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“Youwhat?”
“Your gram warned me about her. She said she didn’t know why she was playing favorites and why she was drifting away over time, but I thought that she was the best option. And I was wrong. I kept tabs on everything, and I quickly saw how you and your little sister were never mentioned, yet your gram could only say good things about you both.”
“That’s because my brother was the favorite.”
“Of your parents.Not your gram. And soon I understood why. When she got her diagnosis, I saw that brother of yours coming here. I had an odd feeling.”
“I remember that. I thought he was making amends. I thought he was helping.”
“He said he was. And I tried to get more information, but there was something about the way he talked about the house like it was a reparation that told me something was wrong. And it got worse when she went to the care facility thathepaid for.”
I remembered that. In light of Gram’s sickness, I thought that we were all a family.
And then the will was read.
“I posed as her ex-husband to get in. She was so in and out of it that she let me. I always visited and only caught it when she mumbled about it. She wanted you to have the house, but he convinced her he could cover it financially and let you live there.”
“I . . . He tricked her?”
“Yes.”
“And said he would let me live here? He was lying. After she died, he wanted to sell the house for the money to build apool.”
“I had a feeling. And with how quickly she took a turn for the worse, she didn’t pick up on his little scheme.”
“He’s such an ass,” I said. “Why couldn’t he let me have this one thing? Why did I have to steal the damn house just to get what Gram wanted for me?”
“Your brother is threatened by you.”
“What? By me?”
“There’re always those stories about little boys who push down the girls they’re jealous of. I don’t think he ever grew out of it. Your gram never liked him. He took that personally.”
“I forged a version of the will, you know. Now I feel less bad for it.”
“I know.”
“H-how?”
“The probate court Calvin took you to, I watched it closely. I was going to testify. Until your brother threatened me and smashed my window.”
“What?”
“He’s not a kind man, Amy. He never was. I was awarded a restraining order against him, but they knew you forged the will and were going to give it to him unless someone knew her real wishes. I did, so I testified anyway, privately.”
“You’re the reason I got the house,” I said, my voice faint as it all hit me.
“I am.”
“You kept track ofeverything. Why?”
“That’s the thing about love. It never leaves, even when you try to force it away. I lost the woman I loved, but I was able to help someone.You.I hoped that, even though she was slipping away, I could doonething that would make her proud.”
Overwhelming emotion hit me. “You didn’t have to do any of that.”
“But I did. And I was happy to.”
“Thank you,” I said against the cotton in my throat. Tears gathered in my eyes and I wiped them. “You literally saved me. I would have been homeless.”