Margaret saw the child he had been, for one painful instant. The boy who used to sit beside her husband in the garage, holding a flashlight while his father repaired a bicycle. The boy who had once pressed his forehead against Margaret’s shoulder after a nightmare.
Then she saw the man standing before her, silent while his wife struck her.
Love remembered the child.
Trust answered to the man.
“Why?” Margaret asked.
Daniel’s lips parted.
“Why did you do this?”
He looked toward Tiffany, then toward Roland.
“I thought if I gave them what they wanted, everything would settle down.”
Tiffany stared at him.
“You said your mother wanted to help us.”
“She did.”
“You said she was happy about the wedding.”
“She was trying to be.”
“You told me the land was already ours.”
“I said it would be.”
“You said your mother would sell her house if she had to.”
Margaret felt the words enter her body one at a time.
“My house?”
Daniel lowered his head.
Tiffany’s face had gone pale.
“I never asked for that,” she whispered.
Roland gave a humorless laugh.
“Don’t pretend innocence now. You knew the arrangement.”
“I knew Margaret was paying for the wedding. I didn’t know Daniel was using her account.”
“Your name is on the vehicle deposit,” the manager said.
Tiffany turned toward the phone.
“What?”
“The purchaser is listed as Tiffany Price Bennett.”
She looked at her own hand as if the ring there had suddenly become unfamiliar.
