Chapter 8 - NO MORE SECRETS
I walked into the kitchen with the access log in my hand.
The tablet sat charging beside the toaster.
Matthew and Jessica were at the table, eating takeout from containers spread across my mother’s embroidered tablecloth.
“Someone opened my bank account this morning,” I said.
Matthew set down his fork. “I was at work.”
Jessica’s face didn’t change. “So?”
“So I was home. You were home.”
“That doesn’t mean I did it.”
“Then you won’t mind telling me why.”
“I was checking whether Matthew’s transfer had gone back yet,” she said.
“It hadn’t gone back because you haven’t returned it.”
She pushed her chair away. “I didn’t take anything today.”
I believed her about that. The account showed no new transfer. But she had gone in to look.
“Don’t touch my accounts again,” I said.
Matthew turned to her. “You told me you hadn’t used the tablet.”
“I used it once.”
“Six times,” I said.
The kitchen grew quiet.
Jessica stared at him. “Are you really going to act surprised? You knew we needed money.”
“I knew about the transfer,” he said. “I didn’t know you kept going into her account.”
She stood up. “And I didn’t know you’d blame everything on me the second your mother got angry.”
They argued while I picked up the tablet. I shut it off and put it in the study. For once, I did not try to make peace between them.
The next morning, I went with Helen to the bank. The staff helped me secure the accounts and begin a formal review. I signed nothing about the house. Helen said the questions about the transfer could take time; the records mattered more than anyone’s promises.
On our way out, my phone rang. It was Louise.
“Someone called me,” she said.
“Who?”
“Jessica. She asked if I could convince you to let them stay.”
“I’m sorry she dragged you into it.”
“She also said you were confused after George died.”
I stopped in the middle of the sidewalk.
Louise’s voice sharpened. “I told her I spent two weeks playing cards with you and losing every game. Then I hung up.”
That evening, I told Matthew what his wife had said.
He looked stunned. “She shouldn’t have done that.”
“No.”
“I’ll talk to her.”
“I’m telling you because she called my sister. I’m not asking you to manage my feelings.”
He glanced toward the stairs. “She’s scared.”
“So am I,” I said. “I came home and found strangers’ clothes in my closet.”
“She’s not a stranger.”
“Then she should have known me well enough to ask.”
Matthew sat down on the bottom stair. After a long silence, he said, “There’s one more thing about the house.”
May you like
I waited.
He swallowed. “I told someone at work I could use it to guarantee a loan.”
