“Yes, he is. Did you ever find any of the money he took?”
“Not a penny of it. Orin, please. You know I sold everything and I shared it all with you. The house, the cars, the mountain cabin. And I signed the stores over to you.”
“I know,” he said. “It’s my fault that I couldn’t keep them running. But Gil had taken even the deposits on the orders. No one would send me furniture I couldn’t pay for, so I had to give the deposits back to the customers from my own pocket. I owned three stores but I ended up massively in debt. Ironic, isn’t it?”
“Yes,” Grace said, her voice tired. “And that’s why I gave you what I made from the sale of the house.”
“Yes, of course you did.”
“Orin, I need to get home. You said you had something you had to ask me.”
“I just wondered if you’d ever found the papers from the last sale.”
“No, I haven’t. Everything is stored away and I work long hours. Besides, those things are hard for me to look at. I . . .” She trailed off.
“Gracie, I apologize. The papers were just an excuse to see you again. You and Abby are like
family to Paula and me. I wish we’d been blessed with children. How wonderful it would be to think of buying a dress for a dance instead of facing creditors. Maybe after Paula is . . . is gone I can get a full-time job and help your little family some. Maybe I can give you—”
There was some noise of papers and keys as Grace rummaged in her bag. “Here!” she said. “That’s the three hundred I was going to use to buy Abby a new dress. Take it and pay some on Paula’s bed.”
“I shouldn’t, but since it isn’t for me, I accept. Thank you, Grace, thank you very much. You don’t know what this means to Paula and me. Three hundred dollars is like a million to us. And I promise that after she . . . she leaves this earth, I’ll pay you back.”
“Sure, of course,” Grace said. “I have to go. Good luck to you both.”
In the next second the woman was hurrying out of the diner.
“My phone!” Chelsea said.
“I’ll get it.” Eli got up and left behind the woman. Minutes later, he returned, put Chelsea’s phone on the table, and sat down by her. In front of them were empty plates. While they’d been listening, their sandwiches had been delivered and they’d eaten them. Eli wondered if Chelsea noticed that she’d eaten the one with a lot of high-calorie mayonnaise on it.
“She was sitting in her car crying,” Eli said—and Chelsea saw the blaze in his eyes. She well remembered that when they were children, Eli’s father had constantly hit his mother up for money. The man didn’t need the money, but it made him feel powerful to take it.
“He went to the restroom,” Chelsea said, “so you can talk.”
“I tapped on her car window and told her I thought I’d accidently dropped my phone in her bag. She gave it to me.” Eli was looking at his hands, which were clasped on the table, his eyes downcast, a muscle in his jaw working.
Chelsea put her hand over his. Eli had always had the softest heart in the world, but then he’d had to watch his mother being misused. “Déjà vu?” she asked.
“Yeah,” he said. “She reminds me of my mom and how my dad used to con her out of money. He did it just to see if he could. One time he told me that the only thing that really mattered in life was winning.”
“You think that’s what this guy Orin is doing?”
He looked at her. “Why doesn’t he sell the watch and briefcase to pay his bills?”
“I wonder if they belong to him,” Chelsea said. She lowered her voice. “Or maybe he’s saving them to sell to pay his wife’s funeral expenses. What do you think the husband, Gil, did?”
“Sounds like he embezzled company funds.”
They looked up as the waitress returned. With a wink at Eli, she put two big slices of lemon meringue pie on the table, then left.
“Why did she bring these?” Chelsea asked, frowning.
“I asked for one. Guess she misheard and delivered two slices. She said they were homemade by a local widow who has two kids in college.”
Chelsea knew that story would get Eli’s attention. She took a bite. “Not bad.” She took another one. “Is that guy back at the table yet?”
Eli leaned around the end of the booth, and when he turned back, his face showed disbelief. “He stole the tip. When I left I saw three dollars and change by the tab, but it’s gone now. I’ll be back.” He left the table.