Chapter 2 - THE WOMAN WHO ALWAYS NEEDED SOMETHING
Three years earlier, Margaret had called me at seven in the morning.
I remember because I was standing in my kitchen wearing pajamas, trying to make coffee before a nine o'clock meeting.
"Good morning, Ava," she said.
Her voice was sweet.
Too sweet.
"Hi, Margaret."
"I hate to bother you."
Whenever Margaret said those words, she was about to bother me.
"What happened?"
"It's Caroline."
Of course.
"What about her?"
"She needs help."
Caroline always needed help.
A down payment.
A credit card bill.
A new car.
A vacation deposit.
A last-minute wedding expense.
There was always something.
"What kind of help?"
Margaret sighed.
"She and Jason are trying to buy a house."
I closed my eyes.
"That's wonderful."
"They're short about forty thousand dollars."
I almost laughed.
"Forty thousand?"
"Yes."
"Margaret, Daniel and I aren't exactly sitting on forty thousand dollars."
"We know you have savings."
That stopped me.
"How do you know that?"
She laughed softly.
"Daniel tells me everything."
My stomach tightened.
I hadn't known that.
Apparently my husband had been discussing our finances with his mother.
I said, "Our savings are for our own house."
"I understand."
She didn't sound like she understood.
She sounded offended.
"We just need a temporary loan."
"Who is 'we'?"
"Family."
That word had become Margaret's favorite weapon.
Family.
It meant you didn't say no.
Family meant you forgave things.
Family meant you opened your wallet.
Family meant you swallowed your anger.
So when Daniel came home that night and said, "Mom really needs us," I asked how much.
He looked embarrassed.
"Forty thousand."
I stared at him.
"You already agreed?"
"I told her we'd think about it."
"Daniel, that's a huge amount."
"I know."
"We've been saving for a house."
"I know."
"Then why are we discussing giving it away?"
He rubbed his forehead.
"It's a loan."
"With paperwork?"
He hesitated.
"Mom doesn't need paperwork."
"Then it's not a loan."
He became defensive.
"Why do you always assume the worst about her?"
I didn't.
I assumed the worst about situations where forty thousand dollars disappeared without documentation.
But I loved Daniel.
So I compromised.
We transferred twenty thousand.
Margaret promised she'd repay us within six months.
She didn't.
Six months became a year.
Then eighteen months.
Then she stopped mentioning it.
I eventually stopped asking.
That was my first mistake.
My second was trusting Daniel when he said there would never be another transfer without telling me.
There were many more.
The bank alert at Caroline's wedding revealed them all.
After Daniel saw the $227,000 total, he pulled me away from the table.
"Ava, wait."
I laughed bitterly.
"Wait?"
"I didn't know."
"You didn't know?"
"I swear."
"Then explain the transfers."
"I can't."
"Exactly."
His face was white.
"I thought Mom was using the money for Caroline."
"She was?"
"I don't know."
I looked toward Margaret.
She was standing beside Caroline, whispering urgently into her daughter's ear.
Caroline's expression had changed.
She looked frightened.
Interesting.
I walked toward them.
Margaret saw me coming.
"Ava, please don't create a scene at Caroline's wedding."
I stopped three feet away.
"I have one question."
She smiled tightly.
"What?"
"Where did the money go?"
Caroline looked at her mother.
"What money?"
Margaret's face froze.
Daniel stepped forward.
"Mom."
Caroline frowned.
"What is she talking about?"
Margaret whispered, "Nothing."
I held up my phone.
"Two hundred and twenty-seven thousand dollars."
Caroline's mouth fell open.
"Mom?"
Margaret grabbed her arm.
"Not here."
Caroline pulled away.
"What did you do?"
The room became noisy again.
Guests whispered.
Phones appeared.
Someone was recording.
Margaret looked directly at me.
For once, she wasn't pretending to be innocent.
Her voice dropped.
"You have no idea what you've just started."
I stared at her.
"Neither do you."
She smiled.
And that smile told me something.
Margaret wasn't afraid of the money being discovered.
She was afraid of something else.
May you like
Something bigger.
Something she had been hiding.
