Chapter 7 - Feeding the House
Seth returned the next afternoon with a list: vendors paid late, payroll taxes split into partial drafts, insurance funded from Judith's transfers. He no longer asked who was innocent. "How bad is it?" Judith asked. Maren said Hale House had been losing money since Nolan opened a private dining wing. For eleven months, Maren had covered shortages from her pay while Blythe delayed suppliers. Nolan called each rescue temporary, then blamed the women when the next bill arrived. The missing late shifts were lender meetings for refinancing. "He needs my signature," Maren said. Judith asked why she had stayed silent. Maren looked at Seth. His wife was pregnant; two servers were in cancer treatment; Tessa supported a grandson. "Leaving him felt like firing them." Seth sat. The restaurant had not been protecting the family. The family had been feeding the restaurant, and Nolan had learned that shame kept everyone paying. That explained the money, but not Blythe's laugh or Maren's turned glass.
