The Unsent Appeal novel · Chapter 21 of 24

Chapter 21: The Empty House

The Wellesley house was very quiet.

Elliott parked at the curb and stayed in the truck.

I walked up the long drive alone.

Briana's engagement flowers had died in the stone planters.

The front door was unlocked.

My mother sat at the kitchen island in her coat.

A cup of tea had gone cold in front of her.

The district attorney's car had left.

A white envelope lay next to the cup, torn open.

The bank's name was printed across the top in blue.

"You came," she said.

"I said I would."

"I didn't think you would."

I stayed standing.

"They want me to come in tomorrow with a lawyer," she said. "I told them I don't have one."

"They'll appoint one if you ask."

"They told me that. I didn't hear it."

She pushed the envelope toward me with two fingers.

"The house is in Dean's name. He took out a second loan against it in June."

"The bank says they'll start the sale in sixty days."

"Sixty days is enough to find an apartment."

"I don't know how to find an apartment, Rose." She laughed, thin and high.

"Your father always did it. Then Dean did. I haven't signed a lease in my life."

I said nothing.

"I know what I'm about to ask." She folded her hands.

"You'd only need to cover it until the sale. The two thousand three hundred, for a few months."

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