Three weeks passed before Paige came to see me alone.<\/p>\n
Arthur remained in custody while prosecutors and investigators untangled years of fraudulent activity.<\/p>\n
Caroline Mercer cooperated extensively.<\/p>\n
Victor retained an attorney and began providing records of his own.<\/p>\n
Harbor\u2019s return moved through the bank\u2019s verification process.<\/p>\n
Life did not become simple.<\/p>\n
It became quieter.<\/p>\n
That was enough.<\/p>\n
Paige arrived on a Tuesday afternoon carrying a cardboard box.<\/p>\n
I saw her through the kitchen window.<\/p>\n
No Graham.<\/p>\n
No children.<\/p>\n
No lawyer.<\/p>\n
Just Paige.<\/p>\n
I opened the door.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat\u2019s that?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYour things.\u201d<\/p>\n
I stared at the box.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe found more in the closet.\u201d<\/p>\n
She stepped inside.<\/p>\n
\u201cNothing dramatic. No forged trusts. No secret ledgers. I checked.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cComforting.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI thought so.\u201d<\/p>\n
We carried the box to the kitchen table.<\/p>\n
Inside were ordinary pieces of my former life.<\/p>\n
A scarf.<\/p>\n
Two paperback novels.<\/p>\n
A chipped ceramic bowl.<\/p>\n
Thomas\u2019s old measuring tape.<\/p>\n
Three recipe cards.<\/p>\n
A photograph of Owen as a toddler.<\/p>\n
And one slipper.<\/p>\n
I lifted it.<\/p>\n
Paige laughed.<\/p>\n
\u201cI couldn\u2019t find the other.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve been missing that for two years.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou kept one slipper for two years?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI was optimistic.\u201d<\/p>\n
She sat.<\/p>\n
I made tea.<\/p>\n
Neither of us mentioned money.<\/p>\n
That was new.<\/p>\n
Finally Paige said, \u201cWe found a house.\u201d<\/p>\n
I turned.<\/p>\n
\u201cTo buy?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cRent.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhere?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAbout fifteen minutes from the kids\u2019 school.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cGood.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s smaller.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat may be less good.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s fine.\u201d<\/p>\n
She smiled.<\/p>\n
\u201cReally.\u201d<\/p>\n
I set her tea down.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat about your car?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSelling it.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cGraham told me.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe shouldn\u2019t be reporting my finances to you.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe mentioned it once.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m teasing.\u201d<\/p>\n
That was new too.<\/p>\n
She stirred her tea.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe can afford the new place without help.\u201d<\/p>\n
I nodded.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m glad.\u201d<\/p>\n
She looked almost disappointed by the simplicity of my answer.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI expected you to offer.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI considered it.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI decided not to.\u201d<\/p>\n
She laughed.<\/p>\n
\u201cThank you.\u201d<\/p>\n
I raised an eyebrow.<\/p>\n
\u201cI mean it.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause I need to know we can do this.\u201d<\/p>\n
That answer surprised me.<\/p>\n
She continued.<\/p>\n
\u201cI spent years thinking security meant arranging everything before something could go wrong.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cPine Harbor.\u201d<\/p>\n
She winced.<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe children.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cGraham.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
She stared into her cup.<\/p>\n
\u201cI thought if I planned enough, nobody could leave me with a mess.\u201d<\/p>\n
I sat opposite her.<\/p>\n
\u201cDid someone?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMy father.\u201d<\/p>\n
She had rarely discussed him.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe left when I was twelve.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m sorry.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMy mother spent years scrambling afterward.\u201d<\/p>\n
Paige shrugged, but her fingers tightened around the spoon.<\/p>\n
\u201cBills. Apartments. Schools. Everything changed because one person decided he was done.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSo you became the person who decides first.\u201d<\/p>\n
Her eyes lifted.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat sounds terrible.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt sounds understandable.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNot good?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
She smiled faintly.<\/p>\n
\u201cFair.\u201d<\/p>\n
For a while we sat quietly.<\/p>\n
Then she said, \u201cWhen you moved in, I liked having you there.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI know.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo, I really did.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI believe you.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou made everything easier.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat was part of the problem.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
Her eyes filled.<\/p>\n
\u201cI got used to your help, then resented needing it.\u201d<\/p>\n
There it was.<\/p>\n
A truth with no villain.<\/p>\n
\u201cI should have had my own life sooner,\u201d I said.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou were grieving.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cFor four years?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cGrief doesn\u2019t have a lease.\u201d<\/p>\n
I looked at her.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat was good.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve been practicing.\u201d<\/p>\n
We laughed.<\/p>\n
Then she reached into her handbag.<\/p>\n
My body tensed automatically.<\/p>\n
