“You can’t possibly expect us to leave.”
“I’m not asking you to leave tonight. There are legal procedures for that. But I am telling you that this house will not be taken from me.”
Daniel rubbed his face.
“Mom, why are you doing this?”
I stared at him.
“Because someone tried to borrow a quarter of a million dollars using my name.”
Vanessa pointed toward the hallway.
“Daniel, tell her to stop.”
For the first time that evening, he didn’t move.
His eyes were fixed on the papers I had taken from the envelope.
He reached for the top page.
I let him read it.
At first, he looked confused.
Then his expression changed.
“Vanessa,” he whispered, “what is this?”
She folded her arms.
“Something I was handling for the family.”
“This says Mom authorized you to apply for the loan.”
“She agreed to let me manage the paperwork.”
“I did not,” I said.
Daniel turned another page.
His mouth tightened.
“Why does this document say I witnessed her signature?”
Vanessa didn’t answer.
“Vanessa?”
She looked toward the staircase.
And I noticed something I hadn’t seen before.
June was standing halfway down the stairs.
Her face was white.
“Mom,” she said in a small voice, “is that the paper you made me help you find?”
