CHAPTER SEVEN — A ROOM WITH TWO DOORS
Belinda agreed to meet an independent employment attorney the following morning.
She insisted Jonah not accompany her.
He agreed immediately.
Their marriage was no longer a place where either could demand access to every conversation.
She left her grocery bag on the kitchen chair and drove to the appointment.
Jonah spent the morning repairing a clock motor that had seized because someone had forced its gears out of alignment.
He caught himself wishing people could be repaired with the same tools.
At eleven, his supervisor, Edwin, came into the workshop.
“There’s a gentleman in the lobby asking for you.”
Jonah looked up.
“Who?”
“He says he’s with Nestwell’s legal department.”
Jonah set down the screwdriver.
“I didn’t arrange a meeting.”
“Then I can tell him to leave.”
“Please do.”
Edwin returned a minute later carrying a business card.
The man had left it at the desk.
The card bore the name Nathan Rowe and the title Director of Special Projects.
Jonah recognized neither.
On the back, someone had written, There are easier ways to resolve this.
Jonah photographed the card and handed it to Edwin.
“Would you make a note of when he came?”
Edwin studied the writing.
“Is this trouble from home?”
“Partly.”
“Take the afternoon if you need it.”
Jonah shook his head.
“I’d rather finish the clock.”
At lunch, he called Frances and described the visit.
She advised him to preserve the card and avoid discussing the matter directly with company representatives.
He returned to work.
At three, Belinda texted him from her attorney’s office.
Can you tell me exactly what you saw on the Nestwell website before the Hollis date was removed?
Jonah replied with the wording he remembered, noting that Mallory had kept the screenshot.
Belinda responded several minutes later.
Thank you.
There was no apology attached.
For now, that made the message easier to trust.
By early evening, word had spread among Hollis employees that two more Nestwell sites were not accepting reservations despite being described as ready.
Rosa organized a call with workers at the second site.
She did not ask Jonah to participate.
He respected that.
Belinda arrived at the house after dark to collect clothing.
She moved carefully through the bedroom, placing folded shirts into a suitcase.
Jonah stood in the hallway.
“Do you want me somewhere else?” he asked.
“No.”
They were silent for a while.
Then Belinda said, “I called Dorian’s executive assistant and asked for the acceptance records.”
“What did she say?”
“She told me the records were being consolidated.”
“Did she give you copies?”
“No.”
Belinda zipped the suitcase.
“I signed some progress summaries last month, but I wasn’t at the sites.”
“Did they say you were?”
“The headings said regional completion review.”
“Is that the same as an inspection?”
“I believed it meant the teams had finished their work.”
Jonah nodded.
“You should tell your attorney exactly that.”
“I did.”
She picked up the suitcase, then put it down again.
“You know what scares me most?”
He waited.
“That I don’t know whether I missed something because I trusted Dorian or because I wanted to believe him.”
Jonah looked at the floor.
“Those can both be true.”
Belinda flinched but did not argue.
She carried the suitcase to the door herself.
