Richard rebuilt Mercer & Field.
He renamed it Field & Company.
Nina became chief operating officer.
Three former interns became directors.
Gavin never returned.
Claire divorced Marcus.
She spent nearly a year avoiding the business world entirely before eventually joining a nonprofit focused on financial-literacy programs for young adults.
She and I became something neither of us expected.
Family.
Not close immediately.
That took time.
But real.
One Thanksgiving, she sat beside Sophie and helped her apply to colleges while Lucy burned dinner rolls in my kitchen.
Eleanor watched everything from the table.
She leaned toward me.
“You realize your father would love this.”
“I hope so.”
“He would.”
“You can’t know that.”
She smiled.
“I knew him.”
Years later, Eleanor finally retired for real.
At her retirement dinner, hundreds of employees gathered in a hotel ballroom.
There were speeches.
Videos.
Stories.
Awards.
Eleanor hated almost all of it.
Near the end, she walked onstage and ignored the prepared remarks.
