I found parking easily enough on the street. Thursday nights could get busy but it was early yet.

The noise in the bar and grill was a low thrum as we were led to a table in the corner. I skipped the beer and ordered a burger and water. Kendall did the same.

“How did you know when I’d be done with work?” I asked when the server left.

Kendall flashed a small smile. “Aiden.”

I bit the inside of my lip to keep from asking how he was doing. He’d asked for time. I hadn’t bothered him. I dreaded hearing that after another week to think he was ready to sign the papers. I dreaded it as much as I anticipated his name flashing on my screen.

“He’s eased back into work after that first week,” she said.

“What do you mean?”

Her brows lifted. “He took a week off. Just walked out after…” She pursed her lips. “Walked out isn’t accurate. Gentry ‘suggested’ he go home after he threw his computer screen across the office. Didn’t you know about that?”

Why would I? “I haven’t really talked to him in the last couple of weeks.”

Sympathy filled her gaze. “I can’t imagine how you must feel.” She flattened her hands on the table. “We all feel terrible. I don’t know if it’ll help you to know that it wasn’t like a big conspiracy to keep you in the dark. It was just…as individual couples, we all suspected that you didn’t know since you never mentioned it. None of us wanted to be the one to spill the beans.”

“I know it wasn’t, ultimately. Aiden should’ve told me.” I lifted a shoulder. “You’re right. It felt like a conspiracy.”

“I don’t know what happened when Aiden learned about the trust. I know that he met you after, and I don’t know what he was like before then, but he doesn’t seem like the type to use people.”

“He fosters relationships that might be good for business later.” Always an agenda. Just like Dad. No, that wasn’t fair. If Aiden hadn’t cheated, then no, it wasn’t like my dad. But I’d kept Dad in my life even after I had heard all the stories about him. He was my father. I didn’t want another man who talked to me when it was convenient for him and didn’t think about me otherwise.

Kendall leaned forward, her gaze earnest. “But the money, Kate. You and I didn’t grow up like them. We know the struggle of a family that needs to support a lot of kids. Money doesn’t affect them like it does us. It was the fact that the Cartwrights would get it when Danny was alive.”