“Actually, Derek,” I said, stepping fully into the dining room light. “I would love to make a toast.”
I retrieved my canvas backpack from the hook by the hutch, unzipped it, and pulled out the pale yellow legal folder. I placed it gently onto the center of the tablecloth.
“But first, a quick trivia question for the table,” I said, my voice projecting with clinical precision. “Since we are toasting this magnificent roof, Derek, why don’t you tell your guests whose name is currently on the deed?”
He snorted, a desperate attempt at bravado, but his eyes were glued to the yellow folder. “It’s Mom’s house. It’s a family asset. What is this garbage?”
“Whose name?” Melissa demanded, her chin jutting out.
Sandra waved a hand. “Ellen’s, obviously! And when the Lord finally calls her home, it will be…” She choked on the words, realizing a second too late what she was admitting in polite company.
June Aldrich glared at Sandra. “It will be what, exactly?”
I opened the folder. I extracted the top document and slid it smoothly across the linen until it bumped against Derek’s wine glass.
“Warranty Deed,” I announced. “Greene County Records. Read the Grantee line out loud, Derek. You love telling people I just write checks. Well, this is the biggest check I ever wrote.”
He picked up the heavy parchment. He was still wearing a mocking smirk when his eyes hit the first paragraph. I watched the exact millisecond that smile died. His lips parted silently. The blood drained from his face in one swift, catastrophic motion, leaving him looking like a corpse.
“Derek?” Melissa asked, her voice shrill. “What does it say?”
The thick paper rattled violently in his shaking hands.
“Iris. Marie. Holloway,” Derek choked out, the words tearing up his throat.
Someone’s fork clattered loudly onto a china plate.
I did not raise my voice. “Paper One,” I said calmly. “The Deed. I purchased this property two years ago. $210,000 cash down. The mortgage is solely in my name, auto-paid from Abu Dhabi. You have been squatting in your little sister’s house since the day you hauled your boxes in.”
Melissa’s mouth hung open in silent horror. I didn’t pause.
