A long pause.
“I’d like to apologize for the things I said over the years. To you. And to Sophie.”
Another pause.
“I didn’t know.”
That was the part I kept thinking about.
I did not know.
He meant it as an explanation.
Maybe even an excuse.
He had not known I owned a multimillion-dollar company, so somehow his treatment of me had made sense when he believed I was poor.
But that was exactly the problem.
My money did not make the old jokes wrong.
My ownership did not make Sophie freezing on his porch wrong.
They were already wrong.
All my money changed was whether Martin had to experience consequences from the person he had underestimated.
I never returned the call.
I did not block the new number either.
I simply left the voicemail where it was.
By June, seven months had passed since Christmas Eve.
Sophie finished her sophomore year with a 3.8 GPA.
She took a part-time job at a landscaping company.
Her choice.
When she told me, I offered to find her something easier.
She rolled her eyes.
“I don’t want easier.”
I laughed.
“Fair enough.”
We had dinner together twice a week.
Sometimes more.
We talked differently than we had when I was still performing a smaller version of myself to keep everybody comfortable.
Whitaker Home Solutions had the best first quarter in company history.
We had roughly $12 million in potential work in the pipeline.
James Okonquo earned a promotion.
He used part of his raise to take his family to Portugal.
The navy suit stayed in my closet except for board meetings and investor conversations.
Most days, I still wore work clothes.
A week ago, I drove the F-250 to meet the CEO of a commercial property management group about a potential seven-figure annual contract.
He was waiting in the parking lot when I climbed out.
His eyes moved to the truck.
For a moment I thought I knew exactly what was coming.
Then he nodded toward it.
“Good truck.”
“She runs.”
We shook hands.
We went inside.
We closed the deal.
I drove home with the windows down.
The mud flap is still missing on the passenger side.
I keep meaning to fix it.
Maybe I’ll leave it.
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