I looked at Mom.
“Was this for Melissa’s house?”
Mom nodded.
I already knew she had helped Melissa and her husband with their down payment.
I just hadn’t realized how much.
Then I noticed something else.
Beside the transfer was a handwritten date.
It matched the date from Mom’s notebook.
And beside that was another date almost three years later.
“What’s this?”
Melissa answered before Mom could.
“That was when I was supposed to repay her.”
I stared at her.
“You borrowed thirty-five thousand dollars?”
“It wasn’t exactly like that.”
“There’s an amount and a repayment date. That sounds pretty much like a loan.”
Mom touched my shoulder.
“Amanda.”
But I had already pulled out another document.
$18,000.
Different year.
Different repayment date.
“What was this?”
Melissa crossed her arms.
“We were struggling then.”
“Your husband owned a dental clinic.”
“One clinic. And it was barely surviving.”
Then I found another transfer.
$12,500.
Then another.
$27,000.
I grabbed Mom’s notebook again.
