Chương 14
The meeting ended without signatures.
On the elevator, Claire turned on Danny.
“You cannot announce that you’re going to discuss legal negotiations with a ten-year-old.”
“I said talk to him, not hand him a contract.”
“You challenged Margaret in front of everyone and then walked out.”
“I thought you liked that.”
“I liked it when I was twenty-seven and didn’t understand consequences.”
Ms. Patel pressed the lobby button.
“You two should consider having this argument without counsel present,” she said.
Claire ignored her.
“You are making yourself the honest one,” she told Danny. “That is becoming its own kind of dishonesty.”
The elevator descended.
Danny watched the floor numbers change.
“What do you want me to say?”
“That you enjoy hating Grant because it makes the missing years simpler.”
Ms. Patel looked toward the ceiling.
Claire continued, “If Grant was only a thief, then you were only robbed. You don’t have to ask whether you were relieved when I told you Noah wasn’t yours. You don’t have to ask why you never demanded the actual report.”
Danny faced her.
“I called him.”
“Once.”
“He told me to stay away.”
“And you did.”
“What was I supposed to do? Blow up your marriage because I had a feeling?”
“No. But stop acting as if you fought for Noah before you knew him.”
The elevator doors opened.
Danny walked out without answering.
That evening, he found Noah sitting on the curb outside the shop.
For one terrible second, Danny thought Claire had dropped him off without warning. Then he saw a bicycle lying on the grass and understood the boy had come alone.
Danny parked so fast he stalled the truck.
“What are you doing here?”
Noah stood. His face was blotchy from heat and anger.
“You said the door was open.”
“That was not permission to ride six miles across town.”
“It’s four point eight.”
“You crossed Mason Avenue.”
“There’s a light.”
“You are ten.”
“Almost eleven.”
Danny took out his phone.
Noah stepped in front of him. “Don’t call Mom.”
“I am absolutely calling your mother.”
“She’ll make me leave.”
“You are leaving.”
“I heard her talking to Aunt Emily. She said you might sign the paper.”
“I said I wouldn’t sign today.”
“That means maybe.”
“It means adults needed time to understand it.”
“You told me a real yes is yes.”
“This is not about fixing a motor.”
“It’s about me.”
Danny stopped.
Cars moved along the avenue behind them. A bus sighed at the corner. The heat rising from the pavement carried the smell of tar.
Noah’s bicycle chain had slipped partly off the rear gear. His right knee was scraped and dirty.
“Did you fall?”
“I’m fine.”
“Inside.”
“I’m not leaving.”
“Inside, Noah.”
The boy obeyed, perhaps because Danny’s voice had changed.
Danny locked the front door behind them and called Claire.
She answered on the first ring.
“Is he with you?”
“Yes.”
Her breath broke.
“I’m coming.”
“He’s safe.”
“I’m coming.”
The call ended.
Danny found the first-aid kit and cleaned Noah’s knee. The scrape was shallow. Noah hissed dramatically when the antiseptic touched it.
“You rode here without telling anybody.”
“I left a note.”
“That doesn’t help until they find it.”
“Mom found it.”
“After you were gone.”
Noah stared at the floor.
Danny taped gauze over the scrape.
“My father left when I was twelve,” he said.
Noah looked up.
“He told me where he was going. He promised to call. For a while, he did.”
“Then he stopped?”
“Yes.”
“Did he die?”
“No.”
“Why did he leave?”
“He didn’t like being responsible for people.”
“Are you like him?”
“Sometimes I’m afraid I am.”
Noah picked at the edge of the gauze.
“Dad said his father made him feel like nothing was enough.”
“Your dad said that?”
“Once. Grandma was mad because he sold the blue dealership.”
Danny sat on the rolling stool.
Grant’s father had built the dealership group and died when Grant was twenty-three. Danny remembered a man who corrected waiters’ pronunciation and tipped them fifty percent.
“Parents can hurt you and still be people you love,” Danny said.
“I know.”
The answer sounded much older than ten.
Noah looked toward the office.
“Did you want Mom to leave Dad?”
“Back then?”
“Yes.”
Danny considered lying for the first time since making his promise.
“For one night, I did.”
“Why?”
“Because wanting something can make you selfish.”
“Did she want to?”
“You would have to ask her.”
“She says she loved him.”
“She did.”
“Then why were you together?”
“People can love someone and still make a choice that hurts them.”
“That’s stupid.”
“Yes.”
Noah frowned. “Everybody in this family is stupid.”
“That may be the first thing we all agree on.”
The shop door rattled.
Claire stood outside, pale and breathless, with Emily behind her. Danny unlocked the door.
Claire pulled Noah into her arms, then pushed him back by the shoulders.
“You do not leave without telling me. Ever.”
“I left a note.”
“A note is not permission.”
“You would’ve said no.”
“Yes. Because Mason Avenue is dangerous, because you were missing for forty-three minutes, because I thought—”
Her voice failed.
Noah looked frightened now.
“I’m sorry.”
Claire covered her face with both hands. Emily took Noah gently by the shoulders and led him toward the office.
Danny waited.
Claire lowered her hands.
“You should have called the police sooner,” he said.
“I did. They said units were looking.”
“I didn’t see any.”
“They were looking near the park because that’s where he goes.”
“You didn’t think of the shop?”
“I did. That’s why I called you.”
“You should’ve told me he was missing.”
“I was calling while driving.”
“I could’ve—”
“What? Found him before he got here?”
Danny stopped.
Claire sat on the edge of the workbench. Her hands shook.
“I cannot do this,” she whispered.
He had never heard her say those words.
“You are doing it.”
“Badly.”
“Probably.”
May you like
She gave him a furious look.
He sat beside her, leaving space between them.
