“Because everyone is upset.”
She rubbed her thumb over her wedding ring.
“You told me there was nothing to worry about.”
Vanessa’s shoulders stiffened.
“Mom.”
“No.” Carol’s voice was barely audible. “You said she would understand once the house was empty.”
My hand lifted from the folder.
“What do you mean, empty?”
Richard looked at the door again.
Carol closed her eyes.
“Tell me,” I said.
He answered instead.
“There was a preliminary communication with the tenants.”
The room seemed to narrow.
“What communication?”
“An inquiry about their plans.”
Ethan pulled his phone from his pocket.
“It wasn’t an inquiry.”
Vanessa stepped toward him.
“Put that away.”
He moved back, the chair between them.
“I have the message you sent me.”
His voice shook so badly that he had to start again.
“You said Richard had told them Grandma needed the house back for family and they should start looking.”
I stood too quickly. The chair scraped the floor.
“While they had a lease?”
Richard lifted one hand.
“No formal eviction was initiated.”
“You contacted people living in my house and spoke for me.”
“It was an effort to avoid conflict.”
“You made them afraid to stay.”
No one denied it.
I picked up my phone and called Megan.
She answered with a breathless apology about the rent, although it wasn’t due for another week.
My knees weakened.
“Megan, has someone asked you to move?”
A pause.
“We didn’t want to upset you.”
I held the edge of the table.
“Who told you I wanted that?”
