“What?”
“It was an associate in his law firm. He’d been seeing her before he met me and said it had been difficult to break off because he didn’t want to hurt her. I’m an idiot, right?”
In hindsight, I knew I had ignored all the signs—the late nights, Graham coming home smelling of alcohol, the lack of interest in me except when it suited him. I had been an idiot, but I was no longer going to be an idiot. I had to have a different plan now, and telling Brenda was part of it.
“No,” she said, looking at me as if I were a broken little bird. “Don’t blame yourself for this. Have you confronted him about it?”
I shook my head. “He’ll deny it and turn it around, say I don’t trust him.”
“How did you find out?”
“I wasn’t snooping,” I said. “I wouldn’t do that.”
“Of course not.”
I sat back from the table. “It’s just that, the business was doing so poorly and Graham handled all the business financials. I decided to pay closer attention to the credit card statements. I didn’t know where the money was going, or how we were going to pay our bills each month. The expenses were way beyond what the business was generating.”
“Did you find something on the credit card statements?”
I nodded and took a sip of beer. “Graham was making trips to Seattle, and to Vancouver and Victoria, and charging the hotel rooms to the company credit cards. There were also restaurant charges, and a few bars.”
“Could they have been business trips?” Brenda said, though not with any real conviction.
“That’s what Graham said.”
“So you did confront him.”
“No, that’s what he told me when he said he had to leave town for a few days—that they were business trips.”
“But they weren’t?”
“I called the distributors and dispensaries in Seattle he said he was meeting. They’d never met Graham in person. They had no idea what I was talking about, and pot hadn’t been legalized in Canada when he made those trips.”
Brenda sighed. “Do you know who it is?”
“No,” I said, taking another sip. “And then there’s the stress that Graham could be going to jail.”
Brenda set down her glass. “What?”
“Graham lied on the loan application to the bank. He said he was being made a partner at a higher salary. They asked for a letter to confirm it and he typed it up on the firm letterhead and forged one of the partners’ names.”
“And the bank found out?”
I nodded.
They were never going to make Graham a partner. In fact, they’d given him sixty days to find another job. I saw the severance letter. It was right around the time he came home all excited about opening Genesis. He said he wanted to leave the firm because it was stifling his creativity and he needed to be in business for himself. More bullshit.
“He said they offered him a partnership, but he was tired of working for someone else and wanted to work for himself. None of it was true.”
“I’m so sorry for you, Andrea.” Brenda sat back and gave me that look of pity I saw for so many years when my aunt would tell others that my parents were dead. “I know it’s early, but do you know what you’re going to do?”
“No,” I said.
“Would you like to talk to an attorney?”
I’d thought that through on my own. “I can’t afford a divorce,” I said.
Brenda’s brow furrowed. “What do you mean? It should be straightforward. You don’t have kids or own a home, and you won’t have any significant assets.”
“Graham signed my name to personal guarantees on the lease of the building and the bank loan.”
“Why would he do that?”
“Because he was mad that I wouldn’t let him use my parents’ trust. We’re filing for bankruptcy. I’m really worried I’ll lose it and have nothing.”
“How much is it?”
“The principal is half a million dollars,” I said.
Brenda’s eyes widened. “And Graham can’t touch it?”
“Not while I’m still alive,” I said and laughed lightly. “And that just makes him angry. What I’m concerned about are the creditors coming after it, saying I signed the guarantees.”
“Did you have an attorney look at the bank papers?”
“No. Graham handled it. He said there was no need to pay a lawyer since he was one. I don’t know how I would support myself.”
She waved it off. “Don’t worry about that, you can always work for me.”
“Thanks, Brenda. I hate to bother you with all this.”
She reached across the table and again took my hand. “It’s going to be okay,” she said. “I’m going to find you an attorney.”
CHAPTER 17