“Okay.”
It wasn’t forgiveness.
It wasn’t rejection.
It was simply acknowledgment.
Sometimes that was enough for one day.
A month passed.
Then another.
The investigation became quieter.
Victor Lane’s attorney issued a statement denying wrongdoing.
No charges had been filed.
The world did not wrap itself into a clean conclusion simply because we wanted one.
Julian grew impatient with that.
Thomas’s records had revealed irregularities.
But records were not proof of who knowingly did what.
Rebecca sometimes came for coffee.
Elena and Lucas visited twice.
Julian and Lucas developed a strange cousin-brother-uncle relationship for which none of us had appropriate vocabulary.
Technically Lucas was Julian’s uncle.
Julian delighted in this.
“Uncle Lucas, pass the fries.”
“Call me that again and I’ll throw them at you.”
“You wouldn’t assault your nephew.”
“We’re the same age.”
“Respect your elders.”
“I am two months younger than you!”
