“Then don’t come here expecting one.”
He grabbed the document.
“You know, Mom, Vanessa might have been right.”
I felt the words before he finished speaking.
“About what?”
“About you being difficult.”
He left without finishing his coffee.
I watched his car disappear down the driveway.
Then I closed the gate.
That evening, while clearing the kitchen table, I noticed something.
Jared had left the proposed agreement behind.
Perhaps deliberately.
Perhaps carelessly.
I picked it up.
On the final page was a section listing parties with financial interests in the development.
Most names meant nothing to me.
But one caught my attention.
Jared Hawthorne — Development Consultant.
A percentage appeared beside it.
Seven percent of net development proceeds.
I sat down.
My son had not merely come to ask a favor for his father-in-law.
He had a direct financial stake in the project.
And he had never mentioned it.
Chapter Seven: What Happened in the Dark
I sent the document to Eleanor the next morning.
