“Right. I see.”

Honestly, I so need the printed handout.

“So, is there any hope for Brent?” Luke says to Dad, as a waiter brings another round of drinks. “What’s your strategy?”

“At first I thought Corey might have mellowed with age.” Dad pulls a rueful face. “I was wrong about that. Now I’ve got a lawyer involved and we’re examining the case again. But it’s difficult without Brent himself. It was a long time ago….There are no records….I thought perhaps Rebecca could help—” He breaks off and sighs. “But I don’t know if we’ll get anywhere.”

“And what’s Tarkie doing?”

Poor Suze has been waiting all this time to ask. She’s sitting on the edge of her seat, her hands squishing together. “Is he OK? Only, I haven’t heard from him for…a while.”

“Suze, my dear!” Dad quickly turns to her. “Don’t worry. Tarquin is just preoccupied. He’s gone off to Las Vegas to find out more about Corey. Without giving away the connection to me, you see. He’s a very resourceful man, your husband.”

The crease in Suze’s brow doesn’t lessen.

“Right,” she says, her voice trembling. “OK. Um, Graham, has he mentioned any…trees at all?”

“Trees?” Dad sounds surprised.

“Never mind.” Suze looks a bit desperate. “It doesn’t matter.” She picks up a piece of bread and starts ripping it to bits without eating it.

“I just hope this Brent appreciates what you’re doing!” says Mum, her face a bit pink. “After all we’ve been through.”

“Oh, he probably won’t,” says Dad, with an easy laugh. “I’d like you to meet him, though. He’s a pigheaded old soul, and he can be his own worst enemy, but he’s wise. ‘You can C.B. or you can M.M.M.,’ he used to say. I’ve always remembered that.” Dad sees Janice’s confused look. “Cut Back or Make More Money,” he explains.

“That’s very good!” says Janice in delight. “C.B. or M.M.M. Oh, I like that. I’m going to write it down.”

I’m staring at Dad in stupefaction. C.B. or M.M.M.? That came from Brent?

“But that’s Becky’s motto!” says Suze, in equal disbelief. “That’s, like, her Bible.”

“I thought that was your saying!” I say almost accusingly to Dad. “That’s what I always tell people. ‘My dad says you have to C.B. or M.M.M.’ ”

“Well, I do say that.” He smiles. “But I learned it first from Brent. I learned a lot from him, in fact.”

“Like what?”

“Oh, I don’t know.” Dad leans back in his chair, his glass in his hand, his eyes distant. “Brent was always philosophical. He was a listener. I was going through some anxieties about my career path at the time, and he’d put everything in perspective. His other saying was, ‘The other person always has a point.’ He’d bring that one out when Raymond and Corey were arguing, which they often did after a few beers.” Dad laughs at the recollection. “They’d be going at it, hammer and tongs, and Brent would be lying there, feet up on a rock, smoking, saying, ‘The other person always has a point. Listen to each other, and you’ll hear it.’ It drove the others mad.” He pauses, and I can tell he’s lost in his memories.