Chapter 7: What Hazel Said in the Car
We left Hawthorne Hall at half past ten.
Rosamund took a car with two of the other guests.
Hazel and I rode alone.
She didn't speak until we were on the motorway.
"Tell me," she said.
I told her.
All of it.
The transfers, the LLC, the registered agent, the fourteen months.
I told her about Dennis's call and the three weeks I had spent hoping I was wrong.
I told her what Garnet had said to Amber at the head table and what Amber had said back.
Hazel listened without interrupting.
She looked at the window the whole time, at the dark fields passing in the headlights.
When I finished, she was quiet for a moment.
"She took the money to save her parents' home," Hazel said.
"Yes."
"And she used Garnet's access to do it."
"Yes."
Another silence.
"I understand why she did it," Hazel said.
"I don't think it was right.
But I understand it."
"Hazel—"
"I'm not defending her.
I'm telling you I understand the difference between someone who is cruel and someone who is desperate." She turned from the window.
"The chair was cruel.
The money was desperate.
Those are two different things."
I didn't answer immediately.
"What are you going to do with the documents?" she asked.
"I don't know yet."
"Walter." She said my name the way she always did when she wanted me to stop performing and just talk to her.
"What do you want to happen?"
I kept my eyes on the road.
"I want our son back."
"Then what happens to Amber matters less than what happens to Garnet." She folded her hands in her lap.
"If you use those documents to destroy her, you may destroy him too.
He married her today.
Whatever she's done, that's real."
"She stole from him."
"She moved money without his knowledge to protect her family.
That's a betrayal, yes.
But it's not the same as a stranger stealing." She paused.
"It might be something they can work through.
If they're given the chance."
"And if they can't?"
"Then he'll come to that on his own.
Without you handing him a weapon."
I thought about that.
"The chair was different," I said.
"Yes," she agreed.
"The chair was different."
"That was deliberate cruelty.
To you.
On your son's wedding day."
"I know what it was." Her voice didn't waver.
"And I know you switched it back.
I know you protected me without making a scene.
I know you've been carrying all of this alone for three weeks." She reached over and put her hand on my arm.
"I also know that you are angrier on my behalf than I am on my own.
And I need you to be careful with that anger, Walter.
Because it will make you want to burn things down that don't need to burn."
We drove in silence for a while.
"He looked at me tonight," I said.
"When he was standing at that table.
He looked at me like he was twelve years old."
"I know."
"I don't want to lose him."
"Then don't make him choose." She squeezed my arm once and let go.
"Give him room to find his way back."
I turned off the motorway.
The village lights appeared ahead, small and familiar.
"You're wiser than I am," I said.
"I've always been wiser than you," she said.
"You just usually have better timing."
I almost smiled.
Almost.
My phone lit up on the console between us.
A message from Garnet.
*Can we meet tomorrow?
Just the two of us.
Morning.*
I showed it to Hazel.
She read it.
Looked ahead at the road.
"Well," she said quietly.
"That's a start."
But when I pulled into our drive and turned off the engine, another message arrived.
Not from Garnet.
From a number I didn't recognize.
*Mr.
Caldwell.
My name is Petra Holt.
I'm a solicitor.
I've been retained by Ms.
Amber Voss-Caldwell.
I'd advise you not to take any action regarding the documents in your possession before we speak.
There are things about those transfers you may not fully understand.
I'll be in contact Monday.*
Hazel read it over my shoulder.
"She moved fast," Hazel said.
"She always does," I said.
We sat in the dark car for a moment.
"Walter," Hazel said.
"Whatever she's planning — don't let it make you reckless."
I stared at the message.
May you like
"No," I said.
"But I think it's time I called my own solicitor."
