“What did she say?”
“She told me that no one should interfere with whatever she left for you.”
My throat tightened.
“And you didn’t ask why?”
“I did. She said she had taken care of everything legally.”
He looked devastated.
“I believed her.”
I reached for his hand.
“Dad, you couldn’t have known everything.”
He shook his head.
“But I should have paid more attention to how Denise treated you.”
Before I could answer, my mother appeared at the patio doors.
Her expression changed when she saw the letter in my father’s hands.
“Where did you get that?”
My father stood.
“Why didn’t you tell me my mother established an education trust for Maya?”
Denise froze.
Then she looked at me.
“She gave you that letter?”
I nodded.
My mother began shaking her head.
“That woman never knew when to stop interfering.”
I felt anger flare.
“Grandma was trying to help me.”
“She was trying to turn you against me!”
My father stepped forward.
“Denise, answer the question.”
She stared at him.
“What question?”
“Did you try to change the trust’s beneficiary instructions?”
She laughed bitterly.
“I asked a few questions. That’s all.”
“Why?”
“Because we were the ones raising Maya! We were the ones paying the bills!”
I stared at her.
“Grandma left that money for my education.”
“And who was going to repay us for everything we spent?”
My father looked as though someone had struck him.
“Repay us?”
Denise crossed her arms.
“You always act like raising a child doesn’t cost anything.”
My father spoke quietly.
“Maya is our daughter. She isn’t an investment.”
For the first time, my mother seemed uncertain.
Then she hardened again.
“You can all believe whatever you want.”
She turned toward the house.
But my father stopped her with his voice.
“Did you contact Westbridge University and try to withdraw Maya’s fellowship application?”
Denise went completely still.
I watched her face.
She didn’t deny it.
Instead, she asked, “Who told you that?”
My stomach dropped.
My father stared at her.
“Denise.”
She looked at me.
“You weren’t ready to leave home.”
I felt a painful pressure behind my eyes.
“You tried to withdraw my application?”
“I was trying to protect you.”
“From what?”
“From making a terrible mistake!”
I stepped closer.
“The fellowship could change my entire career.”
“And what about your family?”
I stared at her.
“Why does my happiness always have to hurt you?”
For a moment, something flickered across her face.
Then she turned away.
“I won’t stand here and be attacked.”
She disappeared inside.
My father looked at me.
“I’m calling Samuel Price tomorrow.”
I nodded.
But something continued bothering me.
My mother had seemed terrified when Dean Evelyn mentioned the endowment.
She had recognized the envelope before I opened it.
And she had reacted as though my graduation would trigger something she desperately wanted to prevent.
I looked down at Grandma’s letter again.
At the bottom was one final sentence.
If Denise tells you that the family is in financial trouble, ask your father to examine the mortgage statements.
I stared at it.
Then I looked at Dad.
“Dad, when was the last time you checked the mortgage account yourself?”
His expression changed.
And in that instant, I knew my grandmother had left more than a warning.
She had left us the beginning of an investigation.
