, “Albert finally said something useful.”
I gave the phone an offended look.
Chelsea laughed once despite herself.
Then Fiona became serious again.
The call ended.
Chelsea remained seated.
For a while, she watched the second hand on the cheap wall clock move.
“You think Megan did something.”
“I think Fiona found Megan’s name.”
“That’s not an answer.”
“It is the only answer we have.”
Chelsea’s eyes were wet but angry.
“You’d be tearing through records already if it were your family.”
“It is my family.”
She looked at me.
That landed between us.
Whatever Chelsea had done, she was still the mother of my granddaughter.
She was still my son’s wife until they decided otherwise.
And Megan, whom I had met at Christmas dinners and school recitals, had spent years calling me Mr. Higgins and bringing pecan pie nobody particularly liked.
Chelsea lowered her eyes.
“She would never steal from me.”
“Then evidence may show that.”
“She wouldn’t.”
“You do not have to convince me.”
“She helped me when nobody else knew how bad things were.”
“That could be true too.”
Chelsea pressed her palms together.
“You really can hold two opposite things in your head at once, can’t you?”
“It is an occupational defect.”
“No, it’s annoying.”
“That too.”
She stood.
“I’m going home.”
“Good.”
“I’m going to find the receipt.”
“Better.”
She stopped at the door.
“What if Logan asks what Fiona found?”
“Tell him.”
She frowned.
“You just said not to call Megan.”
“Logan is your husband.”
“For now.”
The words came out flat.
I did not react.
She looked away.
“That sounded worse than I meant.”
“Did it?”
“I don’t know.”
“That seems to be the sentence of the week.”
She almost smiled.
Then she left.
I locked the door and stood beside the table.
Margaret’s watch lay near the cardboard box.
I picked it up.
The missing leather strap bothered me more than it should have.
I turned the watch over.
My father’s initials were engraved on the back.
W.H.
Walter Higgins.
He had worn it every day except Sundays because on Sundays he wore a cheaper watch he said he did not mind scratching at church.
There was no logic in that.
Church had never been dangerous to watches.
My father simply liked rules that belonged only to him.
I put the watch around my palm and held it there.
For the first time since leaving Logan’s house, I felt something close to grief rather than anger.
Not grief for furniture.
For the years I had spent making myself easy to live with.
Quiet.
Useful.
Inexpensive.
Grateful.
I had believed that if I asked for little, nobody would resent giving me space.
Instead, little by little, I had taught everyone that my needs were optional.
That afternoon, I drove to a watch repair shop.
The man behind the counter was younger than I expected and wore magnifying lenses clipped over his glasses.
He turned the watch in his hands.
“Good piece.”
“My father’s.”
He nodded.
“Needs a strap?”
“Yes.”
“Original style?”
“As close as possible.”
He opened a drawer.
While he searched, I looked at rows of watches under glass.
Some cost more than my Buick.
Others looked almost identical to the one in his hand.
“People still repair these?” I asked.
“All the time.”
“I assumed everyone bought new ones.”
He shrugged.
“People replace cheap things.”
He held up my father’s watch.
“This isn’t cheap because of the brand.”
I looked at him.
He tapped the back lightly.
“Engraving.”
I smiled.
“You charge extra for philosophy?”
“No, but straps aren’t free.”
I liked him.
He found a dark brown leather band.
Not identical.
Close enough.
When he fastened it, the watch looked less wounded.
I paid cash.
On the way out, my phone rang.
Logan.
I answered from the sidewalk.
“Hey.”
“Where are you?”
“Out.”
“I’m at your place.”
“I’ll be back in twenty minutes.”
“I need to talk now.”
“You have been needing to talk for several days.”
“This isn’t funny.”
“I did not say it was.”
He lowered his voice.
“Chelsea told me about Megan.”
“I assumed she would.”
“Did Fiona really find her name on the company?”
“Yes.”
“How did she find that so fast?”
“Public filings.”
Silence.
Then Logan said, “Megan called me.”
I stopped walking.
“When?”
“Ten minutes ago.”
“What did she say?”
“She wants us all to meet.”
“Who is all?”
“Me, Chelsea, her, and Evan.”
“No.”
“Dad.”
“No.”
“You’re not invited.”
“That improves it slightly.”
“She says this is all a misunderstanding.”
“Of course she does.”
“She says Chelsea signed something that created the escrow arrangement.”
“Chelsea knows that.”
“She says Chelsea misunderstood what she signed.”
“That is possible.”
“And she says Evan has been trying to return the money.”
“That does not match what Chelsea told me.”
“I know.”
A bus passed, blowing hot air against my pants.
“Why did Megan call you instead of Chelsea?”
“I asked her that.”
May you like
“And?”
“She said Chelsea wasn’t answering.”
