In my imagination I felt triumphant.
In reality I felt tired, and a little sad for the people we had been.
“Thank you,” I said.“I needed you to understand that.”
“I’d like to make things right.”
“Start with the children.
Be consistent.
Don’t promise them something you can’t deliver.
Everything else can be handled through lawyers.”
He looked disappointed that I wasn’t offering forgiveness as a shortcut to intimacy.
I let him sit with that feeling.Before he left, Nathaniel asked whether I had ever been afraid I would fail.
I laughed.
“Of course.
Every day in the beginning.”
“And you did it anyway.”
“Most people do,” I said.
“They just don’t usually have a family office available to announce what they’re worth.”
PART 12: A Meeting of Trustees
