Chapter 4 - THE AUCTION THAT NEVER HAPPENED
My mother chose the county courthouse steps for her final performance.
Paige had called relatives and told them the bank was selling my house that morning. According to her, she was bravely attempting to purchase it so my baby and I would not become homeless.
Nearly twenty family members came to watch.
My aunt brought coffee. My uncle shook Brian’s hand. Two cousins hugged Paige and told her she was doing the right thing.
Brian stood beside my mother in a clean white shirt, no handcuffs visible because his attorney had secured his release pending formal charges.
They did not know the auction had been canceled.
They also did not know Sheriff Hayes was standing inside the courthouse entrance with two investigators.
Paige saw me first.
“Emily?”
My mother stepped in front of Brian.
“You shouldn’t be here. This kind of stress isn’t good for the baby.”
“Neither is stealing my house.”
Several relatives looked away.
Mom lowered her voice.
“Do not humiliate yourself in public.”
“You registered Hawthorn Property Group at your address.”
“That was for convenience.”
“You witnessed a forged document.”
“I signed what Brian put in front of me.”
“You helped hide him.”
“He needed somewhere safe after that old woman accused him of frightening her.”
Brian’s face tightened.
“Linda, stop talking.”
Mom turned toward him automatically.
The obedience in that movement told me more than her words.
Paige crossed her arms above a tailored cream dress that probably cost more than my monthly grocery budget.
“We were trying to save the property.”
“For whom?”
“For the family.”
“Whose name is on the company?”
She did not answer.
“Paige?”
“Mine.”
“And whose account received my mortgage payments?”
“You weren’t managing them properly.”
A murmur moved through the crowd.
Paige lifted her chin.
“You were falling apart, Emily. Someone had to make decisions.”
“So you slept with Brian?”
Her face changed.
My aunt’s coffee cup stopped halfway to her mouth.
Brian stepped between us.
“Our relationship was over.”
“You were sleeping in my bed four months after your messages with Paige started.”
“You trapped me with a pregnancy.”
The sentence struck harder than I expected.
My daughter shifted beneath my ribs.
I steadied myself.
“You helped create this baby.”
“I told you I wasn’t ready.”
“After I was pregnant.”
My mother touched my arm.
“Lower your voice.”
I pulled away.
“You wanted me in your basement so you could decide what happened to my daughter.”
“You’ll need help.”
“Help does not require forged signatures.”
“Everything I did was to keep this family from losing that land.”
At last, she had said it plainly.
Not to protect me.
Not to protect my baby.
To protect the money.
“You knew the property was worth more than six hundred thousand dollars.”
My relatives began whispering.
My mother’s face hardened.
“That money could change all our lives.”
“It was my house.”
“Your father bought that land.”
“Then you sold it to me.”
“For almost nothing.”
“I paid the price you asked.”
“Because your father would have wanted you taken care of.”
“Would he have wanted you to take it back by fraud?”
She slapped me.
The sound silenced the courthouse steps.
My head turned with the impact.
Brian looked toward the street.
Paige whispered, “Mom.”
My mother stared at her own hand.
“You pushed me,” she said.
“I didn’t touch you.”
“Everyone saw it.”
“Yes,” Sheriff Hayes said from behind her. “Everyone did.”
He walked down the steps with the investigators.
My mother stepped backward.
“This is a family matter.”
“Bank fraud and identity theft are not family matters.”
One investigator approached Paige.
Another moved toward Brian.
Brian raised both hands.
“Mrs. Whitaker stole my phone.”
“After you entered her home without permission,” Hayes said.
“The door was unlocked.”
“You were recorded threatening her.”
“I never touched her.”
“You also stole certified mail, forged a property document and diverted mortgage payments.”
Brian pointed at Paige.
“The company was her idea.”
Paige stared at him.
“You said nobody could trace it.”
My mother closed her eyes.
Sheriff Hayes looked at her.
“Mrs. Carter, do you still intend to claim you didn’t know he was hiding in your barn?”
“I was protecting my daughter.”
Paige turned.
“You said you were protecting Brian.”
“I was protecting both of you.”
“From Emily?”
Mom looked at me with sudden fury.
“From her chaos. She has always made everyone rescue her.”
I stood beneath the courthouse columns with one cheek burning.
“You didn’t rescue me.”
“We were going to let you live with us.”
“After you stole my house and planned to use my pregnancy against me.”
“You couldn’t handle being a mother alone.”
My voice remained quiet.
“You made sure I was alone.”
An auction official stepped outside carrying a folder.
“There will be no sale of the Carter property today,” he announced. “The default was cured, and the foreclosure documents are under criminal investigation.”
Paige’s face emptied.
“What?”
“Mrs. Whitaker exercised her deed rights before her death.”
Brian turned toward my mother.
“You said the old woman hadn’t filed in time.”
Mom looked at him.
“You told me she signed the release.”
“You watched me sign her name.”
Their accusations spilled out in front of everyone.
My uncle stepped away from Brian.
My aunt began crying.
The two people who had spent months describing me as unstable could not remain loyal to each other for thirty seconds.
Paige pointed at Brian.
“He said Emily would leave once she saw the foreclosure notice.”
“You printed it,” Brian snapped.
“Mom gave you the bank logo.”
My mother’s mouth fell open.
“Stop talking!”
Sheriff Hayes signaled to the investigators.
They placed Brian and Paige under arrest.
A deputy approached my mother.
She looked at me.
“Emily, tell them I’m your mother.”
“They know.”
“I was trying to keep the family together.”
“You built a family where everyone was safe except me.”
The deputy fastened handcuffs around her wrists.
My mother began sobbing.
“What am I supposed to do now?”
For years, that question would have pulled me back into her arms.
I placed one hand beneath my belly.
“What you expected me to do.”
May you like
She stared at me.
“Live with the consequences.”
