Marcus’s employee, Eli, had locked the shop office and called him from inside.

“The man said he was from the bank,” Marcus told us. “But Eli asked for his name, and he wouldn’t give it.”

Ruth set down the plate she was carrying.

“What bank?”

“He didn’t say.”

I watched Marcus pick up his keys.

“I’m coming with you,” I said.

“You don’t have to.”

“I know.”

Tessa stood too. “I’ll drive.”

Marcus looked surprised, but he didn’t argue.

The shop was fifteen minutes away. By the time we arrived, the man had gone. Eli met us at the side door. He was nineteen, with oil on his sleeves and fear in his eyes.

“I didn’t let him in,” he said.

“You did the right thing,” Marcus told him.

Eli showed us the note the stranger had pushed through the mail slot. It named a debt owed by Marcus’s father to a parts supplier called Halden Motors. The amount was more than the price of the Mercedes.

“Dad’s been gone three years,” Marcus said. “The business was settled.”

Ruth read the note. Her mouth tightened.

“I’ve never heard of Halden Motors.”

Marcus called the number at the bottom. It went straight to voicemail. He didn’t leave a message.

Then he called his accountant, who promised to look at the shop records on Monday.

I could see Marcus trying to stay calm for Eli’s sake. I also saw the way he folded the note and put it in his pocket.

Back at Ruth’s house, Tessa asked to speak with me alone.

We went onto the porch while Marcus and Ruth talked in the kitchen.

“I didn’t know about the gray car,” she said.

“Neither did I.”

“I thought he was trying to make some point about money.”

“He was trying to surprise me.”

“I know that now.”

I leaned against the porch rail. “Why did you come here?”

She looked down at her shoes.

“Mom asked me to check on you.”

I stared at her. “Mom knew I was meeting Marcus?”

“I mentioned it last night.”

“And she sent you?”

“She’s been worried about your car. And about the two of you.”

“Did she ask you to insult him?”

“No. That was my own mistake.”

I believed her. It didn’t make me feel better about Mom sending someone to watch us.

Our mother had never hidden her doubts about Marcus. She liked his manners. She praised the way he helped Ruth. But when he left the room, she asked me if his shop made enough money and whether I planned to keep teaching if we got married.

I had told her we weren’t planning a wedding.

She had sighed as if I were avoiding the question.

“I’m going to call her,” I said.

Tessa stopped me. “Let me explain first.”

“You can tell her what happened. I’ll speak to her myself.”

My phone rang before I could reach for it.

Mom.

I answered. “Hi.”

“Tessa called me. She said there was some sort of scene.”

“There was. She insulted Marcus.”

“I heard she apologized.”

“She did.”

Mom hesitated. “I was trying to make sure you were all right.”

“I’m all right. I wish you’d asked me.”

“I did ask about him last night.”

“You asked what he earns.”

“That’s part of looking after you.”

“It feels like you’ve decided what he’s worth.”

Silence stretched between us.

“I haven’t decided anything,” she said.

“Then come to dinner next week and get to know him.”

“We’ve met.”

“You’ve asked him about the shop. You’ve never asked him why he started it.”

Mom said she would think about dinner. I ended the call before we could circle back to the price of the car.

When I went inside, Marcus was alone at the kitchen table.

Ruth had gone to find the records from his father’s estate. Marcus looked up as I sat beside him.

“Your sister left?”

“She wanted to give us time.”

He nodded.

I told him about Mom’s call. He listened without interrupting.

“I know she worries,” he said.

“She should speak to us with respect.”

“I’d like that.”

Ruth returned carrying a file box. The three of us went through statements and letters until early evening. There was nothing from Halden Motors.

Marcus found a final notice from another supplier, marked paid in full. He laid it beside the stranger’s note.

“The dates overlap,” he said.

“We’ll ask the accountant,” Ruth replied.

I picked up the note. The paper was clean and new. It made no sense that a debt from years ago would appear the day Marcus brought a costly car home.

“Does anyone at the shop know about the Mercedes?” I asked.

“Eli and my accountant. I told a customer I might buy it.”

“Which customer?”

Marcus thought for a moment. “A man named Victor Halden.”

Ruth looked up sharply.

Marcus saw her face.

“Mom?”

She held the edge of the table.

“Your father worked with a Victor Halden years ago,” she said. “They stopped speaking before you opened the shop.”

“Why?”

“I don’t know the whole story.” She looked from Marcus to me. “But I know your father was afraid Victor would come after something he had built.”