Page 3

Chapter One

Gwen

––––––––

“What? When?”

The phone went silent and I could hear my mother sifting through papers. She was mumbling to herself, inaudible words I couldn't make out.

“Mom,” I said, taking a moment to glance out the window. A guy in the building across the street, was outside on the small fire escape platform of his apartment, pinning up a string of lights. The firm tap of his hammer was hitting the wood around his window as he tacked his Christmas lights in place. “Mom, did you hear me?”

“Yeah, I heard you, Honey.” Papers crinkled in the background as she sighed to herself. “It's in here somewhere.”

“When did they send it?”

“The other da—ah ha!” Her voice was loud and shrill, forcing me to tug the phone quickly away from my ear. “Here it is.”

“What does it say?”

“It says that they put a lien on the house, Gwen. What does that mean?”

“It means you didn't pay something, Mom.”

Scoffing, I could almost hear her rolling her eyes through the speaker. “Well that's just ridiculous.”

My father's voice grumbled in the background. “Those damn pricks don't know what the hell they're talking about.”

“Shut up, Ron, I can't hear Gwen with you talking over her. What did you say, Honey?”

“I didn't say anything.” My eyes scanned outside again, just in time to see the first snowflakes of the year fall.

“Well, can you fix it? You're a lawyer, you can fix this right?”

“I can take a look at it when I get there, but I can't make you any promises, Mom. I'm an IP attorney, this isn't my area of expertise.”

“But you can fix it right?”