Chapter 10 - The Voice on the Call
Nina told me the lender was arranging a formal review and would preserve the recording. I didn’t get to hear it that day.
I did tell Dad what she had found.
He looked at Gwendolyn. “Who made the call?”
She pulled a chair close to his bed. “I called to ask about the process. I never said I was Paige.”
“The lender says someone did,” I answered.
“They can be mistaken.”
Chloe stared at her mother. “Did you use Paige’s name?”
Gwendolyn’s eyes filled. “You too?”
Chloe looked away.
Dad asked everyone to leave so he could rest. Gwendolyn went first, heels striking the hospital floor. Chloe waited by the elevators. I stayed long enough to pull a chair to Dad’s bedside.
“I’m sorry,” he said.
“For what part?”
He winced. “All of it.”
“Mom trusted you to look after my share of the house until I was old enough. I’ve been old enough for four years.”
“I should’ve sat down with you when you turned twenty-one.”
“Why didn’t you?”
He watched the hallway through the open door.
“After your mom died, I couldn’t bear to sort through her papers. Later, I was ashamed I’d waited. Every year I put it off, it got harder to start.” His voice caught. “That’s an explanation. I know it doesn’t make it okay.”
It was the first honest answer he had given me.
“You can still help,” I said. “Give Nina every record you have. Tell the lender exactly what you knew and when.”
“I will.”
Outside, Chloe was sitting alone on a bench. I offered her a ride.
As we left the parking garage, she said, “Mom doesn’t have a job right now.”
“I didn’t know that.”
“She lost her position last spring. She told Dad she was consulting.”
May you like
The renovation, the loan, the rush to clear rooms—everything had been happening while Dad and I barely spoke.
Then Chloe said, “There’s something else. Mom took a deposit from a rental company for dates next month.”
