“Did you use Melissa’s money?”
He closed his eyes.
“I borrowed it.”
I felt something inside me sink.
“Did she give you permission?”
He didn’t answer.
“Tom.”
“No,” he admitted. “Not in the way she should have.”
I stared at him.
“How much?”
He told me the amount.
It was more than I had imagined.
“And you never paid it back?”
“I paid some of it.”
“Some?”
He turned toward me.
“I was going to repay the rest. I thought I could recover the money once the project became profitable.”
“But you didn’t.”
“No.”
I could barely recognize the man standing in front of me.
“Why didn’t you tell her the truth?”
“Because I was ashamed. And then time passed, and every year it became harder to admit what I’d done.”
I shook my head.
“You let your sister believe her husband’s money had disappeared into a failed investment.”
“I know.”
