Chapter 21
“I loved you,” Tessa said.
The words were quiet.
I looked at her.
“I know.”
“I don’t know if I still do.”
“You don’t have to decide.”
She gave a small, sad smile.
“That’s the first generous thing you’ve said to me.”
I deserved it.
“I’m sorry I made you wait for a life I wasn’t brave enough to choose.”
“You didn’t make me wait,” she said. “I chose to wait. But you made it easy for me to believe waiting meant something.”
I lowered my eyes.
“I hope you build a life that doesn’t depend on someone else becoming honest.”
She studied me.
“Is that what you’re going to do?”
“I don’t know yet.”
“But you’re going to try?”
“Yes.”
She gathered her coat.
“Then give Corinne the documents. Give Miriam everything. And don’t ask anyone to forgive you before you’ve done the work that forgiveness would require.”
“I won’t.”
Tessa stood.
At the edge of the table, she paused.
“I never wanted to hurt her.”
“I know.”
“I thought you were unhappy.”
“I was.”
“That doesn’t mean she was responsible for it.”
“No.”
Tessa nodded once, then walked out into the pale morning.
I remained at the table for several minutes, listening to the low hum of voices.
Then I called Miriam.
She asked me to bring the folder to her office.
I did.
Over the next three weeks, the investigation became the center of my life.
For once, I did not try to direct it.
I authorized an independent review of Keaton Family Holdings. I gave Miriam access to every account, contract, and property record I could locate. I called the family accountant and told him to cooperate fully, even when he warned me that the review might damage the company’s reputation.
“It may,” I said.
“Your father built that reputation over forty years.”
“He also built it on information he kept from people.”
The accountant went quiet.
I sold the diamond watch I had purchased after my promotion and transferred the money into an account designated for Owen’s care. I canceled the lease on the car I had barely used and moved into a smaller apartment near the office.
The house remained under review.
I did not enter Corinne’s closet. I did not remove photographs or replace furniture. I left the rooms as they were, though the silence had become unbearable.
Mrs. Pearl stayed on for a while, but she stopped working full time.