Chapter 11: The Man Who Knew

Dean shook the president's hand and did not seem to notice that the president did not shake back.

"Sir. Sorry I'm late. The garage was a zoo."

"Sit down, Dean," the president said.

Dean looked at the empty chair that had been Kelsey's and at the people watching from the next table.

Then he looked at me.

"Claire," he said, warmly, for the room. "You came. I'm so glad. I wanted to tell you I'm not angry."

"I read your post."

"I meant every word. We can fix this."

"Kelsey was just fired," I said.

His smile did not move.

"Fired? For what?"

"For drafting your household agreement on company paper," the president said.

"She recited it for us. Nine point four, with the later deposits."

Dean laughed, one light breath.

"Kelsey's a kid. She was trying to be helpful. I never read half of that thing."

"You never read it," I said.

"I told her to make it fair, that's all. Fair for both of us."

"Dean." I kept my voice level. "The money from my grandfather. It went into that account."

"Honey, we've been through this. It's a few thousand dollars."

"That's what I told you."

"It's a few thousand dollars, for the car seat and a nice stroller. It's nothing. I don't even want it."

"Then why did you hire a lawyer to ask for an accounting?"

"Because you left, Claire. I was panicking."

I turned my glass a quarter turn on the cloth.

"A few thousand dollars," I said. "Not fifty million."

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