Chapter 6
The first truck reached Lake Haven at six fifty-three.
I was standing in the driveway when it turned through the gate.
Three more vehicles followed. Men climbed out carrying toolboxes, plastic sheets, and long metal bars.
The foreman recognized my name from the phone call.
"Mrs. Hale?"
"Yes."
"We're here to begin the interior work."
"No, you're not."
He frowned and opened a folder.
"We have a signed agreement."
"So do I."
I pulled the copy from my purse and showed him the name at the bottom.
"That is not my signature."
The men behind him stopped unloading.
The foreman looked from the paper to the house.
"Mr. Hale told us you approved everything."
"Richard Hale does not own this property. I do. No one enters that house without my written permission."
His expression became careful.
"We've already been paid a deposit."
"Then you need to discuss that with the person who paid you."
He stepped away to make a call.
I stood between the trucks and the front door.
Morning light moved across the lake. The old kitchen window reflected the trees, still whole.
For now.
Twenty minutes later, Richard's car came through the gate too fast.
Emily sat beside him.
She had changed out of her wedding dress, but yesterday's makeup still shadowed her eyes. She got out before the car fully stopped.
"What are you doing?"
"Stopping work I never approved."
"This is our wedding gift."
"No. It is my house."
Richard came around the car, his coat open and his jaw tight.
"You took the contract."
"The one with the false signature?"
Emily turned toward him.
"What does she mean?"
Richard did not answer her.
Instead, he looked at the waiting workers.
"Go inside. We'll handle this."
I moved directly in front of the steps.
"No."
The word came out louder than I expected.
Everyone heard it.
Richard stared at me.
"We are not doing this in front of strangers."
"You brought the strangers to my house."
The foreman lowered his phone.
"Mrs. Hale, we need a final answer."
Richard stepped closer.
"If you stop this, Emily loses her home."
Emily's face tightened.
"You're doing this to punish me because Vanessa came back."
For one painful second, I saw the little girl who used to crawl into my bed during thunderstorms.
My certainty weakened.
Then I felt the stolen contract inside my purse.
"You knew I wasn't on the program," I said. "You knew my toast was removed. You knew I had never spoken to you about giving away Lake Haven."
Emily folded her arms.
"I thought you would understand."
"No. You thought I would give in."
Tears filled her eyes, but her voice hardened.
"If you take this away from me, don't call yourself my mother."
The words struck exactly where she meant them to.
Richard watched my face and saw me falter.
He leaned closer.
"Let them work, Claire. Or don't come home."
The house behind me had belonged to my father.
The home Richard was threatening to take away had required me to disappear, stay quiet, and sign whatever he placed in front of me.
If I returned to it now, that was all I would ever be.
The foreman waited.
"So?" he asked.
My hands were shaking.
I looked at Richard.
Then at Emily.
Finally, I turned to the workers.
"Pack up your things."