Chapter 7: Landlord and Tenant

Colin's SUV came down the drive at six that evening with the headlights off.

I saw it from the kitchen window, where I was mixing pancake batter for Joy's dinner.

He parked by the gatehouse and sat in the dark for a full minute.

Then he got out and walked to the porch, alone, with his hands in his coat pockets.

Tobias had already opened the door.

"Visits are supervised," he said. "Court order. There's nobody here to supervise."

"I'm not here to see Joy," Colin said. "I need to talk to Laurel."

I wiped my hands and came out onto the porch.

I took out my phone and pressed record.

"Say it again for the recording," I said. "You're violating the order."

Colin looked at the phone and swallowed.

He looked bad. He hadn't shaved, and his sweater was buttoned wrong.

"Laurel," he said, "I'm begging you. Mother is hysterical. The board met this afternoon. They're calling for her to step down as chair."

"Good."

"They'll call for me too. Everything we've built." He laughed in a high, raw way. "I'll lose my job, I'll lose the house."

"You lost your daughter's trust at 9:14 on Christmas Eve," I said. "Start there."

His eyes filled.

"I didn't want to do it," he said. "I swear. I did what Mother told me."

"I know. You've said so to a judge, and a board, and sixty women."

"Then forgive me."

"No."

He stopped. His shoulders dropped.

Then his face hardened.

"You know you can't run a lender," he said. "You're a bookkeeper. You'll be eaten alive by the first lawyer who sees you."

"I've got a lawyer."

"You've got an old man in a cardigan. Mother has people." He leaned in. "And you've got him."

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