Mixed with loan notices, she found receipts of payments — a few months’ gap here and there where he’d made extra ones. It was as if Daniel had been catching up, paying down creditors when possible. The picture was messy: debt existed, but so did planning. Why not tell her? Why the secrecy?
At the funeral, acquaintances murmured theories as they folded napkins. “Maybe he was ashamed he’d fallen into debt,” whispered a friend. Another suggested a secret lover. Maggie nodded at their condolences. She let the words behind her back wash over her like static.