Chapter 6 - LINDA’S MAKEUP COMPACT BECAME THE THING CLAIRE COULDN’T FORGET
Linda eventually agreed to meet Claire.
Neutral location.
Maya present.
Linda hated that.
“This is a family conversation.”
Claire answered:
“That stopped working for me.”
Linda sat straighter.
No satin robe now.
Navy dress.
Pearls.
Controlled.
She apologized for the bathroom.
Carefully.
“I should have stopped Dean.”
“Yes.”
“I was in shock.”
“No.”
Linda’s mouth tightened.
Claire continued.
“You checked your makeup.”
Linda looked down.
That was the image Claire could not release.
Not Dean’s face.
Not the mirror.
Linda stepping over her while adjusting lipstick.
“I was trying not to make him worse.”
Claire stared.
“You thought ignoring me would calm him?”
“Yes.”
“Has that worked before?”
Linda did not answer.
There.
Something older.
“How many times has Dean been like that?”
“Never that bad.”
Not never.
Never that bad.
Maya wrote something down.
Linda noticed.
“This is exactly why I didn’t want an attorney here.”
Claire almost smiled.
Then asked:
“What is Bennett Family Services?”
Linda looked toward Maya.
“A legitimate company.”
“What does it do?”
“Administrative support. Hosting. Vendor coordination. Consulting.”
“For nine hundred thousand dollars?”
Linda’s face hardened.
“You don’t understand what Robert gave up.”
“Then explain.”
The answer came slowly.
When the Milwaukee expansion went wrong, Robert personally guaranteed part of a secondary equipment facility.
The company refinanced later.
But Robert remained exposed under several older obligations.
Bennett Family Services had advanced money to keep certain projects moving.
“How much?”
“Hundreds of thousands.”
“Was it documented?”
“Some.”
That word mattered.
Linda admitted that Robert and Dean sometimes funded emergency company expenses personally, then reimbursed themselves through a mixture of:
consulting fees;
management payments;
and family transfers.
Messy.
Possibly improper.
Not necessarily theft.
“Why pay Dean through payroll just so he can send it to you?”
Linda’s expression changed.
Only for a second.
“I don’t manage payroll.”
“But you know why.”
“No.”
Claire leaned forward.
“Linda.”
The older woman’s hand went to her compact inside her handbag.
She stopped herself.
A habit.
Control the face when the answer felt dangerous.
“I think you should ask Dean.”
“I did.”
Claire touched her upper arm where the bruise was fading.
“That was his answer.”
Linda closed her eyes.
For the first time, shame appeared.
Then she whispered:
“Robert said it was temporary.”
“What was?”
Linda stood.
“I’ve said enough.”
She left.
Claire sat frozen.
Maya looked at her.
“What do you think she meant?”
Claire shook her head.
“No conclusions.”
Maya smiled faintly.
“Good.”
But Claire already knew one thing.
Temporary was the word every Bennett used before crossing a boundary.
Temporary access.
Temporary transfers.
Temporary family debt.
May you like
Temporary aggression.
As long as everyone believed the mess would eventually be corrected, nobody had to admit what they were doing in the present.
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