Chapter 3 - The Cost of Signing
By nine, Wade had left only because Margaret's neighbor stepped onto her porch with a garden hose and a stare. The bank locked her checking, savings, and pension transfer while its fraud unit reviewed the loan. Her surgeon had forbidden driving, so Otis Beaman took her to the branch in his dented Buick. Margaret hated needing him. She hated more that her debit card failed when she tried to buy eye drops. At the bank, she signed a fraud affidavit naming Caroline and Wade as possible users of the old power of attorney. The manager warned the review could take weeks and might trigger a criminal referral. She pictured Hudson's backpack and May's formula. Still, she signed. Back home, she canceled the preschool payment and the grocery delivery she covered every Friday. The green file stayed on the hall table, not as proof, but as a measure of how often rescue had replaced conversation. When the kettle whistled, she turned it off before it screamed. For once, no one needed saving before tea.
