The Stand-In Wife and His Only Obsession novel · Chapter 11 of 32
Chapter 11: The Kind Cousin
Lucas picked up the photocopy.
He held it a long time.
"That's our crest," he said. "My grandmother had it designed."
"Whose signature?"
We both leaned in.
The copy was a copy of a microfilm of a check. The signature was a black smear with a loop at the end.
It could have been anyone.
"Who could sign Foundation checks in 2009?" I asked.
"I don't know." He set the paper down very carefully, edges squared. "I was fourteen. I'll find out."
He called the Foundation's bank from the car.
He's a Thackeray.
They called back before we hit the Turnpike.
He listened, said thank you, and hung up.
Then he drove for ten miles without speaking.
"Three signers," he said finally. "My grandmother. My father. And Aldous."
I kept my eyes on the road.
"Your father?"
"Died in 2012. Heart attack on a tennis court." His hands were tight on the wheel. "He paid four million dollars for me. He mortgaged the Litchfield house to do it. He cried in the hospital. I saw him."
"Your grandmother?"
"Is eighty-four and cheats at gin for a dollar a point."
"And Aldous."
"Aldous was twenty-four in 2009 and ran a coat drive." His voice cracked on the last word. "Aldous taught me to ride a bike. Aldous sat with me every Sunday for a year after, when I couldn't talk. He read me books."
"I know."
"You don't know. You've met him twice."
"I know you love him," I said. "That's what I meant."
He looked over at me then.
His eyes were wet and furious and very, very tired.
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