Chapter 8
The payment was to a contractor who had renovated the condo.
Dana's earlier records had listed the same contractor under a different business name. She had tried to count the bill twice when calculating what Claire owed her.
Mr. Grant had found the overlap while reviewing the invoices. Dana's attorney accepted the correction and provided an updated account. The amount involved was significant enough to change what Claire would receive when the condo sold.
Claire called me after she heard.
“Dana told me I was imagining things when I asked why the repairs cost so much,” she said.
“You can address that with your attorney.”
“I am. I wanted you to know I didn't send that payment.”
“I didn't think you did.”
She paused.
“Thank you.”
I didn't mistake one honest conversation for a repaired marriage. It did mean the condo could be settled without another unexplained hole in its value.
The sale closed the following month. After the mortgage, costs, and the corrected division with Dana, Claire received enough to repay a substantial part of Maya's fund. Mr. Grant arranged for the payment to be documented and placed in an account dedicated to Maya's education.
The car proceeds had already gone there. Claire agreed to pay the remaining balance over time.
When I showed Maya the figures, she read them carefully.
“It's still short.”
“Yes.”
“But my first-year bills are covered?”
“Yes. Here are the payments and dates.”
She set down the page.
“I can breathe when I look at this.”
I understood. For months, every number had hidden another question. I wanted her to see exactly what we knew.
Maya began preparing for school. Brooke helped her pack books into boxes. They argued over which lamp Maya should take, then laughed because neither liked the one in her room.
I listened from the hall. Their voices sounded like they had before the birthday, though I knew neither would forget it.
Claire asked to meet with Maya before she left. Maya said she would consider it if Leah came with her and if Claire didn't turn the conversation into an argument about my decisions.
Claire agreed.
They met at Leah's house. I waited at home, trying not to check the time. When Maya returned, she sat beside me at the kitchen table.
“She apologized,” Maya said.
“What did you tell her?”
“That she knew where the money came from and took it anyway.”
I waited.
“She said yes. She didn't blame Brooke. She didn't say she'd meant to replace it. She just said yes.”
“How did you feel?”
“Angry. Then tired. I told her I don't know when I'll want to see her again.”
“That was yours to say.”
Maya leaned against me.
“I wanted her to argue so I could be angry at something new.”
“I know.”
We stayed there until Brooke came in carrying another box.
Claire and I met with a counselor separately. I needed help deciding what could be rebuilt and what had ended. I told her I could recognize Claire's fear, her regret, and the work she'd begun to do. I couldn't forget that she'd signed my name or spent Maya's money after years of telling me she loved her.
The counselor didn't decide for me.
When I told Claire I wanted to separate, she cried. Then she asked what I needed her to do next.
“Keep the repayment agreement,” I said. “Give the girls room to choose when they speak to you. And don't ask me to hide what happened.”
“I won't.”
She moved into a small rental closer to her job. Brooke visited on weekends when she wanted. Maya called only occasionally. Neither girl was made responsible for comforting Claire about the consequences of her choices.
A week before school began, we drove Maya to campus for orientation. Brooke came along. Leah met us there with a bag of snacks she insisted Maya would need.
Maya stood in front of the nursing building, holding Rachel's letter in her bag.
“I thought I might never get here,” she said.
I looked at Brooke, who was taking a picture of her sister.
“You earned your place,” I told Maya. “We worked out how to pay for it. Those are different things.”
She hugged me hard.
On the drive home, Brooke was quiet. I asked what she was thinking.
“I had the worst Sweet 16,” she said. “And I was the one who got a car.”
“You didn't cause what happened.”
“I know that now. I still wish Maya had been the one everyone celebrated.”
“We can celebrate her when she comes home.”
Brooke nodded.
That night, Maya called from her room. She had met her roommate, found the library, and gotten lost on the way back.
May you like
“I found my way,” she said, laughing.
I stood in the kitchen with the phone to my ear and felt a little of the fear I'd carried since the party loosen its grip.
