“I don’t have room for a pony.”
“He wouldn’t have cared.”
He took the armchair beside the front window.
I had managed to shower and put on jeans and a clean sweater. Clara was tucked against me in the wrap.
At 9:57, Victor glanced outside.
“I think that’s them.”
My stomach tightened.
A pickup truck turned onto Clover Ridge Drive.
Gil parked first.
Behind him came Krista’s minivan.
Her three children were visible through the back window, craning their necks toward my house.
Nancy got out of the truck wearing an ironed blouse and dark slacks. Her hair was neatly done.
Gil went around to the back.
I could see boxes under a tarp.
This wasn’t symbolic.
They had actually packed.
Nancy said something to Gil, then started up my walkway.
She reached the front door and turned the handle.
Nothing happened.
She tried again.
Harder.
From the living room, Victor looked at me but said nothing.
Nancy frowned at the lock.
Then she knocked.
Two quick taps.
I crossed the room and opened the door.
She was already speaking over her shoulder.
“Put the kitchen boxes near the garage. Krista can—”
She stepped across the threshold.
Then stopped.
Victor was sitting beside the window with his coffee.
Rebecca stood near the fireplace, her briefcase open on the chair beside her.
Nancy stared at Victor first.
Then Rebecca.
Then me.
“What is he doing here?”
“I invited him.”
Her eyes narrowed.
Rebecca stepped forward.
“My name is Rebecca Haines. I’m Jocelyn’s attorney.”
Nancy’s face changed.
She looked at me again. “Your attorney?”
Rebecca continued before the conversation could slide somewhere else.
“The property is solely owned by Jocelyn. No other person has permission to move belongings into the home or occupy any part of it without her consent. She has clearly stated that she does not consent.”
Nancy gave a small laugh.
Not because anything was funny.
Because laughter was what she used when someone said something she considered too ridiculous to take seriously.
“I don’t know what Jocelyn told you, but this is a family matter.”
“I understand that,” Rebecca said.
“No, I don’t think you do. My daughter just had a baby. She’s alone. Her family is coming to help.”
Rebecca nodded. “She can invite help if she wants it.”
“We are not strangers.”
“No one said you were.”
“Then why are you speaking to me like this?”
“Because Jocelyn asked me to explain her rights clearly.”
Nancy looked past Rebecca at me.
I knew that expression.
It had worked on me since childhood.
You’ve embarrassed me.
You’ve gone too far.
Fix this.
Normally I would already have been speaking.
I would have told her I understood she meant well.
I would have apologized for making things formal.