"James got the votes," Catherine said.
Daniel straightened. "All of them?"
"Six. Four were firm, and the other two committed after reviewing the revised forecast. The board needs a supermajority to remove me under the current proposal, and now they don't have one."
"How did you find out?"
"My attorney called. The meeting is being postponed pending a review of the board's restructuring plan. They're saying they want more time to consider the company's long-term interests."
Daniel looked toward the new porch boards, the last one waiting to be fastened. "Sounds like they realized they were going to lose."
"That's what James said. He was much less polite about it."
She laughed, but the sound broke halfway through. Daniel heard her inhale and try again. For a long moment neither spoke. He knew she was sitting with the result of two weeks of determined work and eleven years of building something that other people had almost taken from her. The result was real, but the body did not always know what to do when it was finally allowed to stop bracing.
"I thought I'd feel triumphant," she said. "I feel tired."
"That's what happened when the insurance company finally paid Sarah's bills," Daniel told her. "I sat in my truck for forty minutes because I couldn't think of a single thing to do next. Every day for months I'd been making calls, filling out forms, collecting records. Then suddenly there was nothing left to argue about."
"What did you do after forty minutes?"
"I drove home, picked Noah up from the neighbor, made dinner, and put him to bed. Then I sat at the table and cried for twenty minutes. After that, I was finished crying for that particular fight."
Catherine was quiet. "I haven't cried about this yet. Not really."
"You don't have to perform it for anybody. It will come when it comes."
"Can you come to dinner tonight? You and Noah. I'd like Lily to hear the news from me while people I trust are there."
"We can be there at six."
"Six-thirty," Catherine said quickly. "I need a shower and twenty minutes to stop shaking."
"Six-thirty," he agreed.
When the call ended, Daniel stood on the unfinished porch for another moment. The homeowner had gone inside to prepare tea, and the neighborhood around him was quiet except for a distant leaf blower. He thought about the first day Catherine stood by the fence struggling not to fall apart, and how she had now faced the people who wanted to remove her with something stronger than anger. She had faced them with facts, allies, and the willingness to keep showing up. He picked up the last porch board, checked its position, and finished the work.