“She waited.”
“Then she called me.”
“What did you do?”
“I asked for invoices.”
“Dad.”
“I needed to know whether the numbers were real.”
“Of course you did.”
He ignored the tone.
“I called Richard.”
Camille stared.
“What did he say?”
“That a commercial project had delayed a distribution.”
“What does that mean?”
Marcus looked toward her.
“At first, I believed it meant temporary cash flow.”
“And then?”
“He asked for forty-eight hours.”
“I gave him forty-eight.”
“Nothing cleared.”
“So you paid.”
“Yes.”
“All of it?”
“Enough to keep the contracts.”
“How much were Richard and Victoria supposed to pay total?”
Marcus hesitated.
“About ninety-four thousand.”
Camille stared.
“What?”
“The full wedding is more.”
“I know what the full wedding costs.”
Her face reddened.
“You and Mom left me money for mine.”
Marcus’s wife, Camille’s mother Danielle Brooks, had died six years earlier after a long illness.
She had set aside money for both daughters’ future weddings because she knew she might not be there.
Camille had almost refused to use it.
Marcus convinced her Danielle would have been furious.
Marcus continued.
“You paid your share.”
“Andrew paid his.”
“Richard and Victoria offered to cover the hotel weekend and rehearsal.”
“You know this.”
Camille laughed bitterly.
“I knew what everybody said.”
“Apparently that isn't the same thing.”
Marcus nodded.
Fair.
“Did you loan him the money?”
“No.”
“What?”
“I paid the vendors directly.”
“As a gift to you.”
Camille stared.
“You gave me another sixty-eight thousand dollars without asking.”
“Yes.”
“Dad.”
“I could afford it.”
“That isn't the point.”
“I know.”
“No.”
She shook her head.
“You don't.”
Marcus looked hurt.
Camille continued.
“Ever since Mom died, whenever something might hurt me, you solve it before I know it exists.”
He opened his mouth.
She raised one hand.
“My apartment deposit.”
“Your roof was leaking.”
“My car.”
“Transmission failed.”
“The hospital bill.”
“You had surgery.”
“Dad.”
He stopped.
Camille wiped her face.
“You make good reasons sound like permission.”
Marcus looked down.
That sentence stayed with him.
She continued.
“If this wedding was going to fall apart because Andrew’s father couldn't keep his promise, I had the right to know.”
“Yes.”
“Not after.”
“Yes.”
“You keep saying yes.”
“Because you are right.”
She stared.
That irritated her more.
Marcus almost smiled.
Wrong time.
He stopped.
Camille leaned against the terrace railing.
“Why didn't you tell Andrew?”
“I believed Richard should.”
“Did you tell him that?”
“Yes.”
“When?”
“The day I paid.”
“What did he say?”
Marcus looked back through the glass doors.