Chương 9
“Did you sign this as a witness?”
My mother looked at it without bending down.
“I’d have to read it.”
“You know what it is.”
“I said I’d have to read it.”
I picked it up and held it toward her.
She did not take it.
“Mom.”
She stared at me.
“Did you sign it?”
A few seconds passed.
“Yes.”
Emily inhaled softly.
I nodded.
“Did you see me sign it?”
“Yes.”
The answer came too quickly.
I had expected denial.
What I got was confidence.
That was worse.
“You watched me sign this exact page?”
“Yes.”
“Where?”
“At home.”
“Which home?”
Her expression flickered.
“We were still on Morgan.”
“I was living in Bridgeport then.”
Brittany turned toward her.
Teresa corrected herself immediately.
“I meant I was on Morgan.”
“Grandpa died after you moved.”
“Ethan, this was six years ago.”
“Then maybe you don’t remember.”
“I remember enough.”
“So do I.”
I placed the second authorization beside the first.
“You told the firm I didn’t want direct contact because inheritance discussions were causing me distress.”
“You were distressed.”
“I was grieving.”
“You were a mess.”
My face went hot.
“That is not the same thing.”
“You were drinking.”
“No.”
“You were going out every night.”
“I was working nights.”
“You were unstable.”
The word hung there.
I looked at Emily.
She stared at Teresa.
Marcus’s expression had gone still.
I turned back.
“How was I unstable?”
“You had no savings.”
“I was twenty-six.”
“You quit jobs.”
“One job.”
“You were irresponsible.”
“With money?”
“Yes.”
I almost smiled.
“Then you took eighty-five thousand dollars to protect me from myself.”
Brittany’s head snapped toward Teresa.
“Eighty-five?”
Lily came farther out of the kitchen.
“What?”
Teresa’s face tightened.
“I did not take anything.”
Kayla looked up.
Nobody missed that.
I slid the account page forward.
“Whose account is that?”
Teresa did not look.
“Mine.”
Brittany stood.
“Mom.”
“Sit down.”
“No.”
Teresa turned on her.
“I said sit down.”
Brittany did not.
For the first time since I had entered, the balance in the room shifted.
My mother felt it.
She softened her tone.
“There were reasons.”
I nodded slowly.
“Finally.”
“Don’t be smug.”
“I’m not.”
“You look exactly like your father when you do that.”
The old insult hit where she intended it to.
My father had left when I was fourteen.
For years, Teresa used him as a warning.
Careless like your father.
Selfish like your father.
Running away like your father.
I had spent half my adult life trying not to resemble a man I barely knew.
That morning, the comparison did not have the force it once had.
“Tell me the reasons.”
She rubbed one hand over the other.
“You were twenty-six.”
“I know.”
“You had debt.”
“About four thousand on a credit card.”
“You had no plan.”
“I had a job.”
“You always had jobs.”
There was contempt in the plural.
Emily shifted beside me.
I touched her arm without looking away from my mother.
Teresa continued.
“Your grandfather believed money fixed people.”
“That doesn’t answer anything.”
“He spoiled you.”
I nearly laughed.
“Grandpa gave me twenty dollars on birthdays.”
“You don’t know everything he did.”
“Then tell me.”
“He helped you with school.”
“I paid my loans.”
“He covered things when you were younger.”
“What things?”
She waved a hand.
“This is exactly why I didn’t tell you.”
“Because I ask questions?”
“Because you reduce everything to numbers.”
Marcus looked away at that.
He knew me well enough to understand the irony.
I worked with numbers because they were the only things in my life that stayed where I put them.
Teresa sat again.
Her voice changed.
It became quieter.
More familiar.
The voice she used when one of us was sick as children.
“I was trying to keep you from wasting it.”
I stared at her.
“Where is it?”
No answer.
“Where is the money?”
She looked toward the floor.
Brittany whispered, “Mom.”
Teresa snapped, “Stay out of this.”
“That’s kind of hard now.”
“You know nothing about it.”
“I know he just said eighty-five thousand dollars went into your account.”
Teresa turned back to me.
“It paid for family expenses.”
The room seemed to narrow.
“What expenses?”
“Your grandfather’s funeral.”
“The estate covered that.”
“Not everything.”
“How much?”
“I don’t remember.”
“Try.”
She glared.
“You think people keep receipts for every meal from six years ago?”
“No.”
I pulled out my phone.
“But banks keep records.”
Her face changed again.
Smaller this time.
There it was.
I felt Emily’s hand close around mine.
“What else?”
Teresa said nothing.
“Mom.”
“I helped Brittany.”
Brittany stared at her.
“With what?”
“School.”
“My loans paid for school.”
“Your rent.”
Brittany’s face lost color.
“How much?”
“Enough.”
“What does that mean?”
“It means you needed help.”
“You told me Aunt Susan gave you that money.”
Teresa looked away.
Brittany laughed once.
There was no humor in it.
“Oh my God.”
Lily moved toward the table.
“Did you use it for us too?”
Teresa pressed her lips together.
Kayla answered before she did.
“She did.”
Everyone turned.
My mother’s eyes went sharp.
“You need to stop.”
Kayla stood.
“No.”
Her voice shook.
She looked terrified.
She kept going.
“You said it was family money.”
Teresa rose.
“Kayla.”
“You said Grandpa wanted everyone taken care of.”
“Enough.”
“You said Ethan already got more than us growing up.”
My mother crossed the room so quickly that Marcus moved forward.
Teresa stopped before reaching Kayla.
The fact that Marcus had moved at all seemed to wake her to how the scene looked.
She lowered her hands.
Kayla’s breathing was shallow.
I looked at her.
“What did she tell you?”
Kayla swallowed.
“She said Grandpa left money to the family, but most of it was in your name because he trusted you more.”
My chest tightened.
“She told us she was dividing it fairly.”
Brittany stared at Teresa.
“Dividing what fairly?”
Kayla’s eyes filled.
“His money.”
May you like
Lily whispered, “How much was there?”
“I don’t know.”
