He looked back at Marcus. And then Daniel Coleman did something Marcus had not expected. He laughed. Not a big laugh, not the room filling one. A short quiet exhale of a laugh, almost tired, almost relieved.
Man, Daniel said, you are the only person I know who would sit across from somebody and say that. Say what? That you care about my sister, but you came to me first. Like, it's like that's just the obvious thing to do. It is the obvious thing to do, Marcus said.
It is not the obvious thing to do, Daniel said. Marcus, nobody does that. People just do what they want and apologize later or they don't apologize. He shook his head slowly. Nobody comes and sits across from me in a diner and tells me the truth before anything has even happened.
Marcus waited. Daniel picked up his coffee, drank, set it back down, took a breath. Olivia has been through something, he said. You know some of it probably. She told you about the guy who left.
She mentioned it. She didn't mention all of it, Daniel said. Dip. His voice had shifted quieter now, more careful. He wasn't just someone who left.
He was someone who she gave that man everything. Marcus 4 years. She restructured her whole life around what he needed. And when it wasn't enough for him, he didn't just leave. He made her feel like the reason it failed was her, like she was too much and not enough at the exact same time.
He paused. It took her a long time to stop believing that. Marcus said nothing. He listened. She's not fragile, Daniel said.
Don't get that wrong. She's one of the strongest people I know. But she doesn't she doesn't open up easy anymore. She doesn't let people in easy. So if she's talking to you, he stopped.
Looked at Marcus directly. If she called you about the washer, Marcus, she didn't need to call you. She has my number. She could have texted me. She called you.
The weight of that sat on the table between them. I know, Marcus said quietly. Then you understand what I'm about to say, Daniel said. Marcus waited. If you're going in, Daniel said, go in all the way.
Not halfway. Not let's see how this goes. Not maybe. Because she has had enough may from people who decided she wasn't worth the full thing. And she will not survive another one of those.