Chương 12
“Not a false one.”
“What statement?”
“That before June, you had discussed the possibility of providing additional support to the company.”
Evelyn said nothing.
“You did.”
“Yes.”
“And that I had reason to believe you might invest.”
“Might.”
“Yes.”
“Not guarantee.”
“No.”
“Not pledge the apartment.”
“No.”
“Not secure Madison.”
“No.”
She watched him.
“What does the statement accomplish?”
“It helps distinguish the real conversations from the fake letters.”
“Why?”
“Because my lawyer thinks the difference matters in settlement negotiations. I wasn't inventing the entire idea that you supported the business. I crossed a line when I turned possibility into documentation.”
Evelyn looked out the window.
This was the request she had known would come eventually.
Not an obvious lie.
Something worse.
A truthful statement with strategic value.
Daniel leaned forward.
“I am not asking you to say I had authorization.”
“I know.”
“I didn't.”
“I know.”
“I told my lawyer that.”
She looked back at him.
“You did?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because apparently the truth is cheaper when you start using it before discovery.”
Evelyn almost smiled.
“That's terrible.”
“He's very expensive.”
The tea arrived.
Daniel waited until the waiter left.
“Will you do it?”
Evelyn took a sip.
“Claire needs to review the wording.”
“Of course.”
“And I write my own statement.”
“Fine.”
“And if your lawyer wants language I believe creates a false impression, the answer is no.”
“Fine.”
“And you do not get to tell anyone that my statement means I excuse what happened.”
His face tightened.
“I wasn't going to.”
“You told Madison my signature meant something it didn't. I'm being specific.”
He nodded.
“All right.”
Evelyn studied him.
“You seem disappointed.”
“I am.”
“Why?”
“Because some part of me hoped you'd say yes without conditions.”
“Why?”
He gave a small shrug.
“Because I'm still me.”
That answer did more for Evelyn than an apology would have.
She nodded.
“All right.”
The statement took three days.
Evelyn wrote it herself.
She described the actual financial support she had provided Hart Urban in the past. She acknowledged that she had discussed possible future investment. She stated plainly that no commitment had been made concerning Madison Blake's investment or the private lender and that she had not authorized the use of her signature on either letter.
Daniel's attorney asked to soften the final paragraph.
Evelyn refused.
The statement went out unchanged.
Two weeks later, Madison agreed to mediation.
Evelyn did not attend.
Daniel did.
He called afterward.
“We settled.”
“How bad?”
“Bad enough to remember.”
“That seems appropriate.”
“You could pretend to be happy for me.”
“I am happy for you.”
“You sound like a bank.”
“I have always sounded like a bank.”
He laughed.
Evelyn heard traffic behind him.
“Where are you?”
“Walking.”
“To?”
“My apartment.”
“You have an apartment?”
“Don't sound shocked.”
“I am a little shocked.”
“It's terrible.”
“How terrible?”
“There's a laundromat across the street with a neon sign that flashes directly into the bedroom.”
“You'll survive.”
“I might not.”
“Buy curtains.”
“I knew you'd have an elegant solution.”
He was living in a one-bedroom rental near his former office.
He had sold his car.
He had also sold two watches Richard had left him.
That part bothered Evelyn more than she expected.
She nearly offered to buy them back.
She did not.
Three months after the penthouse sale, Daniel took a job.
Not as a chief executive.
Not as a developer.
He became a project director for a regional construction firm whose owner had known Richard but did not particularly like him.
“I told him everything,” Daniel said.
Evelyn was chopping parsley in the rental kitchen.
“Everything?”
“The company investigation. The letters. Getting fired.”
“And?”
“He said, ‘You sound expensive.’”
Evelyn laughed.
“I like him.”
“You would.”
“What will you be doing?”
“Fixing a project in Milwaukee.”
“That sounds cold.”
“It is not a winter project.”
“Then Milwaukee has been unfairly accused.”
Daniel was quiet.
“You sound good,” Evelyn said.
“So do you.”
“I am holding parsley.”
“That may be part of it.”
They were getting better at talking about nothing.
That did not mean they were repaired.
There were subjects Daniel avoided.
Money.
Madison.
The penthouse.
There were subjects Evelyn avoided.
Whether the internal investigation could become a criminal referral.
Whether she believed Daniel had told the full truth.
Whether she trusted him.
Love returned to conversation before trust did.
Trust was slower.
Five months after the confrontation, Madison asked Evelyn to lunch.
The request arrived by text.
Would it be weird if I asked to see you?
Evelyn replied:
Yes.
Then:
But we can still have lunch.
Madison chose a quiet restaurant where the tables were too close together.
She arrived in a navy dress, no coral, and looked nervous.
Evelyn noticed she was wearing less jewelry.
She disliked herself for noticing.
“How are you?” Evelyn asked.
“Poorer.”
Evelyn raised an eyebrow.
Madison smiled.
“Kidding. Mostly.”
They ordered.
Madison folded the menu.
“I wanted to thank you.”
“For what?”
“For not treating me like an idiot.”
“I did privately for several days.”
Madison laughed.
“That's fair.”
“I was wrong about some things too.”
“Like?”
Evelyn hesitated.
“I assumed you were with Daniel because of what you thought he had.”
Madison's expression did not change much.
“You weren't entirely wrong.”
Evelyn waited.
Madison looked down at the table.
“I liked that he seemed established. I liked the apartment. I liked the restaurants and the trips and the stupid ease of everything. I told myself it wasn't about money because I had my own money.”
She rubbed one thumb against the side of her water glass.
“But maybe security is still attractive even when you can buy your own shoes.”
Evelyn smiled.
“That is probably true.”
Madison looked at her.
“Why did you really sell it?”
“You know why.”
“I know the Daniel reason.”
“What other reason is there?”
“You.”
Evelyn looked toward the window.
Outside, a courier struggled to lock a bicycle to a crowded rack.
May you like
“I was tired.”
“Of the apartment?”
