She refused to meet without counsel present.
The meeting took place at Hannah’s office.
Dennis arrived with his attorney and an expression Jonah had never seen on him before.
He looked uncertain.
He said he regretted that Marta had felt undervalued.
Marta asked whether he regretted the missing wages or only her feelings about them.
Dennis looked toward his attorney.
Marta waited.
He finally said he had made decisions that should have been reviewed more carefully.
She asked why he had signed her name to documents she had never seen.
Dennis denied signing anything on her behalf.
Hannah ended that part of the conversation and noted the denial for the record.
Marta left without shaking Dennis’s hand.
Outside, she told Jonah that she had once dreamed of making Dennis feel as small as he had made her feel.
She said the meeting had not given her that satisfaction.
Instead, she felt certain that she no longer needed him to agree with her memories.
Jonah understood that the difference mattered.
Chapter Seventeen: The Choice at the Credit Union
Jonah received a modest reimbursement from a temporary community support fund.
He deposited it at the credit union where his mother had opened his first savings account.
The teller asked whether he wanted to set up an automatic transfer to savings.
Jonah almost laughed.
For years his account had rarely held enough money to make saving seem possible.
He asked how the transfer worked.
The teller explained that even a small recurring amount could help establish a reserve.
Jonah chose an amount he could afford without risking the rent.
He then visited the used bookstore across the street.
A business textbook cost less than the new edition required by his college.
He checked the edition with his instructor before buying it.
At home Lucy asked whether the money meant they were rich.
Jonah said they were safer than they had been, but they still needed a budget.
She asked what rich actually meant.
He considered telling her that Arthur could buy the entire building without checking his account.
Instead, he said money could give people choices, but it could not make every choice wise.
Lucy asked whether she could choose a new telescope.
Jonah told her they could save for one.
She proposed dividing the cost into twelve equal parts.
He found a sheet of paper and helped her calculate the monthly amount.
The number was larger than she expected.
