Ryan looked over and saw him. Marcus didn't say anything. He just stood there 200 lb 5'11 in his workclo with his arms at his sides looking at Ryan Whitmore the way a man looks at another man when he wants the second man to understand something without either of them having to escalate it. It worked. Ryan looked back at Clare.
This isn't over, he said. It was over a long time ago, Clare said. Ryan walked to his car. He didn't slam the door. He closed it deliberately, which was somehow more unsettling and then he drove away.
Marcus didn't move until the car was out of sight. Clare stood on her porch for a moment and then she looked over at Marcus. She didn't say thank you. She didn't say anything. She just looked at him with an expression that was exhausted and grateful in equal measure.
And he nodded once and she went inside. She came over that night. It was after 9 after Darius was in bed and Marcus was at the kitchen table pretending to read a service manual when he heard the knock. He opened the door. She was standing on his porch steps with her hands in the pockets of a cardigan that was too thin for the night air.
And she looked like someone who had been carrying something heavy for a long time and was finally ready to put it down, but wasn't entirely sure how. Can I? She started. Yeah, he said. Come in.
He made tea because she was a person who drank tea and because making something is something useful to do when you don't know what else to do. They sat at his kitchen table across from each other and for a minute they just let the quiet be there. Then she said, "Ryan thinks David left something in his business papers that gives him control over the client list. He's been making that argument for 2 years. Does it? " No.
The lawyer was very clear. She wrapped her hands around the mug. But Ryan needs someone to be angry at, and I'm the only target still standing still long enough for him to aim at. Marcus watched her. I'm sorry you had to see that, she said.
Don't apologize for that. It's embarrassing. Why is it embarrassing? She looked up at him. Because it looks like I can't handle my own problems.
You handled it, Marcus said. I was just standing in a driveway. She almost smiled. You were doing your presence thing. My what?
You just She gestured vaguely. Stand there like you're a loadbearing wall. Marcus looked at her for a moment. Then he laughed. It surprised both of them.