Chapter 6 - THE SON WHO STILL CHOSE WRONG
Grant set me down on the patio instead of returning me to the pit.
“What did she mean?” he asked Teresa.
Teresa gathered the papers into a neat stack.
“She’s guessing.”
“The suitcases aren’t a guess.”
“I made contingency plans because you refuse to make adult decisions.”
Grant moved between her and the kitchen door. “Did you sell something?”
Teresa laughed once, without humor.
“There is nothing to sell until the liens are cleared.”
That answer mattered.
Not a denial.
A condition.
I remembered the unfamiliar men who had toured the company yard in June. Teresa called them insurance inspectors. One of them had measured the storage building and photographed the equipment.
I also remembered Grant complaining that his mother had removed family photographs from the office.
“Ask her about the buyers from Cincinnati,” I said.
Grant turned.
Teresa’s face tightened.
He saw it.
“You told me they were reviewing our insurance.”
“They were evaluating assets.”
“You listed the company?”
“I explored options.”
“Without me?”
“Because you would have ruined the negotiation.”
Grant stepped away as if she had struck him.
I thought betrayal might finally break his loyalty.
Instead, he turned his anger toward the person with the least power.
“You knew about this?” he demanded.
“I suspected it.”
“And you didn’t tell me?”
“You took my phone and buried me before I could tell anyone anything.”
Teresa moved closer to him.
“She’s been collecting little details for months. That’s what women like her do. They build cases.”
Grant’s jaw hardened.
He dragged me back toward the trench.
I fought, but my legs would not hold me.
“You’re still listening to her,” I said.
“I’m trying to keep you from making this worse.”
“For whom?”
He did not answer.
He lowered me into the dirt again, though his hands shook.
Teresa brought the hose.
This time, when she turned on the water, Grant looked away.
May you like
His hesitation did not save me.
It only proved he understood what he was doing.
