Part Eight:simo Closing the Door Myself
I lay awake most of that night, staring at the ceiling, turning it over and over.
And somewhere around three in the morning, the answer finally became obvious.
At breakfast, I put down my coffee and said it out loud.
“I’m closing the garage myself.”
Irvin looked up, startled. “Claire, that’s the exact thing we’ve been trying to avoid.”
“I know. And that’s why she has leverage over us.” I leaned forward. “She can only threaten us with something we’re still trying to hide. If there’s nothing left to hide, there’s nothing left to threaten.”
He looked at me for a long time. Then he nodded slowly.
So I did the painful thing first.
I called every single customer. I didn’t email. I called. I explained exactly what had happened, without excuses. I refunded every order I couldn’t fill and offered new dates for the ones I could. Some people were annoyed. A few were angry. But more than I expected thanked me for being honest.
