“Don’t make this an interrogation.”
“How much, Julian?”
He leaned away.
Clara opened her handbag, closed it, then opened it again.
“We don’t have that sort of income,” she said.
Julian turned on her.
“Not now.”
“She asked.”
“And you’re making it worse.”
Clara took out her phone.
For a moment Nora thought she was calling someone. Instead, Clara stared at the screen while her thumb moved rapidly.
Julian reached across the table.
“Put that away.”
She jerked it back.
The movement was so like her own attempt to take Nora’s phone that nobody spoke.
Then Ruth asked, “What are you looking for?”
Clara swallowed.
“The message where he said you agreed.”
Julian stood.
“Clara.”
“You told me she’d agreed.”
“You knew what we were doing.”
The words hung between them.
Clara’s face lost its color.
Nora set the grocery bag down carefully.
Ruth looked from her son to her daughter-in-law.
“What did you know?”
Clara did not answer.
Julian gave a humorless laugh.
“Tell her about the signature.”
