Chương 7
“I came to see him, not talk about Grandpa.”
“That sounds like the same thing.”
Kyle appeared behind her. “Go finish your math.”
“I did.”
“Check it.”
“You check it.”
“Lily.”
She sighed and walked away, dragging one hand along the wall.
Kyle stepped onto the porch and closed the door.
“You shouldn’t be here.”
“Calvin paid your mortgage.”
“He loaned me money.”
“How much?”
“It’s none of your business.”
“It became my business when you signed a witness statement on a document giving him a two-million-dollar house.”
Kyle glanced toward the front window. “Keep your voice down.”
“How much?”
“Eighteen thousand.”
“For what?”
“Three missed payments, fees, and the part where banks enjoy watching you panic.”
“You could have called me.”
“You lived in Dad’s house and worked part-time.”
“I had savings.”
“That’s your favorite kind of help. The kind you get to mention later.”
Paige stepped back as if he had touched her.
Kyle rubbed both hands over his face. “I didn’t mean that.”
“You did.”
“Maybe I did.”
A dog barked inside the neighboring house. Someone called its name twice and then gave up.
Paige looked through the screen door at Lily’s backpack on the floor. “Were you there when Dad signed?”
Kyle leaned against a porch post.
“Tabitha brought me a paper. She said Dad had signed it and Calvin needed another family witness because the first witness was worried about being blamed for something.”
“That sentence didn’t bother you?”
“Everything bothered me.”
“But you signed.”
“Calvin had just stopped the bank from taking this house.”
“He bought your signature.”
“He helped me before asking.”
“That makes it better?”
“It made it harder to say no.”
Paige felt anger rising too quickly. “You wrote that you watched Dad sign.”
“I know what I wrote.”
“You lied.”
“I saw him sign papers the week before. He was sitting at the breakfast table. Tabitha had a folder. He signed three places.”
“What papers?”
“I don’t know.”
“You didn’t ask?”
“He yelled when I tried to read over his shoulder.”
“That sounds like him.”
“Exactly.”
“It doesn’t mean it was this amendment.”
“I know.”
“Then why are you defending it?”
Kyle looked toward the street.
“Because Dad told Calvin the house was his. He told him for years. Then you came back and suddenly every nurse liked you, every doctor called you first, and Dad started saying Calvin only cared about money.”
“Calvin did care about money.”
“We all care about money when we don’t have enough.”
Paige folded her arms.
Kyle continued more quietly. “Calvin stayed. He took Dad to meetings when Dad forgot what meeting he was in. He covered payroll twice from his own line of credit. He sat in the hospital every night after the stroke until you flew in and took over talking to doctors.”
“I didn’t take over.”
“You corrected everyone.”
“They were giving him medication he had already reacted to.”
“And you were right. That made it worse.”
The screen door opened behind him. Lily stood holding a math worksheet.
“Dad, what is seven times eight?”
“Fifty-six.”
“You didn’t check.”
“Fifty-six is still fifty-six.”
She looked at Paige. “Grandpa said it was fifty-four once.”
“He was joking,” Kyle said.
“No, he got mad at the calculator.”
Paige almost smiled.
Kyle did, then seemed ashamed of it.
Lily returned inside.
Paige lowered her voice. “Correct the witness statement.”
“And tell a court I lied?”
“Yes.”
“I could lose my job.”
“You maintain swimming pools.”
“My company contracts with the county. They ask about fraud.”
“You should have considered that.”
He flinched.
Paige regretted the sentence before it finished leaving her mouth, but she did not take it back.
Kyle opened the door. “Go home.”
“Kyle.”
“You got to be the good daughter because you arrived at the end. Don’t come here and be the good sister too.”
He closed the door.
Paige stood on the porch until the neighboring sprinkler turned on and began striking the sidewalk in a steady arc.
Two days later, Calvin petitioned the county court to recognize the disputed amendment and remove Paige as successor trustee.
His filing described her as emotionally unstable, financially conflicted, and physically threatening. It included the garden video, Tabitha’s police report, and an affidavit from Calvin stating that Thomas had repeatedly promised him the property.
Penelope filed a response seeking to preserve the trust assets, prevent any sale or alteration of Everett House, and require production of the original amendment.
The judge entered a temporary status quo order without deciding who was right. Paige could remain in the house as caretaker. No one could remove furniture, alter the grounds, borrow against the property, or enter the study without agreement.
The order felt less like protection after Penelope explained that Paige had to account for every estate expense.
“Coffee?” Paige asked.
“If you purchase it for the house, keep the receipt.”
“Toilet paper?”
“Receipt.”
“Lightbulbs?”
“Receipt.”
“Do I need permission to eat the cereal?”
“Only if it belongs to the trust.”
Paige stared at her.
Penelope looked almost amused. “Keep receipts.”
The disputed amendment arrived for inspection under a chain-of-custody agreement.
It consisted of nine pages fastened by a brass staple. Thomas’s signature appeared on the last page above a notarial block. Kyle’s witness declaration was separate and dated four days later.
The notary was Marnie Bell, a real-estate closing agent who had once worked with Tabitha.
The signature looked like Thomas’s.
Paige had spent years watching him sign checks, birthday cards, permission slips, invoices, and letters he later claimed not to have written. The T began too heavily. The s trailed low. A tremor broke the final line.
She wanted it to be false.
That desire embarrassed her.
A document examiner photographed the pages under magnification. A digital specialist requested every electronic version from Calvin, Tabitha, Kyle, and Marnie. Rusk objected to the scope. Penelope narrowed the request, then filed a motion when they still refused.
Weeks passed.
May you like
The roses bloomed badly.
The damaged bush developed blackened leaves where the roots had been exposed. Paige treated the soil, cut away one dying cane, and propped another with soft garden tape. She worked early, before drivers slowed near the gate to see whether the woman from the video was holding shears again.
