Chapter 9 - The Woman Who Raised Him
June asked the closing company to halt the transaction while she challenged the documents. She also made formal reports about the suspected forgery and jewelry theft. I expected to feel relief. Instead, Clara appeared at Leona's front gate before sunset.
She wore a lavender blouse, her hair pinned neatly back, the forehead bandage gone. She looked like the grandmother who used to teach me card games during thunderstorms.
"Emily, sweetheart," she called. "Can we please talk without an audience?"
Leona stood beside me on the porch. "You can talk right there."
Clara's smile thinned. "My son could lose his business because of this little misunderstanding. Would your mother want that?"
"Don't use Mom as a shield."
She held up a small cloth pouch. Inside was Mom's silver charm bracelet. The little sailboat charm caught the light.
I stepped forward before I could stop myself. Clara pulled it back.
"One signature," she said. "You get this, and we can stop treating each other like enemies."
"You're offering me my own mother's property in exchange for the house?"
"It's one piece of jewelry. The shop supports families. Be sensible."
Leona took out her phone. "I'm calling the sheriff."
Clara turned toward her so fast the grandmotherly sweetness vanished. "You always stuck your nose in Nina's business. She'd still be married to my son if you hadn't filled her head with ideas."
The remark caught me. "Mom was married to Dad until she died. What ideas?"
Clara pressed her lips together. She slid the bracelet back into her purse and walked to her car.
I followed only as far as the driveway. "Why do you hate me so much?"
For the first time, she answered without performing for anyone.
May you like
"Because your mother gave you everything," she said. "And left my son begging in a house he couldn't call his own."
When her car disappeared, Leona gripped the railing. "Emily, there's something your mother never told you about the year before she died."
