Chapter 8
We fixed the birdhouse on a Saturday morning.
Marcus brought new wood. I brought the old photograph of him and Walter building it. He laughed when he saw the tiny hammer in his childhood hand.
“I remember Dad letting me drive the last nail.”
“He said the crooked roof gave it character.”
We replaced the damaged boards but kept the uneven shape. When we put it back in the garden, a bird landed on the fence nearby. Marcus stood still, waiting to see whether it would come closer.
For that hour, we talked about wood, weather, and Walter. We did not talk about Renata.
By Monday, there was more news. Renata had acknowledged to investigators that she submitted the loan application and had not obtained my signature. Daniel’s account and the access records left little room for her to say otherwise. The matter would still go through the proper process, and any outcome would take time.
Marcus called after Ms. Cole informed him.
“I wish she’d said it to me first,” he said.
“She may wish that too.”
“It wouldn’t have saved our marriage. I still wanted to hear the truth from her.”
I understood. I had waited for him to ask me about Walter instead of telling him plainly. We had all lost time to things we were afraid to say.
Renata sent Marcus a letter through her attorney. This time she admitted she had copied the signature and sent the application without our consent. She said Adrian had encouraged her to move quickly, but she did not ask Marcus to blame him for her decision.
Marcus read it, then put it away.
“I’ll answer after I’ve thought about it,” he told me.
The divorce moved forward. There were shared savings, wedding expenses, and a business plan that had never become a company. Ms. Cole and Renata’s lawyer went through the accounts. Marcus paid his share of costs he had agreed to. Renata returned money withdrawn from a joint account for the unapproved loan fees.
The chapel deposit was gone. I had paid it as a gift before I knew they had married at the courthouse. The coordinator had done her job, and I did not ask for it back.
When Marcus found out, he offered to repay me.
“You can use your own money to build your next home,” I said. “The deposit was my choice.”
“I turned you away from the day you paid for.”
“Yes,” I said. “I need you to remember that without trying to pay me for it.”
He nodded. “I will.”
As autumn came, Marcus spent more time with Ada. He learned which buildings needed repairs, met staff Walter had hired, and asked them what his father had been like to work with. Sometimes he brought their stories to dinner.
One evening he told me Walter had quietly covered a worker’s wages during a long illness. Marcus had found the record in an old file and asked Ada about it.
“Dad never told me,” he said.
“He didn’t do it to be thanked.”
“I want to be that kind of owner.”
I saw Walter in him then, though I did not tell Marcus he had to be anyone but himself.
The legal matter involving the application reached a formal resolution that winter. Renata accepted responsibility for submitting the unauthorized document. The lender’s file was corrected, the application was closed, and she faced penalties for what she had done. Daniel also had to answer for signing as a witness without seeing me sign. Adrian’s role was reviewed separately.
I attended the hearing because my signature was at the center of it. Marcus sat beside me. Renata looked back once before proceedings began. I met her eyes, then turned toward the front.
Afterward, Marcus spoke with her briefly in the hallway. I waited at a distance.
“She apologized for the application and the chapel,” he told me when he returned.
“What did you say?”
“I told her I’d read her letter. I wished her well when this was behind her.”
He looked sad. I put my hand on his arm, and we walked out together.
That night, I found the gloves I had worn to the chapel in a drawer. One still bore a small mark from gripping my purse on the steps. I washed them by hand and set them to dry.
Marcus called while I was doing it.
“Ada wants me to lead next week’s property meeting,” he said. “Would you come?”
“If you want me there.”
“I do. I’m going to be nervous.”
“I’ll sit beside you.”
He laughed. “You don’t have to answer the questions for me.”
May you like
“I know.”
He hesitated. “I’ve never been happier to hear you say that.”
