Chương 7
“How much?”
“About six thousand.”
“And the rest?”
Dad’s jaw tightened.
“There were other things.”
“What things?”
He glanced at Lauren.
She stood up immediately.
“No.”
Nobody had accused her yet.
That made my stomach turn.
“What?”
Lauren shook her head.
“Do not look at me.”
Dad said, “Nobody is blaming you.”
“For what?”
Mom’s voice became thin.
“Lauren.”
“What did you spend it on?”
She looked from Mom to Dad.
Then toward the Cadillac.
And suddenly I knew.
Not the amount.
Not the details.
But enough.
Grandpa knew too.
His gaze moved to the car.
“No,” I said.
Mom stepped toward me.
“Madison.”
“No.”
“It was not what you think.”
“Did my money pay for that car?”
Grandpa’s head snapped toward Mom.
Her silence lasted less than a second.
It was enough.
“That Cadillac was paid for,” Grandpa said.
Mom looked at him.
“You paid the dealership.”
“Yes.”
Dad muttered, “Elaine.”
Grandpa’s voice stayed level.
“What did you spend Madison’s money on related to that vehicle?”
Mom started crying.
Not dramatically.
Her face simply folded.
“Lauren wrecked her car.”
Lauren went pale.
“That was not my fault.”
“You said insurance covered it,” I whispered.
Lauren looked at me.
“It did.”
Mom said, “Not all of it.”
Grandpa asked, “How much?”
Dad answered.
“Thirty-two hundred.”
My ears rang.
“For what?”
“The deductible, towing, rental fees, and the balance on her old loan.”
Lauren stared at Dad.
“You paid off my loan with her money?”
“I didn’t know where the money came from.”
Mom shook her head.
“That is not true.”
“I knew you were moving money around.”
“That is not the same thing.”
Lauren’s face changed.
For the first time all night, she looked less like my enemy than another person discovering the floor under her was rotten.
She turned to me.
“I swear I didn’t know.”
I wanted to believe her.
That was the humiliating part.
Even after everything, some piece of me still reached for the easiest explanation.
Grandpa spoke without raising his voice.
“Where is the title to the Cadillac?”
Nobody answered.
He looked at Dad.
“Richard.”
Dad swallowed.
“In the office.”
“Whose name is on it?”
Dad stared at me.
Then he said, “Mine.”
For a moment, I thought I had misunderstood him.
The car Grandpa had bought for me was not in my name.
It was not even in Lauren’s.
It belonged, legally, to Dad.
Grandpa looked at him as if he had spoken in another language.
“You told me the paperwork was completed for Madison.”
Dad’s shoulders dropped.
“I handled the registration.”
“That is not what I said.”
“I know.”
“Why is your name on the title?”
Mom stepped between them.
“Because Madison’s insurance quote was outrageous.”
I looked at her.
“You told me Grandpa kept it in his name.”
She blinked.
“I may have said that.”
“You did say that.”
“It was complicated.”
Grandpa’s mouth tightened.
“No, Elaine.”
He pointed toward the Cadillac.
“I purchased that vehicle as a gift for Madison.”
Mom wiped beneath one eye with her thumb.
“And we were trying to make it affordable.”
“You registered it to Richard without telling me.”
“We were going to transfer it later.”
“When?”
She did not answer.
Dad did.
“After things settled down.”
Grandpa gave a humorless little laugh.
“Everything in this family seems scheduled for after things settle down.”
I shifted Noah’s carrier again.
My hand had started aching from the weight.
Lauren noticed and reached toward it.
“I can hold him.”
“No.”
She stopped.
The answer came out harder than I intended.
Something flickered across her face.
Hurt, maybe.
I could not tell if I cared.
“I was just trying to help.”
“I know.”
“No, you don’t.”
“Lauren.”
She stepped back.
“Forget it.”
Grandpa turned to Dad.
“Bring the title.”
Dad glanced toward Mom.
That glance told me more than I wanted to know.
“Why?”
“Because I want to see it.”
“It’s late.”
Grandpa stared at him.
Dad muttered something and went inside.
Mom remained on the porch.
Lauren stood beside the Cadillac with her arms crossed.
Nobody spoke.
I could hear Noah breathing.
The tiny sound became the only thing in the world that did not require an explanation.
Mom finally said, “You should come inside.”
“I’m not staying.”
“I didn’t say stay.”
“I don’t want to come inside.”
Her face tightened.
“So that’s where we are now.”
I looked at her.
“I don’t know where we are.”
“You’re treating your own home like it’s dangerous.”
“I didn’t say dangerous.”
“You don’t have to say it.”
Grandpa murmured, “Elaine.”
She turned on him.
“No.”
Her voice cracked.
“No, you do not get to stand there and act like we’ve been keeping her chained in a basement.”
“I didn’t say that.”
“You’re making everything look sinister.”
“I asked for documents.”
“You asked like an investigator.”
“You answered like a suspect.”
She recoiled.
Grandpa closed his eyes briefly.
When he opened them, some of the anger had left his face.
“Fine.”
He lowered his voice.
“Let’s stop doing this in front of the neighbors.”
Mom glanced toward the houses on either side.
The porch light next door was on.
A curtain moved.
Her embarrassment sharpened instantly.
“Then come inside.”
“No.”
He nodded toward the sedan.
“We can talk tomorrow somewhere neutral.”
She laughed once.
“Neutral.”
“Yes.”
“You mean with your lawyer.”
“If Madison wants him there.”
Mom looked at me.
“You want a lawyer now?”
The accusation in her voice made my stomach knot.
“I don’t know.”
“You don’t know?”
“I just found out half my money is gone.”
“Not gone.”
“What do you call it?”
“Used.”
“Without asking me.”
“For things that benefited the family.”
“Did paying Lauren’s car loan benefit me?”
Lauren flinched.
Mom’s jaw tightened.
“That was one expense.”
“Did putting Dad’s name on my car benefit me?”
“You were living under our roof.”
I stared at her.
“So?”
“So we were trying to make practical decisions.”
“For me?”
“For everyone.”
May you like
“And I didn’t get a vote.”
She pressed both palms to her temples.
