“I’ll come back for my things with Mark.”
“You can come back with Martin present.”
He nodded.
“Mom, I am sorry.”
Eleanor looked at his face.
“I believe that you are.”
He waited for more.
She could not give it to him yet.
David stepped outside.
Mark followed him, but before he closed the door, he turned back.
“I’ll help you with the bank and the police report,” he said.
“Thank you.”
“I should have noticed sooner.”
“You noticed when it mattered.”
Mark nodded and pulled the door shut.
The room stayed silent.
A turkey cooled on the dining table. Candles burned low in their holders. Someone’s abandoned scarf lay over the back of a chair.
Paul looked at Eleanor.
“Do you want us to leave?”
Eleanor glanced at the guests.
Most of them looked embarrassed. A few looked frightened. They had entered her home expecting a celebration and found themselves witnessing the collapse of a family.
“No,” she said. “Not yet.”
She picked up the tablet and handed it to Martin.
“Can the payments be returned?”
“Yes,” he said. “The bank can reverse them.”
“Then do that.”
Martin nodded.
Eleanor walked into the dining room and removed the extra place setting at the head of the table.
She carried it to the kitchen, set it in the sink, and stood with both hands on the counter.
Her shoulders rose once.
Then again.
The first tear fell onto the stone beside her fingers.
Paul approached but stopped several feet away.
Eleanor wiped her cheek.
“I am sorry you had to see this.”
“You do not owe us an apology.”
“I wanted everyone to have a peaceful evening.”
“You still can.”
She looked toward the living room.
The lights blinked softly against the windows.
