Her income was good, but the financial picture surrounding K&W was not. Contractor obligations remained. The duplex had not stabilized.
Several debts were still unresolved.
By 4:30 p.m., the mediator returned with another proposal. Roger read it.
Too many assumptions. Too many unresolved numbers.
"No."
The mediator looked at him. "Is there a counter?"
"Not until we know more."
"Mr. Barry, litigation is expensive."
"I know."
"You could spend tens of thousands fighting over amounts that may ultimately be smaller."
Roger looked at the page. "Or I could agree today to numbers nobody in this building can verify."
The mediator said nothing.
Roger slid the proposal back. "No."
By around 7:00 p.m., the session ended. No agreement.
Roger walked toward the elevators with Amanda. His shoulders ached.
"Was today useless?" he asked.
"No."
"It feels useless."
"We learned what matters to Kimberly."
"The house."
"Yes."
Roger pressed the elevator button.
"And we learned what she can't currently do."
"Refinance?"
"Not under the proposed structure."
The elevator indicator moved slowly downward. Roger rubbed his eyes.
"How much longer can this take?"
Amanda gave him the only answer she could.
"I don't know."
Roger laughed once, not because anything was funny.
The elevator reached six. Amanda's phone chimed. She glanced at it, then stopped.
Roger noticed, but Amanda did not answer immediately. She opened the email, read, scrolled, then read again.
The elevator reached five.
"Amanda."
She looked at him. "Natalie's final tracing analysis."
Roger straightened. "Finished?"
"She says yes."
The elevator reached four. Amanda stepped away from the doors.
"Hold on."
She opened the attached summary. Roger watched her expression. It changed very little, but after months of meetings, he had learned Amanda's version of surprise.
Her lips pressed together. Her eyes stopped moving.
"How bad?" Roger asked.
Amanda looked at the first page again. "Worse than the preliminary numbers."
"How much?"
She did not answer. Instead, she walked toward a bench near the windows. Roger followed.
Amanda sat and opened the detailed schedule. Colored rows separated sources: HELOC advances, savings withdrawals, joint account transfers, credit card payments, K&W Residential Partners, contractors, carrying costs.
The structure was clean.
The amounts were not.
Roger sat beside her. "What's the total?"
Amanda pointed.
Roger read the figure, then read it again.