PART 17 – Gerald Finally Asked What I Remembered From That Friday, and I Realized He Was More Worried Than He Wanted Me to Know

I didn't sleep particularly well that night.

Gerald stayed downstairs for a while after I went to the bedroom.

I could hear the television.

Then I heard the kitchen faucet.

Finally, the house became quiet.

I lay awake thinking about the blue binder.

Three years earlier, Gerald had been frightened.

I remembered that clearly.

He had not been the confident businessman who made decisions and expected everybody to follow them.

He had been a husband asking his wife for help.

I had agreed.

I had sat beside him.

I had listened.

I had signed what needed to be signed.

Walter had been there too.

Both men had understood the importance of that afternoon.

I turned toward the empty side of the bed.

I wondered when Gerald had decided that the promises made that day no longer mattered.

I wondered whether he had ever intended to keep them.

By morning, I was tired of wondering.

I went downstairs and made coffee.

Gerald was already in the kitchen.

He was sitting at the table with his phone in his hand.

He looked up when I entered.

"Morning."

"Good morning."

I poured my coffee.

He watched me sit down.

For a few minutes, neither of us spoke.

Then he put his phone aside.

"What exactly do you remember about that meeting?"

I looked at him.

"Why are you asking?"

"Because you keep bringing it up."

I took a drink.

"I remember why you asked me to come."

He leaned back.

"What else?"

"The lawyer's office. The blue binder. Your father sitting there. The papers."

He rubbed his chin.

"That's all?"

I looked at him.

"And the signatures."

His eyes moved toward the kitchen window.

I had noticed that movement before.

Whenever I mentioned the meeting, he seemed to look somewhere else.

I wondered whether he was trying to remember what had been said.

Or whether he was trying to decide what I knew.

He picked up his phone.

Then put it down again.

"Terry, that was a difficult time."

I nodded.

"I know."

"We were trying to protect the family."

I looked at him.

"That was what you told me."

He seemed uncomfortable.

I continued.

"You asked me to trust you."

He lowered his eyes.

"I did."

"And I did."

He didn't answer.

I thought about how easily he had once asked me for help.

I had never made him feel ashamed of needing me.

I had never reminded him that I had other responsibilities.

I had simply stood beside him.

Now he seemed to resent that I remembered.

Gerald finally spoke.

"Things aren't the same anymore."

I looked at him.

"No. They aren't."

He pushed his chair back.

"I have to go to the office."

I nodded.

He picked up his keys.

Then he stopped near the doorway.

"Don't make any decisions before we talk again."

I looked at him.

"I haven't made any decisions."

He seemed relieved.

Then he left.

I remained at the table.

His coffee cup was still beside his chair.

I looked at it for a moment.

Then I returned to my own coffee.

I wasn't going to wash his cup immediately.

It could wait.

So could everything else.

That morning, I finally understood something.

Gerald wasn't simply upset that I had refused to sign his papers.

He was worried about the Friday meeting.

And that meant I had been right to remember it.

Click here to continue reading: PART 18: The Same Two Men Who Had Once Asked Me for Help Were Now Hoping I Would Forget Why They Needed It