They Excluded Me From the Family, So I Built a New One novel · Chapter 8 of 24

Chapter 8: A Calm Conversation

On Sunday at five, Desmond carried the last suitcase down the front steps of our house.

I stood in the doorway with my arms folded and watched him fit it into the trunk of his sedan.

Libby stood behind me, holding a mug.

The street was quiet, with long shadows and two neighbors pulling weeds across the way.

They stopped pulling when the red SUV turned the corner.

Rosalie parked across my driveway so that the sedan couldn't back out.

She stepped down in a cream blouse and sunglasses, with Kenzie coming slowly around the other side.

Carl was not in the car.

"Sue," Rosalie said, and took off the sunglasses. "I'm sorry to drop in. I think we should have a calm conversation."

"We can have it from there."

"On the steps? Sue, that's silly."

"The neighbors can hear you either way."

A pause.

She smiled and came up the walk anyway, and I stayed where I was.

"All right," she said. "I'll say this plainly. Desmond made a mistake with the loan. He did it to help my husband, and he did it for family. You and I both know families make sacrifices."

"I didn't make that one."

"But you did sign the consent."

"I signed it by a stove, thinking it was insurance."

"That's not what the bank has."

"That's what my attorney will say."

Her smile held, but it narrowed.

"Here's what I'd like. A short letter, from you to the bank, saying you understood and agreed. It's a formality. It keeps everything calm."

"It keeps the bank from calling the loan."

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