Other days he met Vivien at cafés to discuss which bills could be delayed.
Vivien’s event-planning business had also failed, though she still posted photographs suggesting otherwise.
The diamonds she wore were leased.
The suit Derek wore had been purchased on my card.
Their rent was three months late.
Nearly every item at the table had been ordered not because they could afford it, but because Vivien wanted photographs of a celebration that would keep their social image intact.
“What were you celebrating?” I asked.
Vivien answered bitterly.
“The house appraisal.
The agent believed your property would sell quickly.”
“You were celebrating money you had no right to touch.”
“We would have taken care of you,” she said.
“With a senior apartment you selected while using my emergency key?”
“It is not a prison.”
“No,” I replied.
“But your plan was theft dressed as concern.”
Derek’s eyes filled.
“I was going to talk to you.”
“When?”
“After we had a firm offer.”
“You wanted a buyer before you asked the owner.”
He had no answer.
I stood and put on my coat.
“I am changing the locks tonight.
The emergency key is no longer yours.
Tomorrow, I am meeting an attorney.
If the agent entered my home knowing you lacked permission, the brokerage will hear from that attorney too.”
Vivien stepped between me and the aisle.
“You would destroy your own son over a misunderstanding?”
I looked past her at Derek.
“My son sat silently while his wife offered me a chewed bone.
Then I learned he used my key to photograph my home for sale.
This is not a misunderstanding.”
Her voice dropped.
“You will never see the girls again.”
Derek stood.
“Stop using them like that.”
She spun toward him.
“Excuse me?”
“You heard me.”
It was the first time that evening he had challenged her.
Too late to protect me, perhaps, but not too late to reveal what remained of him.
The girls watched their parents with frightened faces.
I touched Emma’s shoulder.
“Your grandmother’s door will remain open to you,” I said.
“No matter what adults say tonight.”
The manager arranged a car large enough for all four of them.
Before they left, Derek removed the emergency key from his ring and placed it in my palm.
“I am sorry,” he whispered.
I closed my fingers around the key.
“You are sorry because the card declined.
I hope one day you become sorry for what you did before it declined.”
He lowered his head and followed his family outside.
I remained at the table for another minute.
The steaks had gone cold.
