Chapter 5 - Claudia Had Been Covering the Wrong Secret
Claudia left the room first.
Richard found her ten minutes later in the empty bar overlooking the frozen lake.
She stood with her coat on.
Her overnight bag rested beside her stool.
“Are you leaving?”
“I don't know.”
Richard sat several seats away.
“I thought you knew about North Peak.”
“So did I.”
“That makes no sense.”
“I knew Mark had another account.”
Richard waited.
“He told me it was for separating certain expenses.”
“Whose expenses?”
“I thought lodge expenses.”
Richard studied her.
Claudia looked exhausted rather than frightened.
“What did you think you were hiding from me?”
She laughed bitterly.
“The event mess.”
“At least you're calling it a mess now.”
“It was.”
She looked out the window.
“I pushed the renovation. I pushed the bigger wedding packages. I told Mark we could turn Alder Ridge into a year-round destination instead of depending so much on winter.”
“And when it went wrong?”
“I covered what I could.”
“With what?”
“My savings.”
Richard frowned.
“How much?”
“One hundred forty thousand.”
That was more than Richard expected.
“Mark never mentioned it.”
“I told him not to.”
“Why?”
“Because I didn't want you saying I had ruined your family business.”
Richard let that sit.
“You tied Noah outside.”
Claudia's face changed.
“I know.”
“No financial explanation touches that.”
“I know.”
“Then why?”
She looked down.
“He came into the office while we were arguing.”
“You and Mark?”
“Yes.”
“About North Peak?”
“No. About the refinance.”
Richard waited.
“Noah said he was telling you that Mark was lying.”
“And?”
“Mark grabbed his arm and walked him outside.”
“You followed.”
“Yes.”
“You helped tie him there.”
Claudia swallowed.
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“I told myself it would be five minutes.”
Richard looked at her.
“That sentence is doing a lot of work.”
“I know.”
“Then the storm got worse.”
“Yes.”
“And you left him.”
Claudia's eyes filled.
“I went back once.”
Richard said nothing.
“He was crying.”
“And you still left him.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Claudia wiped her face angrily.
“Because Mark said if you found out about the debt, you'd remove him from the lodge, we'd lose the refinance, and everything we'd spent two years trying to fix would collapse.”
“So Noah paid for your panic.”
Claudia looked at him.
“Yes.”
No excuse.
That did not earn forgiveness.
But Richard trusted the answer more than anything Mark had said.
“What is North Peak?”
“I honestly don't know.”
Richard believed her.
Then Claudia told him something else.
“The event debt isn't two years old.”
Richard frowned.
“What?”
“Not all of it.”
“How old?”
“The first real shortfall was fourteen months ago.”
“North Peak payments started eighteen months ago.”
“I know.”
Richard stared.
“So there was already a hole before your renovation ran over.”
Claudia nodded.
“I didn't know that until this morning.”
“Did Mark ever tell you where he got the money to cover the first construction deposit?”
“He said from reserves.”
“There were no reserves that large.”
Claudia's face went still.
Richard looked toward the frozen lake.
The story Mark had built was beginning to come apart.
The events division had lost money.
Claudia had helped conceal it.
But those losses had not started the financial problem.
Something had already been draining the lodge months earlier.
Richard thought about Noah saying he had heard his father say Grandpa could not know yet.
He had assumed Mark meant the refinance.
May you like
Now he was less certain.
Maybe Noah had walked into the middle of an argument about something older.
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