My stomach tightened.
“What did they say?”
“They can refinance.”
“That sounds like good news.”
“It would pay you back.”
“But?”
Rebecca looked at me.
“But Daniel would have to empty most of the children’s education savings to qualify comfortably after closing costs and pay down another debt first.”
I stared at her.
“What other debt?”
Her eyes met mine.
“A business loan.”
“What business?”
“Daniel’s.”
I shook my head.
“He doesn’t own a business.”
Rebecca’s expression told me I was wrong.
“He does now.”
Since when?
Why had he hidden it?
And most importantly, if Daniel had been carrying a financial burden large enough to threaten the children’s savings, why had no one thought I should know?
PART 4
For most of Daniel’s life, I had known when he was hiding something.
At seven, he hid a broken lamp behind the sofa.
At thirteen, he hid a report card beneath his mattress.
At seventeen, he tried hiding the fact that he had backed Arthur’s car into our mailbox.
He always became unusually helpful.
That week, he sent me three messages asking whether I needed groceries.
The third one arrived Tuesday morning.
Need anything from Costco?
