Chapter 6 - THE FAMILY CHANGES SIDES
By five that afternoon, the house no longer felt like anybody’s home.
Catering vans began arriving for the dinner.
Vanessa had not canceled them.
Claire watched two servers carry trays through the kitchen while Evelyn sat upstairs with the bedroom door closed.
“You’re still having the party?” Claire asked.
Vanessa stood near the dining table arranging place cards.
“It’s not a party.”
“You know Brandon lied about owning this house.”
“I know you say he lied.”
Claire stared at her.
Vanessa met her eyes.
“You have papers. Fine. But Brandon told me there was another agreement.”
“What agreement?”
“He said your father intended the house money to benefit both of you.”
“My father was dead before I bought this house.”
Vanessa’s face tightened.
“I know that now.”
Claire almost missed the last two words.
Now.
Before she could answer, Brandon came in.
He had changed shirts.
He looked ready for investors.
“Dinner stays on,” he said.
Claire laughed once.
“You’re unbelievable.”
“If I cancel tonight, Greenline may not make payroll next Friday.”
“So your plan is to keep lying?”
“My plan is to save thirty-four jobs.”
“Fourteen,” Claire said.
Brandon looked at her.
“What?”
“You have fourteen employees. Unless you’ve suddenly doubled.”
He glanced away.
Another inconsistency.
Claire stepped closer.
“How many employees do you actually have?”
“Don’t do this.”
“How many?”
“Nine.”
Vanessa turned.
“You told me twenty-seven.”
Brandon snapped, “Because subcontractors count.”
“They don’t count when you’re telling me how many families depend on you.”
For the first time that day, Claire and Vanessa were looking at Brandon from the same side of the room.
He noticed.
And immediately changed tactics.
“You two want to compare notes now? Great. Claire disappears for six weeks at a time while Mom gets older. Vanessa has been taking care of this place. I’ve been handling bills. Everybody enjoys the benefits until something goes wrong.”
Claire’s anger sharpened.
“You forwarded my mail.”
“To keep things moving.”
“You had my house appraised.”
“For business planning.”
“You asked Mom to lie about Dad financing it.”
His silence lasted half a second too long.
Vanessa stared at him.
“You did what?”
“It wasn’t like that.”
Evelyn appeared at the top of the stairs.
“It was exactly like that.”
Everybody looked up.
Evelyn came down slowly.
Her cheek was visibly swollen.
Vanessa stopped touching the place cards.
Brandon looked at his mother.
“Mom, don’t.”
She reached the final step.
“You told me Claire had taken enough from this family.”
Claire felt the words before she understood them.
Brandon’s face hardened.
Evelyn continued.
“You said Dad would have wanted you to have half of everything she built.”
“That was a private conversation.”
“Not anymore.”
Brandon’s voice rose.
“I spent my whole life being compared to her.”
Claire stared at him.
“That isn’t something I did to you.”
“No. You just enjoyed it.”
Vanessa whispered, “Brandon.”
He looked toward her.
She stepped away.
Not toward Claire.
Not yet.
May you like
But away from her husband.
And Claire realized the slap on the patio had broken more than one alliance.
