My phone vibrated.
Seventeen missed calls from Canada.
An email sat beneath them.
I opened it.
Then I looked at my mother and brother.
“You’re right.”
Godfrey frowned.
“What?”
“Coming in here yelling isn’t going to solve anything.”
Selina’s shoulders relaxed almost immediately.
“We can talk, Damian. We’re family.”
“Yes. We are.”
I put my arm around Phedra.
“Actually, I have some good news.”
Godfrey glanced at Selina.
“What news?”
“The case with my employer settled.”
Neither spoke.
“I was injured two years ago after a safety system failed. The lawyers have been negotiating ever since.”
“How much?” Godfrey asked.
I let several seconds pass.
“One million dollars.”
Everything changed.
Not dramatically.
That was what made it so ugly.
Godfrey’s posture softened. Selina’s expression became concerned and maternal. She looked at Phedra for perhaps the first time that afternoon as though she were a sick human being rather than an inconvenience.
