Page 14 of Faultlines

Lucy moves around the table, topping off wine glasses while Sloane steals bites from anyone foolish enough to leave their plate unattended. For a few precious hours, everyone is enjoying being together.

Then Uncle Jeremy points his wine glass toward Lucy. “So,” he says with a mischievous grin. “When do we get the full report on The Fertility Jedi?”

“I’m sorry,” my dad says, frowning. “Who?”

Lucy makes wild gestures at Sloane. “This is her fault.”

“Most things are,” Sloane singsong.

“True,” Aunt Sarah replies with a smiles.

CHAPTER FIVE

FAULT CREEP

Ethan

Monday mornings at Bennett & Cross Architecture are usually my favorite. The office is peaceful, the coffee is fresh. The week still feels manageable—at least for the first twenty minutes.

Instead of reviewing project schedules, I’m thinking about the weekend. Lucy and Sloane arrived at our house the way a demolition crew arrives on a job site—loud, purposeful, and leaving no surface undisturbed—fueled by caffeine and pastries.

Then Sunday happened.

Sunday started with the shriek of Claire’s work phone at 10:12 a.m. By 10:20, she was a blur of motion, disappearing out the door for some ‘emergency.’ I’ve stopped asking for details. All I know is she stumbled back in after eight, and sat down without saying a word. She passed out on the couch before the movie we started concluded.

A knock sounds at my door. “Come in.”

Reid strolls in, carrying a designer coffee. I don’t know what he has against the office coffee pot. He drops into the chair across from my desk. “You look thoughtful.”

“You look unemployed,” I say. Reid Cross is one of the most brilliant minds I’ve ever met—the architect who can visualize a skyscraper from a napkin sketch, who notices when a beam is off by half an inch from across a construction site. Yet he dresses like he’s still pulling all-nighters in a college dorm. His precision stops at his wardrobe.

He takes a sip of his coffee. “Family time at the ranch looked fun.”

“Are you stalking social media again?”

“I gather information.”

“You’re forty-seven. A bit old for that, don’t you think?”

“I’m a modern business executive. I have to keep up with the youth,” he says with a laugh.

A few minutes later, the office phone rings, and I notice it’s Ellie’s school. “This is Ethan Bennett.”

“Mr. Bennett, this is Karen from Juniper Ridge Middle School.”

“Hi, Karen.”

“We weren’t able to reach your wife.”

Of course, they can’t reach Claire. She’s three meetings and two crises deep into her morning. I should have them update Ellie’s primary contact to me and save everyone the trouble.

“What’s going on?”

Karen pauses. “We need you or Mrs. Bennett present to discuss an incident involving Ellie.”

“What kind of incident?”

“There was an altercation with another student.”