Chapter 15: Due the Same Week

I read the whole article sitting on the edge of my mother's bed.

It said a woman "claiming a past relationship" with Northlight's CEO had followed his wife for weeks.

It said my mother had "entered the Thornton home under false pretenses" through a cleaning agency.

It said I'd "disrupted a private family celebration" and "caused property damage."

It quoted "a source close to the family."

There was nothing about the thesis page.

There was nothing from the lobby at all except one line near the bottom.

"Ms. McCallum has also been accused of taking proprietary software from Mr. Thornton's company."

The reporter's name wasn't on it.

The byline just said "Herald Staff."

I called the number on her card.

She picked up on the first ring and started apologizing before I said a word.

"I didn't write that. I filed the lobby piece at six last night. It got pulled at ten. My editor got a call."

"From who?"

She was quiet.

"I can't say that on the phone. But the Thorntons own the building we're in."

My mother was still sitting on the bed.

"Well," she said. "At least they used your good side."

I laughed. Then I put my face in the pillow.

By noon the photo was everywhere.

People had found my old Saint Jude's profile. They'd found my mother's name and the cleaning agency.

Someone had posted the address of the laundromat.

Under it, a man had written, "Somebody should go tell the homewrecker what we think of her."

Nathan drove over at lunch and parked his truck in front of the laundromat door.

He stayed there until dark with his laptop on the steering wheel.

On Thursday we needed groceries.

My mother didn't want me to come.

"I've been lying down for two weeks," I said. "I'm walking one block. I'm buying bread."

The Pike Street market was a narrow place with crates of apples out front. I'd been going there since I was nine.

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