Page 2 of Footprints in the Sand
Eva found Finn in the office where he worked from home, punching the wall. From the doorway, she watched him in horror, unable to comprehend what she was witnessing. For the past eight years, she’d known Finn to be the kindest and most generous and softest man, and it was bizarre to see himso violent. Tears sprang to her eyes. She didn’t know how to interrupt him.
Finally, she burst out, “Finn!”
Finn froze and turned slowly around to look at her, his fist still raised. His eyes were blotchy, and his face was as pale as snow.
For a moment, Eva wondered if he was going to attack her instead.
But Finn fell into the office chair and put his head in his hands. There was a single sob, and then he was quiet. Eva knew something bad had happened, but her first instinct was that maybe someone in his family had died or had been in an accident. She hurried over to Finn and touched his shoulder and whispered, “Baby, what is it? Are you all right?”
Finn shook his head like a child. “I messed up. Babe, I messed up.”
Eva flared her nostrils. Her next thought was that Finn had cheated on her, and she felt a stab of horror and the crush of shame. People never believed they’d get cheated on.
Was it something she wanted to work through?
But before she could ask him who he’d cheated on her with (maybe that younger woman from work? Bailey?), Finn burst into an explanation. “I really thought it was for the best,” he began. “Mike from work was saying that he made over three hundred grand in the first year, and I thought—heck—maybe after a few years, we could maybe finally buy a house, and we could set aside a nest egg for our baby, and, you know, we could really set ourselves up.”
Eva couldn’t fully fathom what he meant. “Finn, slow down,” she begged. “What did Mike from work do? Three hundred grand?” It was a lot of money for people like Eva and Finn, at the very beginning of their adult lives together.
“And maybe we wouldn’t have to work so hard to do it!” Finn spoke so quickly that he began to stutter. “Maybe we could have a nice life without all the mess of other people’s stress? You know? That’s what I was thinking. I really was thinking that.”
Eva was stumped and fearful. She crossed and uncrossed her arms and took a step away from him. She knew this had the potential to be bad, really bad. Was it better to stare the truth in the face? Or was it better to run out and get in her car and proceed with the rest of the family barbecue without thinking about whatever this was?
Theo and her mother would be able to see she was upset, though. They would pester her till she admitted it.
“You’re not making sense,” she said to Finn.
Finn spread both of his hands across his thighs and stared out the window. Eva realized he smelled a little bit like he’d gotten sick in the bathroom.
“Have you been drinking?” She furrowed her brow.
“No,” he said. “I threw up when I found out.”
It was then Finn took a deep breath and admitted the truth. Eight months ago, he’d put more than 60 percent of their joint savings into a few key investments that had very spontaneously shown themselves to be corrupt that morning.
“Corrupt?” Eva asked, not computing.
“We lost all of it,” Finn explained. He looked like he was going to throw up again.
Eva fell to the floor. “Sixty percent of our savings?”
Finn nodded. Eva did a quick calculation and realized it was more than a hundred thousand dollars of money they’d saved over the years. It was so much.
It was money meant for their wedding, for their vacations, for their future house. It was money she’d ached for, money she’d put so much time into. It was their money.
It felt like there was a hole in her stomach.
The next question came out of her without a second thought. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
Finn hid his eyes with his hands and sighed.
She pushed it. “Why didn’t you tell me you wanted to use our money? It was my money too. It wasn’t your decision alone.”
She was suddenly the angriest she’d ever felt. It was startling to feel this way, like she’d turned the knob of her emotions all the way up. Finn had both of his hands out in front of him.
He said, “I know what it looks like. But I’m going to get it back. I’m going to try to get all of it back.”
“How? With another stupid investment?” she demanded. “Are you going to ask what Mike from work thinks? Because it sounds like he has all the answers.”
