Chapter 4 - The Wrong Detail
Blythe arrived Tuesday with Maren's winter coat. Judith left her on the porch until Maren came forward. Blythe looked past the bruise and asked, "Did you turn the glass before or after he touched you?" Maren's answer was flat. "Go home." Blythe did not defend Nolan. She defended a detail that seemed unrelated: "Tessa never left the ballroom." Then she pressed two fingers along the coat seam, the nervous motion Judith remembered from bad vendor meetings. Judith had worked banquets for Blythe before their children married; that gesture meant the numbers were failing. After Blythe left, Judith called Seth at the restaurant. His schedule showed Nolan had skipped late shifts for six weeks while blaming exhaustion for his temper. Seth admitted Nolan spent those evenings with lenders. "Mom, don't decide what this is yet," he warned. Judith heard fear. Nolan's violence was real but someone was shielding a financial problem; Maren and Blythe now knew its shape. Neither wanted Judith asking why.