She noticed.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s not a legal document.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cExcellent start.\u201d<\/p>\n
She placed a small envelope on the table.<\/p>\n
Inside was a check.<\/p>\n
I looked at the amount.<\/p>\n
Two thousand four hundred dollars.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat is this?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cRent.\u201d<\/p>\n
I stared.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor what?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe months after you bought the house.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou already paid rent to the management company.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat isn\u2019t what I mean.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThen what do you mean?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cGroceries.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cPaige.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cUtilities. Things for the kids. Whatever.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cPut it away.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou cannot afford to give me twenty-four hundred dollars while moving.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe can.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat does not make it sensible.\u201d<\/p>\n
She looked at me.<\/p>\n
\u201cI need to do this.\u201d<\/p>\n
I understood then.<\/p>\n
This was not reimbursement.<\/p>\n
It was dignity.<\/p>\n
The same thing I had wanted when I bought the cottage.<\/p>\n
The same thing Graham needed when he refused rescue.<\/p>\n
The same thing Arthur had destroyed in himself by turning contribution into ownership.<\/p>\n
I took the check.<\/p>\n
Paige looked surprised.<\/p>\n
\u201cThank you.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m not cashing it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Her expression hardened.<\/p>\n
\u201cEvelyn.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m framing it.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat is worse.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt will look lovely beside the scratch ticket.\u201d<\/p>\n
She stared.<\/p>\n
Then began laughing.<\/p>\n
I did too.<\/p>\n
We laughed hard enough that tea sloshed onto the table.<\/p>\n
When we finally stopped, Paige wiped her eyes.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou kept the ticket?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe lottery returned it after validation procedures.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhere?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSafe-deposit box.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou put a two-dollar scratch ticket in a bank vault?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is worth considerably more sentimentally than financially now.\u201d<\/p>\n
She shook her head.<\/p>\n
\u201cI bought it because I forgot your birthday.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI suspected.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI remembered at the gas station.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAlso suspected.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI felt awful.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou hid it beautifully.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo, I didn\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
She grew serious.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m sorry about that too.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI know.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI made a joke about bus fare.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t even remember exactly what I said.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI do.\u201d<\/p>\n
Her face tightened.<\/p>\n
\u201cI bet.\u201d<\/p>\n
I reached across the table.<\/p>\n
\u201cPaige, I do not need you to keep apologizing for every careless sentence.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBut that ticket changed everything.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
She looked at me.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe ticket changed my finances.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat changed everything?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI did.\u201d<\/p>\n
The answer surprised even me.<\/p>\n
Money did not make me leave.<\/p>\n
Money made leaving easier.<\/p>\n
But I had still needed to decide.<\/p>\n
Arthur had spent seventeen years believing systems determined people.<\/p>\n
Thomas had sometimes believed protection determined outcomes.<\/p>\n
Paige believed planning prevented abandonment.<\/p>\n
Graham believed keeping peace prevented conflict.<\/p>\n
We had all confused circumstances with choices.<\/p>\n
The scratch ticket was only paper.<\/p>\n
I had scratched it.<\/p>\n
I had hidden it.<\/p>\n
I had called Martin.<\/p>\n
I had bought the cottage.<\/p>\n
I had ended the lease.<\/p>\n
Those were choices.<\/p>\n
Not destiny.<\/p>\n
Paige squeezed my fingers.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m glad you left.\u201d<\/p>\n
I laughed.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat is an interesting reconciliation strategy.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI mean it.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI know.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019re different here.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHow?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou take up space.\u201d<\/p>\n
The words struck unexpectedly.<\/p>\n
In Graham\u2019s house, I had spent years making myself easy to accommodate.<\/p>\n
Quiet.<\/p>\n
Useful.<\/p>\n
Flexible.<\/p>\n
At the cottage, I had chosen yellow cabinets.<\/p>\n
Blue chairs.<\/p>\n
Rosebushes.<\/p>\n
Portugal.<\/p>\n
Space.<\/p>\n
\u201cYes,\u201d I said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI suppose I do.\u201d<\/p>\n
Before Paige left, I showed her the garden.<\/p>\n
She stopped beside the roses.<\/p>\n
\u201cCan I ask something?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAre you selling our house?\u201d<\/p>\n
The old wording.<\/p>\n
Our house.<\/p>\n
