Chapter 18: The Hearing

The courtroom smelled of floor wax and wet umbrellas.

I sat at the table beside Paula in the only skirt I owned, with my hands folded on a legal pad I hadn't written on.

Across the aisle sat Danica's father in a navy suit, with a lawyer in a better one.

Danica sat behind them, in pearls, looking at nothing.

Neil was in the last row of her side, alone, with his arms crossed over his stomach.

Bram had come in late.

He took the bench by the door and didn't look at me, which was exactly right.

The judge was a gray woman with half-glasses and no patience.

"We're here on a call of guarantee," she said. "Counsel."

Danica's father's lawyer stood and handed up a single page.

It was the bank's copy of the guarantee, with my name typed at the bottom and my signature above it.

"Ms. Entwistle guaranteed her husband's marker for forty-one thousand dollars," he said. "The marker is in default. We ask for judgment."

"Her husband," Paula said, rising. "Your Honor, there is no marriage. We have the county's answer in writing."

"The guarantee doesn't depend on a marriage."

"It depends on a signature," Paula said. "Ms. Entwistle, would you take the stand?"

I walked to the box and put my hand on the book.

My mouth was so dry that my tongue stuck.

Paula held up the page.

"Is this your signature?"

"It looks like it."