Chapter 20: The Offer

I put on my jeans and my coat over Ross's shirt and went down the stairs alone.

"Stay up there," I had told him. "If he sees you, he gets to tell this his way."

Ross had not liked it, and he had stayed.

The building door has a glass panel and a lock.

I opened the door, but I stayed in the frame with my hand on the handle.

Derek stood on the step in a camel overcoat, holding a thin leather folder.

He looked tired.

I had not seen him look tired since the gym.

"Nice place," he said. "Your own lease. I'm proud of you, Hol."

"What do you want?"

"To talk, without a lawyer, without a judge." He held up the folder. "I've fired my attorney. You may have heard."

"I heard he quit."

"He was a coward. It saves us both money."

He opened the folder and held it toward the streetlight.

The first page was a title transfer.

It was for the house on Beech Street, and the new owner's line said Holly Brewer Kane.

I read it twice.

"It's yours," he said. "Free and clear. Your mother's money, and a little more for your trouble. I'll sign tonight."

"And?"

"And this."

He turned to the second page, a short document with a header I did not know.

"A mutual non-disclosure agreement," Derek said. "You don't discuss the Sundays, Gwen, the card, or the board."

"I don't discuss anything about you. We go before the judge together and say we've reached an arrangement."

"And you keep the award."

"I keep the award." He smiled slightly. "It's a plaque, Holly. It costs you nothing."

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