Chapter 11 - The Apology with a Price
He came to Ruth’s apartment carrying white roses.
Ruth looked through the peephole.
“You want me to call someone?”
“No.”
I opened the door with the chain still attached.
Daniel looked smaller in that narrow space.
“I’m sorry.”
I waited.
He lifted the flowers.
“I handled things badly.”
“You stole my signature.”
His mouth tightened.
“I was trying to keep the business moving.”
I started to close the door.
“Wait.”
Now the performance cracked.
“Please.”
I stopped.
He leaned toward the gap.
“Lauren was a mistake.”
“She was several decisions.”
“I love you.”
I thought about the ballroom.
About Ellie holding her hand out.
About my mother’s pearls warm from another woman’s skin.
“What does that mean to you?”
He looked confused.
“It means I want to come home.”
“You were home when you did this.”
His eyes filled.
Maybe those tears were real.
Real tears didn’t repair false documents.
He lowered the flowers.
“There’s a settlement proposal.”
Of course there was.
“If you stop the complaints and agree the transactions were misunderstandings, we can keep this private.”
There it was.
An apology with a receipt attached.
“Send it to Adrienne.”
“You don’t need lawyers for every conversation.”
“I needed one before this conversation.”
He glanced past me.
“Is Ellie here?”
“She’s doing homework.”
“Can I see her?”
“Her counselor and our attorneys are helping us arrange that. You don’t show up and make her responsible for your feelings.”
He stared at me.
“You used to trust me.”
“Yes.”
That one word seemed to hurt him more than everything else.
I closed the door.
Inside, Ellie stood in the hallway.
I hadn’t heard her approach.
“Did he say sorry?”
“Yes.”
“To you?”
“Yes.”
She rubbed her thumb along the gray pearl near the clasp.
“He texted me.”
My chest tightened.
“What did he say?”
She handed me the phone.
I miss my girl. You know I never meant to hurt your mother. If you tell everyone the video was just a surprise that went wrong, we can fix this.
Ellie watched my face.
“Do I have to answer?”
“No.”
“Will he hate me?”
I pulled her close.
“You cannot earn safe love by helping someone lie.”
Later, Adrienne called.
Daniel had offered a generous financial settlement.
May you like
But one condition sat in the middle of it.
I would have to confirm every disputed signature was mine.