She caught herself.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe house.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI haven\u2019t decided.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cOur lease still ends January first?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
She nodded.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo argument.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI appreciate that.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ll be out before Christmas.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cGood.\u201d<\/p>\n
She looked toward the cottage.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat are you going to do with it?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI might sell.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cOkay.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cOr rent it.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cOkay.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cOr give it to a family that needs stability.\u201d<\/p>\n
She looked at me.<\/p>\n
\u201cReally?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cPossibly.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat sounds like you.\u201d<\/p>\n
I considered the phrase.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
Paige frowned.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt sounds like who I\u2019m becoming.\u201d<\/p>\n
That evening Graham called.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat did Paige want?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNothing.\u201d<\/p>\n
Silence.<\/p>\n
\u201cNothing?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cTea.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cShe drove forty minutes for tea?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd a slipper.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMom.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cShe wanted to talk.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAbout money?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
He was quiet.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s good.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHow was it?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cGood.\u201d<\/p>\n
Another silence.<\/p>\n
\u201cDid she apologize?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat is between Paige and me.\u201d<\/p>\n
He laughed.<\/p>\n
\u201cFair.\u201d<\/p>\n
Then his tone changed.<\/p>\n
\u201cMartin called.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat now?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Harbor verification is finished.\u201d<\/p>\n
I sat straighter.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cArthur\u2019s relinquishment was accepted.\u201d<\/p>\n
My heart beat harder.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe account is back under T&E control.\u201d<\/p>\n
After seventeen years, Thomas\u2019s missing reserve had returned.<\/p>\n
Nearly four point eight million dollars.<\/p>\n
One fifth would go toward correcting old harms.<\/p>\n
The remainder belonged to the company Thomas and I built.<\/p>\n
I expected triumph.<\/p>\n
Instead, I felt tired.<\/p>\n
\u201cMom?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m here.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat are you going to do with it?\u201d<\/p>\n
There was a time when that question would have frightened me.<\/p>\n
Now I smiled.<\/p>\n
\u201cI have absolutely no idea.\u201d<\/p>\n
Graham laughed.<\/p>\n
\u201cGood.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cFor once, none of us does.\u201d<\/p>\n
The following morning, Martin called with another update.<\/p>\n
Not about Harbor.<\/p>\n
About Arthur.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe wants to speak with you.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat was quick.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve had enough.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe expected that.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThen why ask?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe says he wants to return something.\u201d<\/p>\n
My patience thinned.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n
Martin hesitated.<\/p>\n
\u201cThomas\u2019s watch.\u201d<\/p>\n
My hand went instinctively to the watch I had packed from my old room.<\/p>\n
It was upstairs.<\/p>\n
I knew it was.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat watch?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cApparently Thomas owned another.\u201d<\/p>\n
I went still.<\/p>\n
\u201cDescribe it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Martin did.<\/p>\n
Silver case.<\/p>\n
Brown leather strap.<\/p>\n
Inscription on the back.<\/p>\n
E + T, 1969.<\/p>\n
My knees weakened.<\/p>\n
That watch had disappeared before Thomas died.<\/p>\n
He told me he had lost it.<\/p>\n
I had believed him.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhere did Arthur get it?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe says Thomas gave it to him.\u201d<\/p>\n
The room seemed to contract.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe night Arthur disappeared.\u201d<\/p>\n
I closed my eyes.<\/p>\n
Thomas had met Arthur at the lakeside conference center.<\/p>\n
Victor had told us.<\/p>\n
But apparently that meeting contained one more secret.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat does Arthur say it means?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe won\u2019t tell me.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cOf course.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe says the answer is inside.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cInside the watch?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
I looked toward Thomas\u2019s letter on the refrigerator.<\/p>\n
Another secret.<\/p>\n
Another object.<\/p>\n
Another dead man reaching into the present.<\/p>\n
For the first time, I did not feel curiosity.<\/p>\n
I felt anger.<\/p>\n
\u201cTell Arthur I don\u2019t want it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Martin was silent.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019re sure?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat should I do with the watch?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cGive it to Graham.\u201d<\/p>\n
I heard myself say the words before considering them.<\/p>\n
Martin paused.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause Thomas was his father too.\u201d<\/p>\n
