Brenda stacked the court records and tapped their edges against the table to straighten them.

“Do you want me to brief Brandon on these public filings?” she asked.

“My son works as a corporate loan officer,” I said.

“If he had run a basic background check on his future father-in-law, he would already know.”

Brenda clipped a heavy metal ring through the corner of the pages.

“Brandon only sees the social standing he wants to reach,” Brenda said.

I set the folded summary sheet down next to my coffee cup.