of her family finances, and if she knew who her husband had been giving money to.
The server came over with water and to take drink orders. Beth ordered a cold brew coffee. Susan, despite the already warm day, ordered herbal tea.
Beth asked about Patty and Marcus. Susan asked about Dana.
Beth asked about the house and the rose garden that was always Susan’s special pride. Susan asked about work.
Beth couldn’t help noticing how good Susan was at small talk. Really, professional grade. She never let the silence stretch a second too long before she had another question ready. But then, this was exactly why Doug gravitated to this woman. Susan took “detail oriented” to new heights. For her, problem solving for anyone in her near orbit was a personal triumph, and she had always seemed to believe she could discover the exact combination of love, kindness, and competence that would get Doug to leave his personal Neverland and finally grow up.
Their drinks came, and while Beth shoveled sugar into her coffee, Susan dunked her mint tea bag into her cup exactly ten times, before pulling it out and settling it on the saucer. Then, she lifted the cup, wiped the bottom with her napkin, and set the saucer aside.
Beth decided to take that as her signal to get down to business.
“I’m sure you’re wondering why I called…”
“I actually expected to hear from you sooner.” Susan lifted her cup in both hands. “I imagine you have a great deal of gloating to do, and that sort of thing is always so much more satisfying in person.”
The cold declaration hit Beth with physical force. “What are you talking about?”
The corner of Susan’s mouth twitched. “Please. You’ve never been anything but jealous of me and my children.”
“Is that what Doug told you?” And you believed him?
“Of course he told me. That’s why you’ve always tried to shove your daughter into our family, so you could use her to spy on us. I love Doug,” Susan continued with surprising ferocity. “I have always, always tried to be what he needed. You can sneer all you want, but that’s the truth.”
It took all Beth’s years of personal discipline to keep from blurting out her response. She knew next to nothing about Doug’s wife. Since she and Dana moved to Chicago, Beth had met Susan only three or four times. They would make small talk about the kids and the city. Susan would talk fondly about Doug and all his problems and all her solutions. Somewhere during the conversation, Susan would explain how some failure of Doug to live up to some promise was actually her fault. And Beth had always been able to picture Doug standing behind her, smiling and relieved and oh so grateful.
Beth had seen it was a mask, but it was a very good one. Maybe she could have gotten under it, but that would have taken time and effort, and she hadn’t believed it would accomplish much of anything.
Except maybe get me ready for this. Beth took another swallow of coffee and pushed the cup aside. Whatever she said next, she would have to choose her words very, very carefully.
She met Susan’s proud, worried gaze. She’s scared of me.
“I have never once sneered at you, Susan,” she said. “As far as I’m concerned, you and your family are the one thing Doug actually has going for him. I called you because you need to know he’s gotten himself into some kind of pyramid scheme.”
Susan stared at her, plainly unable to believe what she was hearing, but Beth kept on going. “I’ve got people tracking it down. We should be able to identify the source before too long, but until then, you need to keep an eye on your money, just in case. None of this is Doug’s fault,” she added quickly. “These people are very smooth operators and—”
“These people! What people?” Susan demanded.
But Beth just said, “Susan, what’s happened?”
Susan turned her face away. She watched the traffic easing by in the street. Watched the people and the pigeons, watched everything except Beth while she brought herself back under control.
Oh, Susan, I’ve screwed up so badly. I should have gotten to know you. I should have taken the time. But she’d been so glad somebody else was managing Doug that she’d been more than willing to just leave Susan to it. She’d never thought about what kind of stories he might be spinning, or that it might ever matter.
After all, Doug was harmless.
I