Her eyes were red around the rims, but she held her head high and touched her pearl necklace with two fingers as she sat down across from me.

“Richard is in his study making calls,” Margaret said, opening the checkbook on the table.

“I’m writing this from my personal foundation account.”

She uncapped a gold pen and signed the bottom right corner of a blue check.

“This will cover eight years of back support, private schooling in Colorado Springs, and full medical coverage,” Margaret said.

She slid the check across the polished mahogany until it rested against the corner of my briefcase.

I looked down at the blue slip.