Chapter 7 - Deline Comes to the Door
I did not let her inside.
That surprised her.
For years, Deline had entered our home without knocking twice.
She stepped forward.
I remained in the doorway.
“Move.”
“No.”
Her eyes narrowed.
“I need to speak to my brother.”
“He can come outside if he wants.”
Callum appeared behind me.
Renley remained in the kitchen.
I could feel her watching.
Deline saw her.
“Renley.”
My daughter immediately stepped backward.
I moved slightly, blocking Deline’s view.
Deline noticed.
Her face hardened.
“Oh, for God’s sake.”
Callum stepped beside me.
“Don’t.”
She looked at him.
“What?”
“Don’t talk about her like that.”
“You’re doing this now?”
“Yes.”
“Because your wife told you to?”
“No.”
His voice shook.
“Because I should have done it on Thanksgiving.”
Renley was still listening.
Deline’s face went cold.
She held up the folder.
“Then maybe you should see what your wife is doing to your family.”
She handed it to him.
Inside was a notice from Cedar Hollow.
The credit union had demanded updated financial information and suspended all further draws.
Deline had forty-five days to restructure part of the business debt.
“This could destroy the shop.”
Callum read silently.
Deline pointed at me.
“She planned this.”
“I requested documents.”
“You knew what would happen.”
“I knew exactly one thing.”
I looked at her.
“I was done lending you my name.”
Deline laughed bitterly.
“You think you’re some victim?”
“I think my daughter was frightened in front of eleven adults and you still haven’t apologized.”
“She was being selfish.”
Callum’s voice cut through the porch.
“No.”
Deline looked at him.
He continued.
“She shared two dolls.”
“She refused to give Poppy the others.”
“Because they were hers.”
Deline stared at her younger brother as if he had begun speaking another language.
Then she said, “You always were weak.”
Callum flinched.
But he did not retreat.
“You’re right.”
That stopped her.
“I have been.”
His voice steadied.
“And you benefited from it.”
Deline’s face changed.
I had seen her angry.
I had seen her smug.
This was different.
She looked betrayed.
As if Callum’s weakness had been part of a private contract.
“You owe me.”
Callum nodded slowly.
“For Hartford?”
“Yes.”
“I was twenty.”
“You would have been expelled.”
“I know.”
“You could have gone to jail.”
“I know.”
“I saved you.”
He looked at her.
“And I have been paying you for eighteen years.”
Deline’s mouth opened.
Callum continued.
“I paid enough.”
For several seconds, snow drifted between them.
Then Deline looked past us toward Renley.
“This family will fall apart because of you.”
Renley heard.
I turned.
Her face crumpled.
That was the moment Deline lost whatever patience I still had.
“You need to leave.”
Deline stepped toward the door.
“Or what?”
I took out my phone.
“Or I call the sheriff and tell them the woman who bruised my daughter has refused to leave my property.”
Her face drained.
“You wouldn’t.”
I held her gaze.
“You’ve built your entire life around that sentence.”
Deline left.
That night, Callum slept in the guest room.
The next morning, Samuel called.
The preliminary signature review had come back.
The disputed equity authorization probably had not been signed by me.
That was expected.
The unexpected part was the handwriting comparison.
May you like
The signature was not Callum’s.
It was much closer to Margaret’s.
