Chapter 9 - FORTY-SEVEN PAYCHECKS
By Monday, the conflict was no longer private.
Whitmore’s controller submitted corrected receivables information to North River.
The borrowing base dropped by nearly $300,000.
The company was technically overdrawn.
Rebecca recommended a controlled freeze rather than immediate acceleration.
That mattered to me.
I wanted accountability.
I did not want forty-seven machinists, installers, estimators and office employees missing paychecks because my marriage was collapsing.
North River allowed Whitmore to use incoming customer payments for payroll and essential operating expenses while the review continued.
Owner distributions stopped.
Charles hated that more than anything.
He called me Monday afternoon.
“North River is refusing to release funds.”
“I know.”
“Andrew says you know someone there.”
“I do.”
“Then make a call.”
I nearly told him.
Not yet.
“I think Andrew should explain the facility to you.”
“He already has.”
“I don’t think he has.”
Charles went quiet.
That same day Nina’s teacher called.
Nina had refused to change into a school spirit shirt because another child joked about her clothes.
The teacher wasn’t alarmed, but I was.
Humiliation had followed her out of Sylvia’s dining room.
That evening Nina sat at the kitchen counter repairing one of the patches on her jeans.
“Can I still wear these?”
I put the needle down.
“You can wear anything that makes you feel like yourself.”
“Grandma Sylvia hates them.”
“That’s Grandma Sylvia’s problem.”
Nina considered that.
“Is Andrew coming home?”
I couldn’t lie to her.
“I don’t know.”
She nodded.
Then she said quietly, “He heard Grandma talk about my clothes before.”
I looked at her.
“When?”
“At Easter.”
“What did he do?”
“He told me not to make her mad.”
There it was again.
Another moment when he had protected the comfortable adult instead of the child.
Later that night Rebecca called.
“We received copies of the prior renewal package from Whitmore’s controller.”
“And?”
“There are two versions of the same document.”
I sat down.
“What do you mean?”
“One version was sent to North River.”
“And the other?”
“The one Andrew gave Charles.”
My throat tightened.
“Are they different?”
“Yes.”
“How different?”
May you like
Rebecca paused.
“Different enough that I think your husband has been lying to both sides since the day this loan was created.”
