“And you?”
Daniel considered the question.
“Different.”
Thomas nodded.
“The board wants to know if you’re returning full-time.”
“No.”
Thomas looked surprised.
“Not yet?”
“Not ever.”
Daniel walked toward the window.
“I’ll remain executive chairman. Patricia can become CEO.”
“Daniel, you built this company into—”
“My grandfather built it. My father expanded it. I expanded it again.”
He turned.
“It doesn’t need to consume another generation.”
Thomas studied him.
“You’re serious.”
“Yes.”
“What are you going to do?”
Daniel smiled.
“I have absolutely no idea.”
For the first time in his adult life, that uncertainty felt like freedom.
He sold the mansion eight months later.
Rebecca objected.
“That house has been in the family for thirty years.”
Daniel shrugged.
“It’s a house.”
“Dad loved it.”
“Dad loved us more.”
“What about the staircase?”
Daniel looked at her.
“What about it?”
Rebecca understood.
The property went on the market quietly.
A family from Nashville bought it.
Daniel never returned after the final inspection.
He did not want Emily to see it again unless she chose to someday.
Instead, he bought a house near a lake outside the city.
It was large enough to be comfortable but not enormous.
The staircase was wooden.
Carpeted.
Ordinary.
Emily chose her bedroom.
Yellow walls.
Window overlooking the water.
Daniel let her choose almost everything.
Including a bright purple reading chair that matched absolutely nothing.
“It’s ugly,” Rebecca said.
Emily gasped.
“It is beautiful.”
Daniel pointed toward his sister.
“Respect the chair.”
Rebecca surrendered.
The purple chair stayed.
On the first anniversary of the fall, Emily’s therapist asked Daniel whether he planned to acknowledge the date.
“I don’t know.”
“Follow her lead.”
Daniel did.
Emily never mentioned it.
Instead, she asked whether they could bake cookies.
They baked cookies.
Most burned.
Some survived.
At sunset, Emily carried a plate onto the back porch.
She sat beside Daniel.
“Daddy?”
“Yes?”
“Do you remember the old staircase?”
Daniel’s chest tightened.
“Yes.”
“I don’t dream about it anymore.”
He looked at her.
“That’s good.”
“I used to.”
“I know.”
“In the dream, I kept falling.”
Daniel said nothing.
“But now I have a different one.”
“What happens?”
“You come through the door.”
Daniel looked out at the lake because his eyes suddenly burned.
Emily ate another cookie.
“You always catch me before I hit the floor.”
Daniel swallowed.
“Dream me has pretty good timing.”
Emily smiled.
“Real you too.”
He wished that were true.
He had arrived after she fell.