“Calder Cycle.”
Her face changed.
It was subtle.
But Noah saw.
“You know it.”
Dana pulled out a chair.
“Sit.”
He sat.
She did not.
“Why were you there?”
Noah told her.
Not all at once.
The bike.
Fifteen mechanics.
Five thousand dollars.
Five minutes.
The wire.
The notebook.
Ray recognizing Walt’s name.
By the time he finished, Dana had sat down too.
Her hands rested flat on the table.
“You showed him Dad’s notebook?”
“One page.”
“Noah.”
“I didn’t give it to him.”
“That isn’t the point.”
“What is?”
“That notebook is private.”
“I know.”
“He recognized the bike.”
Dana looked away.
Noah waited.
“You knew Grandpa built it.”
She nodded.
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Because it didn’t matter.”
“It matters now.”
Dana’s jaw tightened.
“No.”
“It matters because Ray Calder decided to make it matter again.”
Noah studied her.
“Grandpa hated him?”
Dana was silent for a long time.
Then:
“No.”
“That would have been easier.”
“What happened?”
“You heard Ray’s version?”
“No.”
“He said he was an idiot.”
Dana almost smiled despite herself.
“That part is accurate.”
“Mom.”
She leaned back.
“When I was fifteen, Grandpa worked at that shop from before sunrise until dinner.”
“Sometimes later.”
“I did homework in the office.”
“Ray bought me vending-machine dinners more times than either of them would admit.”
“He taught me to ride in the parking lot.”
Noah blinked.
“You rode?”
“Motorcycles?”
“Yes.”
She laughed softly.
“Once.”
“Your grandfather almost killed Ray.”
“What happened?”
“I dropped it.”
Noah smiled.
Dana did too.
Then memory hardened again.
“They were family for a while.”
“Not blood.”
“Closer.”
“Then they built that business.”
“Ray kept saying Grandpa would become partner.”
“Nothing was written.”
“Grandpa believed him anyway.”
Noah looked down.
Dana continued.
“When shop started doing well, Ray changed.”
“Not evil.”
“Busy.”
“Scared.”
“People can become selfish when scared.”
“He started caring about deadlines more than how work got done.”
“Grandpa couldn’t stand it.”
“They fought.”
“The last fight was ugly.”
“I was there.”
Noah looked up.
Dana’s eyes had gone distant.
“Ray told him if he didn’t like it, walk.”
“So he did.”
“Why move away?”
Dana’s voice became quieter.
“Because my mother had died two years earlier.”
“Grandpa had stayed in Redding partly for that shop.”
“After the fight, there wasn’t much left.”
“I wanted out too.”
“We moved to Bend.”