Chapter 3 - THE PAPER IN THE GARAGE
For several seconds, nobody moved.
I held the envelope.
Callum stared at it as if I were holding something dangerous.
“What is a property equity review?” I asked.
“It doesn't mean anything yet,” he said.
“Yet?”
Brenda stepped forward.
“Give it to me.”
I pulled it closer to my chest.
“No.”
“Nora, you don't understand financial matters related to the household.”
I looked at her.
“I own the household.”
Her lips tightened.
“That doesn't mean you understand everything.”
I opened the envelope.
Inside were several pages from a financial institution.
The first page mentioned the property address.
My property address.
The second page listed the estimated value of the house.
The third mentioned a proposed line of credit secured against the property.
I read the number twice.
Two hundred and forty thousand dollars.
My hands became cold.
I looked at Callum.
“You applied for this?”
He didn't answer.
“Did you?”
“Yes.”
The word barely came out.
Hannah covered her mouth.
Brenda closed her eyes.
I looked back at the papers.
“Why?”
Callum stepped toward me.
“Because we needed help.”
“Who is we?”
“Me. Mom. Hannah.”
“Hannah?”
She immediately shook her head.
“I didn't know about the loan.”
Callum looked at her.
“You knew about the salon.”
“I knew you were helping Mom.”
“I didn't know about this,” Hannah said.
Brenda interrupted.
“The money was for family.”
I looked at her.
“Family doesn't mean taking out a loan against my house without telling me.”
Callum's expression hardened.
“We were going to tell you.”
“When?”
“When the timing was right.”
I laughed bitterly.
“Apparently the timing was after you had already filled out the paperwork.”
He reached for the documents.
I stepped away.
“Don't.”
“Nora, please.”
“No.”
I kept reading.
There was something about a preliminary approval meeting in Miami.
Miami.
I looked up.
“Why does this mention Miami?”
Callum froze.
Brenda looked at him.
Hannah whispered, “Mom.”
I understood.
“You went to Miami for this.”
“It was a meeting,” Callum said.
“With the lender?”
“With people who could help us.”
“Us.”
He nodded.
I placed the papers on the table.
“What was the money for?”
Nobody spoke.
Then Hannah finally answered.
“Mom's salon.”
I looked at Brenda.
“The salon?”
Brenda lifted her chin.
“The business has been struggling.”
“I gave Gretchen that storefront rent-free.”
“She still has expenses.”
“So you wanted to borrow against my house to save her business?”
“It wasn't just Gretchen,” Callum said.
“Then who else?”
He looked down.
“Me.”
That hurt more than I expected.
“How much?”
He hesitated.
“How much, Callum?”
“About ninety thousand.”
I stared at him.
“What?”
He rubbed his face.
“I had debts.”
“What kind?”
“Business debts.”
“You don't own a business.”
He didn't answer.
Then Hannah said quietly, “He helped Mom expand.”
I turned toward her.
“Expand what?”
“The salon.”
Brenda immediately said, “Hannah, stop.”
But it was too late.
The pieces were starting to connect.
The free storefront.
The constant talk about family.
The household contribution.
My missing office.
The loan.
The Miami meeting.
And the strange message on Callum's phone.
I picked up the photograph from the desk.
The picture of us standing outside our house.
“You knew I would never agree to this.”
Callum's eyes filled with something that looked almost like shame.
“Yes.”
That single word hurt more than any excuse.
“So you waited until I was gone.”
“I didn't plan it that way.”
“But you did it that way.”
He looked at me.
“You were deployed.”
“For nine months.”
“I thought we had time.”
“You had nine months to tell me.”
He had no answer.
I walked back into the house.
The silence followed me.
Then I noticed the coat rack.
My old green military coat was hanging there.
I had left it in the closet before deployment.
I reached into the pocket.
My fingers touched paper.
I pulled it out.
A hotel receipt.
Miami.
Two rooms.
One registered under Callum Lawson.
The second under Brenda Lawson.
The date was from four days earlier.
I turned the receipt over.
Something had been written on the back.
Bring the original watch. It may help with the valuation.
I stared at those words.
Then I remembered the empty jewelry box.
My grandmother's gold watch.
I looked at Callum.
“Where is my watch?”
His face collapsed.
He didn't answer.
Brenda suddenly sat down.
And for the first time since I had returned, she looked frightened rather than angry.
“Nora,” she whispered.
“What?”
“The watch isn't missing.”
I waited.
Brenda looked at Callum.
May you like
Then back at me.
“He took it to Miami.”
