Chapter 9 - AUSTIN’S FIRST BIRTHDAY
Austin turned one in October.
Lianna held the party in her mother’s backyard.
Cheap paper decorations.
Plastic tablecloths.
Too much food.
Corbin was invited.
He arrived with one gift.
After Malcolm threatened him.
“No trust funds.”
“I wasn’t going to.”
“You were.”
“I considered educational securities.”
“Corbin.”
So he bought a wooden train.
Normal.
Mostly.
It was handmade.
Malcolm refused to ask the price.
---
Austin spent more time playing with the wrapping paper.
Humbling.
Lianna laughed.
“Told you.”
Corbin sat on a folding chair beside Margaret, Lianna’s mother.
She looked at him.
“So you’re the millionaire.”
“Apparently.”
“You followed my daughter home.”
He almost choked.
“Yes.”
“Creepy.”
“Yes.”
“At least you know.”
He liked her immediately.
---
Later, Lianna showed him something.
A framed document inside her living room.
Nathaniel’s corrected employment record.
Exactly as predicted.
Prominently displayed.
Corbin smiled.
“Bathroom would have been funnier.”
Lianna stared.
“How did you know?”
“Nathaniel’s letter gave me an impression.”
She laughed.
Then pointed toward another frame.
Photograph of Nathaniel.
Hard hat.
Construction site.
The same image from the blue envelope.
Except cropped differently.
Corbin appeared at the edge.
Younger.
Oblivious.
Lianna asked:
“Do you want me to crop you out?”
“Probably.”
She smiled.
“I think Nathaniel would leave you.”
“Why?”
“To annoy you.”
May you like
“Then definitely leave it.”
---
