He passes the pen to Maceo.
Maceo signs as witness, checks the completed pages, and closes the folio.
“Cake?” Rosalie calls from the living room.
I reach for my cane. “Cake.”
Maceo carries the signed documents toward the office while Luther goes ahead of me into the living room. Samuel has covered the ottoman with a quilt, James has taped the security dragon to its side, and Rosalie is waiting beside the cake with her crown straightened.
Luca holds out his hand as I reach the doorway.
I take it and join them.
25
Luca
Blossom and I sit across from each other in the Ember House office with Josie’s access history spread between our laptops. The audit has taken days because neither of us is willing to settle for a list of files she opened. We trace every assigned intake she handled, every resident she contacted, and every piece of information Dorian supplied from outside our system.
Blossom runs her finger down the final column. “This includes every resident interview, follow-up appointment, and internal note connected to her credentials. The separate report shows what Dorian gave her without using Ember House at all.”
I compare the names on both lists. Some residents appear only once. Others appear across several weeks of intake notes and follow-up conversations. None of them should learn through a sanctuary-wide announcement that they might have been watched.
“We contact them privately,” I say. “One advocate for each resident, with the exact information connected to them. Nobody should have to wonder whether their name is buried somewhere in a general warning.”
Blossom adds the instruction to the disclosure plan before turning her laptop toward me. The final systems report confirms that the shared funding portal has been dismantled. Ember House and Keller Industries now have separate credentials, records, and access controls. An account created by one organization cannot cross into the other.
I leave one hand over my stomach while I read the confirmation. “The hiring process has to change, but Ember House cannot begin treating every new employee or resident as someone waiting to betray us.”
“Stronger checks do not have to make suspicion the first thing we offer people,” Blossom says as she closes the report. “We can verify references, limit access by position, and review permissions without turning every intake into an interrogation.”
“Then that’s the standard. We protect the records without making trust impossible.”
We carry the last board packet into the expanded wing, where the construction dust has been cleared from the floors and the new rooms stand open for residents to walk through. Grayson’s plans changed several times after the architects, staff, and residents tested the spaces, but the original intent remains visible in every part of the wing.
The doors close quietly instead of slamming. Each room has adjustable lighting rather than one fixed overhead setting, and the private rooms give residents space without cutting them off from the rest of the floor. The shared areas include chairs placed far enough apart that someone can sit near other people without being pulled into a conversation.
Maya stands near the lounge with a room key turning between her fingers. She chose the room overlooking the oak tree and has already asked whether she may move two of the chairs before bringing in her things.
“They’re your chairs,” I remind her as Blossom and I pass.
Maya glances through the open doorway toward the arrangement she has already begun planning. “I want one by the window.”
“Then put it there.”
She slips the key into her pocket and returns to the room with one of the staff members.
Philomena is farther down the hall, showing a new resident where the laundry supplies are kept. Her former placement site has been dismantled, and she no longer treats every arrival as someone coming to retrieve her. She has chosen to remain at Ember House and is helping someone else learn the building she now calls home.
Blossom notices where I am looking before she hands me the completed board packet. Grayson’s independent contract rests behind the final approval page. His work belongs directly to Ember House rather than passing through Keller Industries, preserving the separation we promised the residents.
The permanent funding documents follow it. A protected trust, multiple donor sources, and formal survivor representation will support the sanctuary without allowing one investor to purchase access or governance authority. Keller Industries remains separate from Ember House’s identity. Nicholas contributed to the structure without becoming its sole financial foundation.
Blossom’s survivor seat appears among the permanent board positions. She reads that section after I return the packet, then closes the folder against her chest.
“You are allowed to look pleased,” I tell her.
“I am pleased.” Her thumb presses once against the folder’s edge. “I also have three policies to revise before the first official meeting.”
