David’s expression did not change. “She arranged the purchase using her business income and financing.”
Richard lowered the page.
“How much does she know about our situation?”
“All of it.”
My mother put a hand against the wall.
She had known about the bank. She had known how close they came to losing the house. She had never known who stood between them and that loss.
I remembered her calling me one summer afternoon to complain that a pipe had burst in the laundry room. The owner’s attorney had arranged repairs within hours. Patricia had thanked me for finding his number, then told me I should consider getting a steadier job.
She was looking at that attorney now.
“Nicole paid for the pipe?” she whispered.
“The owner did,” David said.
“And the roof?”
“Yes.”
“The furnace last Christmas?”
“Yes.”
Richard looked down at the floor.
For four years, they had praised the generosity of a nameless company while criticizing the woman who had kept their rooms warm.
The room went quiet enough for me to hear Leo breathing beside me.
Natalie was the first to speak.
“She could have told us.”
“She could have,” David said.
