Chapter 11
David’s father’s watch needed repair.
Years inside Margaret’s box had dried the leather.
David came with me to the jeweler we used privately.
He held it carefully.
“Grandpa?”
“Yes?”
“If I don’t want family work, are you disappointed?”
There it was.
Margaret’s voice surviving after Margaret left.
“No.”
He studied me.
“Really?”
“Yes.”
“What if I want college?”
“Go.”
“What if I become a teacher?”
I almost smiled.
“You’ll be poor.”
He laughed.
Then looked serious.
“What if Emma wants this someday?”
“Family work?”
“Yes.”
“She can ask.”
“Even adopted?”
I stared at him.
“You’re asking again.”
He looked embarrassed.
“I know the answer.”
“Then why?”
“Because Margaret made it sound impossible for so long.”
Fair.
I thought carefully.
“Emma being adopted does not give her automatic power.”
David nodded.
“Neither does being born Moretti.”
He looked at me.
That mattered more.
“Then how do you choose?”
“Character. Ability. Judgment. Desire.”
“Blood?”
“Information.”
He frowned.
“Not qualification?”
“No.”
That answer changed something in him.
Maybe pressure.
Maybe relief.
He turned the watch over.
“Dad never wanted family work.”
I knew that.
Michael managed hotels.
Stayed near the organization without joining command.
Margaret always considered that disappointing.
David continued.
“She said he wasted his marriage.”
My jaw tightened.
Of course she did.
“He did not.”
“I know.”
Then:
“He liked being Mom’s husband.”
I smiled.
Michael did.
Proudly.
No competition.
No insecurity.
“He told people she was scarier.”
“She was.”
David laughed.
The watch came back repaired that afternoon.
I gave it to him.
No ceremony.
No test.
He strapped it on.
Too big still.
He looked at me.
“Do I have to earn keeping it?”
My throat tightened.
“No.”
That was what he needed.
May you like
Not the watch.
The rule underneath it.
