Gideon Signed The Settlement Without Setting A Single New Price

The investigator met us at Elin's office. He asked me to identify the insurance form and the two disputed agreements once more.

"Did you authorize either use of your signature?"

"No."

"Did you tell either person they could sign your name to those terms?"

"No."

I had spent years learning which answers Gideon wanted. Giving these answers took less time.

Charges followed. Gideon and Mara each hired separate criminal counsel. Their lawyers argued about knowledge, intent, and who had prepared which file. I learned about hearing dates through the victim services office. I did not attend every one.

There were other things I needed to do.

The civil judgment made a settlement of the business and divorce possible, but it did not write one for us. Tessa prepared a final accounting. A neutral appraiser valued the equipment and current business without pretending the lost sale still existed.

The house sold. After the mortgage and closing costs, the net proceeds were $214,000, close to the figure Gideon had first put on his list.

Dry Creek's preserved $62,000 went toward the judgment. Another $94,000 came from Gideon's share of the house proceeds. He paid the remaining $30,400 after selling his truck and liquidating an investment account.

Together, those payments restored the missing $186,400 to Porchlight.

"Now we follow the money out properly," Tessa said.

The company paid me $42,880 in overdue royalties under the existing agreements. It paid its overdue bills and kept a reserve for payroll and stock. Tessa's closing schedule showed every dollar, with no second recovery hidden in the columns.

Gideon also agreed to reimburse $27,800 of my legal and accounting costs from his remaining assets. It did not cover every dollar I had spent. It covered enough that the ruling would not leave me without a kitchen table or a future.

We divided our other property under the divorce settlement. My share included the remaining house proceeds due to me. His smaller balance reflected the money he owed, rather than a number he had invented to make me leave.

I bought his interest in Porchlight at the neutral value, using part of my property settlement. Elin walked me through the closing papers line by line.

"You don't have to run this business," she said.

"I know."

"You can sell the equipment and license your strains elsewhere."

I thought about the benches. Ben's careful labels. Dana's work keeping the clean stock alive. The growers who had sent their bank receipts without asking whose side they should take.

"I want to run it," I said. "With someone else handling the sales calls."

Ben stayed as lead assistant. Dana agreed to provide monthly quality checks for the first year. I hired a part-time sales manager, a woman who asked about batch limits before she asked about commission.

Tessa took a small monthly contract to review licenses and reconcile payments.

"You could hire someone cheaper," she told me.

"Probably."

She looked up from her calculator.

"That wasn't a negotiation," I said.

For the first time, she laughed loudly enough to startle us both.

Gideon signed the final business transfer at Elin's office. He brought a pen in a hard case. He set it down, read the totals, and asked if we could lower the cost reimbursement by $5,000.

"No," I said.

He looked at Neal. Neal looked at the clock.

Gideon signed.

His lab keys came across the table in a little envelope. I did not test them. That afternoon, I paid a locksmith $248 to fit new locks and issue numbered keys to the staff. Ben signed for his. I signed for mine. The spare went into a sealed envelope with our emergency access instructions.

The divorce decree followed. There was no speech about closure. A clerk filed the papers, and our marriage ended in a stamped date.

Months later, both criminal cases ended in guilty pleas to forgery-related charges. I attended sentencing with Ruth.

Each received probation with financial reporting requirements and community service. Gideon also received a short county jail term. The court credited the funds already returned against restitution, so the same loss was not collected twice.

They had no role left in my company. Dry Creek ceased doing business. Whatever happened between them after that no longer reached my kitchen.

I had asked to speak at sentencing. I used one sheet of paper.

"He knew what my work was," I said. "He sold its value to other people while telling me it had none. I wanted my name to mean only what I had agreed to."

On my way home, Owen called.

Juniper Kettle still needed Pine Shade Six. They wanted a direct license from me, with a purchase order attached.