Chapter 1 - THE CALL THAT ENDED DINNER
Linda Ellis pointed so violently toward the back door that her wine trembled in its glass.
“This is my house now—take your plate outside and eat with your little friend!”
Margaret Ellis remained standing beside the dining table, holding a plate of roast chicken she had cooked in the same Chicago kitchen for thirty-two years.
Across from her, twenty-two-year-old Emma lowered her fork. She was Edward’s daughter from his first marriage and had lived with Margaret while finishing nursing school.
Eight-year-old Noah stared between the adults.
Edward kept his eyes on his mashed potatoes.
That hurt Margaret more than Linda’s words.
Edward and Linda had moved into the Portage Park bungalow that morning after losing their rental in suburban Elmwood Park. They were supposed to stay for sixty days while Edward stabilized his restaurant-supply business.
By dinner, Linda had filled the hall closet, moved Margaret’s winter coats into the basement, and announced that Emma would have to give up the upstairs bedroom.
Now she was ordering Margaret out of her own kitchen.
Margaret looked at her son.
“Do you agree with her?”
Edward shifted in his chair. “Mom, let’s not make the first night harder than it needs to be.”
Linda smiled.
That was when Margaret understood that Edward had not been surprised by anything his wife had done.
She placed her plate on the counter and walked toward the beige wall phone beside the refrigerator.
Nobody had used the landline regularly since Margaret’s husband died, but she kept it because Harold’s handwriting was still visible beneath the emergency numbers taped to the wall.
She dialed from memory.
Linda leaned back, pleased.
Edward finally lifted his head.
“Mom… who are you calling?”
Margaret watched Linda as the call connected.
“Gabriella,” she said. “It’s time.”
A woman answered without greeting.
“Do I start the removal tonight?”
Edward stood so quickly that his chair scraped across the linoleum.
Linda’s smile disappeared.
May you like
Margaret returned the receiver to her ear.
“Start with his access.”
