Chapter 17 - Five Years Later
Five years changed Emily.
She was thirteen now.
Taller.
More sarcastic.
Still incapable of keeping her room clean.
Arthur adored her.
She called him Arthur most of the time.
Occasionally Dad slipped out.
Neither mentioned it when it happened.
Rachel's career continued to rise.
She eventually launched her own facilities consulting company specializing in ethical contracting and worker protection.
Arthur invested nothing.
Rachel insisted.
He celebrated when she secured her first major contract.
Julia married a public-interest attorney named Ben.
Arthur liked him after an unnecessarily long evaluation period.
Julia accused him of conducting due diligence.
Arthur denied it.
Everyone knew he was lying.
Seventeen Commons expanded.
A second cooperative opened.
Then a third.
The model became profitable enough that investors began copying it.
Arthur found that amusing.
Apparently morality became fashionable once someone demonstrated it could survive a spreadsheet.
One winter afternoon, Emily came home upset.
She had found a phone at school.
She returned it.
The owner accused her of looking through it.
Arthur listened.
“I did the right thing,” Emily said. “And she still treated me like I stole it.”
“Yes.”
“That's not fair.”
“No.”
“Then what's the point?”
Arthur recognized the question.
He sat beside her.
“Do you remember returning my wallet?”
“Obviously.”
“What if I'd accused you of stealing the cash?”
“I would've hated you.”
“Would returning it have become wrong?”
Emily frowned.
“No.”
“Doing the right thing doesn't purchase a good outcome.”
She looked at him.
“Then why do it?”
“Because otherwise your character belongs to whoever treats you badly.”
Emily became quiet.
Arthur wondered when he had become capable of giving advice that was not about winning.
Rachel entered.
“What happened?”
Emily explained.
Rachel listened.
Then said:
“Arthur's right.”
Arthur looked delighted.
Rachel pointed.
“Don't make it weird.”
Emily laughed.
That night Arthur opened his old wallet.
The leather was worn again.
Inside were the photographs.
Julia.
The diner.
Emily.
And one more.
His wedding day.
Arthur was seventy now.
His hands showed it.
He had less energy.
He sometimes forgot names.
He no longer feared aging the way he once had.
There were things wealth could delay.
Nothing could negotiate with time.
He closed the wallet.
Rachel sat beside him.
“What are you thinking?”
“That I wasted a lot of years.”
She rested her head on his shoulder.
“You also changed a lot of years.”
Arthur smiled.
“That's annoyingly wise.”
“I learned from Emily.”
“So did I.”
Outside, snow began falling.
Rachel looked toward the window.
“Snow in Austin again.”
Arthur smiled.
“Must be important.”
May you like
He did not yet know how right he was.
The next morning, Emily found another wallet.
