My Future Doesn't Have Room for You novel · Chapter 11 of 24

Chapter 11: The Copy in the Truck

The lumber yard closed at three on Saturdays, so the lot was empty when Esther parked.

Gary's work truck sat alone at the far fence.

I got out, and Esther stayed behind the wheel with the engine running and her hands on the wheel.

"I'll be right here," she said.

I climbed into the passenger seat of the truck.

It smelled of sawdust and cold coffee.

Gary didn't say hello.

He was holding a manila envelope on his knee, and the edges were soft from being handled for years.

"Brett sent me this last night," he said, and handed me his phone.

The screen showed a photo of a printed page on a desk.

At the top it said LISTING AGREEMENT.

Under it was an address I knew better than my own birthday: 14 Linden Street.

The seller line said Janet M. Bellinger, owner.

The list price was four hundred and ten thousand dollars.

The date was the day I left.

"She called a realtor the same day you left," Gary said. "She's going to list the house after the twins' birthday party and be gone before anyone looks at the title."

"It's her house," I said. "She keeps saying so."

"Yeah."

"Isn't it?"

He did not answer for a long time.

Then he pushed the envelope toward me.

"I made this at the county office the week after your mother's funeral," he said. "I was thirty-eight. I stood at the copier with a clerk who didn't know me. I told myself I was doing it for the paperwork."

I opened the clasp.

Inside was a photocopy, gray and slightly crooked.

It was a deed.

The paper was old and official, with a county seal and a block of typed legalese.

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