Curtis said the diner depended on maintaining standards.
Luis asked which standard prohibited feeding an elderly customer who could not locate his wallet.
Curtis accused him of being emotional.
Miriam produced the original receipt and the photograph of the schedule.
Gerald admitted that the policy Curtis claimed to enforce did not appear in the staff handbook.
Nora described the lost weekend income and the uncertainty it had caused at home.
She did not mention Henry Whitmore until asked who had received the meal.
The mediator proposed compensation for the lost shifts and a neutral employment reference.
Nora accepted after Jasmine confirmed that the agreement would not require silence about her own experience.
Curtis was removed from scheduling duties pending the owner’s review.
Nora did not celebrate his humiliation.
She remembered the feeling of hearing that her job might disappear and did not wish that panic on his family.
She did believe he needed to understand the cost of using other people’s wages as punishment.
Chapter 13: A Difficult Conversation
Henry asked Nora to visit his home after the first group of archives had been released.
She brought Beth, who had wanted to see the man responsible for so many secrets about their mother.
The Whitmore residence stood behind iron gates and winter trees, but the sitting room smelled of books and old furniture polish.
Henry showed them a framed photograph of Elise presenting her research at an internal conference.
Beth asked why he had not contacted the family when Elise lost her job.
Henry said he had believed the resignation was voluntary until years after it happened.
Beth asked why he had not contacted them immediately after learning the truth.
Henry looked down at his hands.
He said he had been ashamed and afraid that an apology from him would sound like another demand for forgiveness.
Beth told him that shame had not paid Elise’s bills or protected her reputation.
Henry agreed.
He did not ask her to soften the judgment.
Nora asked whether he would publicly correct the record.
Henry said he had already directed the company to publish the original findings with a clear account of the suppression.
Jasmine had reviewed the draft and required several changes.
Nora said she would read the final statement when it was released.
Henry offered them lunch.
Beth declined because she had work to do.
Nora thanked him for the invitation and left with her sister.
On the drive home, Beth admitted she had expected to hate Henry more than she did.
