Chapter 4

Mrs. Donnelly’s words didn’t make me turn around.

I stood outside the gate, staring at the lit upstairs window. My mother had always complained that the lamp in that room was too dim for reading. Jason had promised to replace it once the weather warmed up. After she went into the hospital, he said he had been too busy to get around to it.

Apparently, he had found the time.

He had just chosen to spend it with someone else.

I didn’t go back inside and demand answers.

That would have earned me one more reminder not to listen to “gossip,” and it would have given Talia exactly what she wanted: a chance to hide behind Jason and cry.

Instead, I drove to a lawyer’s office.

The attorney who met with me was named Nina.

She looked to be in her forties, spoke quickly, and kept a framed photo of her daughter’s graduation on her desk.

She listened without condemning Jason or promising that one phone call would make Talia disappear.

“The deed is solely in your name,” Nina said. “But Jason gave her keys, she moved property in, and she has been receiving mail there. Do not change the locks, remove her belongings, or touch the ring while it is on her hand. We revoke any permission in writing, demand the ring separately, and document every response. If she refuses, we file.”

“Even though Jason had no right to invite her?”

“That helps you win. It does not let you skip the process.”

That afternoon, Nina sent two written demands: ten days to remove her belongings and return every key, and immediate return of my mother’s ring.

Ten days didn’t sound long.

But it was enough time for Jason to turn every single day into proof of how unreasonable I was.

When I returned to the lake house, the moving van was gone.

Talia sat in my mother’s blue armchair with a thin blanket across her lap. She looked up when she saw the envelope in my hand, but she didn’t look surprised.

“You’re really going to do this?” she asked. “Jason said you just needed time to calm down.”

“He’s said a lot about me to you.”

“He worries about you.” She pulled the blanket closer around herself. “Your mother just died, and you’ve been carrying everything alone. Of course seeing me here makes you feel like I’m taking something from you.”

I placed the notice in front of her.

“You don’t make me feel like something is being taken from me. You are in this house, with keys that aren’t yours, wearing a ring that isn’t yours.”

She didn’t touch the envelope.

Jason came out of the kitchen, his face darkening. “Evelyn, don’t take this too far. She has nowhere to go.”

“That isn’t my responsibility.”

“She’s my family.”

For the first time, I laughed. There was no warmth in it.

“Then you should probably decide whether your version of family includes me.”

Talia opened the notice and read it. When she looked up again, her eyes were dry. Her voice was almost gentle.

“Ten days is enough,” she said. “Enough time for Jason to understand that this isn’t about protecting the house.”

She folded the notice and set it back on the table.

“You’re forcing him to choose.”