what?”
Mom’s hands began trembling.
That scared me more than the hospital appointment.
My mother had buried her husband without breaking down until everyone left the cemetery.
She did not scare easily.
She pointed at the transfers.
“Those payments.”
I looked closer.
$2,400.
$3,100.
$1,850.
All transferred into a business account connected to Vanessa’s boutique.
“When did you approve these?”
Mom looked at me.
“I didn’t.”
My stomach dropped.
“What?”
“I noticed the first one last month. I thought perhaps I had forgotten something. You know how everyone keeps warning me about getting older.”
“Mom—”
“So I checked.”
She swallowed.
“There are more.”
“How many?”
“I don’t know.”
I stared at the statement.
“What did Vanessa say?”
“I never asked her.”
“Why?”
Her expression broke my heart.
“Because I didn’t want to make trouble for you.”
I closed my eyes.
There it was again.
My mother had