That evening, Graham arrived at my cottage holding a small velvet box.<\/p>\n
He looked unsettled.<\/p>\n
\u201cMartin gave me this.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI know.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou don\u2019t want to open it?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause I am tired of allowing Thomas\u2019s secrets to decide when my life stops.\u201d<\/p>\n
Graham looked at the box.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat if it matters?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThen you decide whether you want to know.\u201d<\/p>\n
He stared at me.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019re serious.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat if I open it and find something terrible?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThen call me.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat if I find nothing?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThen you own a watch.\u201d<\/p>\n
He laughed.<\/p>\n
Then he became quiet.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think I\u2019m going to open it.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAll right.\u201d<\/p>\n
He sat at my kitchen table.<\/p>\n
The watch was beautiful.<\/p>\n
I had not seen it in almost twenty years.<\/p>\n
Graham turned it over.<\/p>\n
The inscription remained.<\/p>\n
E + T, 1969.<\/p>\n
There was a tiny seam along the back plate.<\/p>\n
Martin had apparently noticed it too.<\/p>\n
A jeweler had opened the compartment without damaging the mechanism.<\/p>\n
Inside was a folded strip of paper.<\/p>\n
Graham unfolded it.<\/p>\n
His face changed.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n
He handed it to me.<\/p>\n
Only one sentence.<\/p>\n
Arthur knows where I failed him, but he does not know where he failed himself.<\/p>\n
I stared.<\/p>\n
Graham waited.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s it?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s it.\u201d<\/p>\n
He sat back.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat does it mean?\u201d<\/p>\n
I thought of Arthur.<\/p>\n
Of Harbor.<\/p>\n
Of the meeting.<\/p>\n
Of Thomas refusing to let him dictate Graham\u2019s inheritance.<\/p>\n
Then I understood.<\/p>\n
Thomas knew Arthur felt betrayed.<\/p>\n
He knew he had contributed to that wound.<\/p>\n
But Arthur believed recognizing Thomas\u2019s failure excused his own.<\/p>\n
It never had.<\/p>\n
I folded the paper.<\/p>\n
\u201cYour father was saying both things could be true.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat things?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat Thomas failed Arthur.\u201d<\/p>\n
I placed the note beside the watch.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd Arthur still chose what he became afterward.\u201d<\/p>\n
Graham looked at it for a long time.<\/p>\n
Then he closed the box.<\/p>\n
\u201cDo you want it?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
He nodded.<\/p>\n
\u201cI do.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThen keep it.\u201d<\/p>\n
He slipped the watch onto his wrist.<\/p>\n
The strap was old but still held.<\/p>\n
Thomas\u2019s watch looked strange on our son.<\/p>\n
Then familiar.<\/p>\n
Graham turned his wrist beneath the kitchen light.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m not going to become him.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYour father?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cGood.\u201d<\/p>\n
He looked surprised.<\/p>\n
\u201cI thought you\u2019d say something sentimental.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI loved your father.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI know.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat does not mean the world needs another one.\u201d<\/p>\n
Graham laughed.<\/p>\n
Neither of us noticed at first that Paige had arrived at the open kitchen door.<\/p>\n
She was smiling.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat did I miss?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYour husband discovering individuality.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cFinally.\u201d<\/p>\n
Graham looked offended.<\/p>\n
They kissed.<\/p>\n
Not dramatically.<\/p>\n
Not as proof that everything was repaired.<\/p>\n
Just because they wanted to.<\/p>\n
I turned toward the stove and gave them privacy.<\/p>\n
Behind me, Graham said, \u201cMom?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDinner Sunday?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAt your new place?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe won\u2019t be moved yet.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThen here.\u201d<\/p>\n
He hesitated.<\/p>\n
\u201cCan we?\u201d<\/p>\n
I looked around my kitchen.<\/p>\n
Mine.<\/p>\n
Still mine even when filled with other people.<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cShould we bring anything?\u201d<\/p>\n
I thought about it.<\/p>\n
\u201cDessert.\u201d<\/p>\n
Paige smiled.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe can do that.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd no scratch tickets.\u201d<\/p>\n
She groaned.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat joke is never dying, is it?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNot while I\u2019m alive.\u201d<\/p>\n
Three weeks passed before Paige came to see me alone. Arthur remained in custody while prosecutors and investigators untangled years of fraudulent activity. Caroline Mercer cooperated extensively. Victor retained an … <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":11979,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-11997","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-insightdrama"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11997","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=11997"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11997\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12021,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11997\/revisions\/12021"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/11979"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=11997"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=11997"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=11997"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}