Mom twisted her wedding ring.
“Because we thought we could fix it.”
“What exactly needed fixing?”
Dad sat on the other bed and placed the rusty key on his knee.
“It started last year.”
Derek had lost his job at the regional construction supplier. I knew that part. He had told me the company was restructuring.
What I had not known was that the job loss had been followed by debt.
Not catastrophic debt, Dad explained. Credit cards. A vehicle loan. Some failed online business idea Derek had invested in with a friend.
“He was embarrassed,” Mom said. “Your brother has always had trouble admitting when he’s scared.”
“And Veronica?”
“She was scared too.”
That surprised me.
From the living room window, Veronica had seemed perfectly comfortable giving orders.
Dad noticed my expression.
“She can be difficult,” he said. “But difficult isn’t the same as evil.”
That sounded exactly like my father.
