“Claire.”
“How did you know there was something to find?”
His sister answered before he could.
“Because he approved the adjustment.”
Daniel turned toward her so sharply that his chair struck the table.
“Madison.”
“What? You’re going to let her think this was all me?”
My hands went cold around the folder.
Madison reached into her bag and took out her phone. She scrolled quickly, then held it toward me with the fierce satisfaction of someone finding another person to pull under.
There was Daniel’s name above a message.
Use the maintenance reserve for now. Get the receipt corrected before quarter-end.
Below it, Madison had written that my father’s business would cover the paperwork.
Daniel’s answer was three words.
Just handle it.
I read the exchange again.
The room seemed to lose its depth.
“You knew about the invoice?”
“Not at first.”
“When?”
He looked toward the hallway where my parents had gone.
“Daniel.”
“February.”
Five months before the wine. Five months of watching my father shake his hand.
“You let him sit beside you.”
“I thought she’d reverse it.”
“And when she didn’t?”
“I kept telling her.”
Next time.
I could hear it without him saying it.
His mother stood.
“This has gotten out of hand. Claire, think carefully before you destroy a marriage over something that can be repaid.”
Daniel turned toward her.
“Stop.”
She looked startled.
“Don’t put this on her,” he said.
It should have comforted me.
Instead, I felt the terrible lateness of it.
He faced me again.
“I can tell the accountant everything.”
“You should.”
