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“No, no, Mrs. Parker is applying for a two-year lease,” she replied. “When she came in today to fill out the paperwork, I believe she said she was selling her current residence—”

“I’m going to have to call you back.” Cam hit the end button and gaped at her phone. Since when was Birdie selling her house?

After getting Birdie’s voicemail-and-beep routine for the fifth time in two days, she was a little surprised at the stern sound of her own voice. She sounded like a middle-school principal lecturing a teenage delinquent.

“Birdie, are you there? You’re there, I know it, and you can hear me! Pick up the damned phone! I just got a call from Silver Cove Apartments, and they’re talking nonsense about you selling your house and moving into one of those sad closets they call apartments—”

Birdie picked up, and Cam felt a rush of relief at finally hearing her grandmother’s voice, even if Birdie sounded madder than a hornet’s nest. “They called you? Now, why on earth would they do that?”

“The woman said I was listed as a reference.”

“A reference? I put you down as an emergency contact.” Birdie sounded even more annoyed. “That silly girl couldn’t get anything right!”

“But what was she talking about?” Cam asked. “Are you really selling the house? Is it because of the damage? Marcus told me about the tree. Birdie, I can help you out. I have some money for repairs.”

Birdie huffed. “Marcus Bloodworth told you, did he? It seems I’m surrounded by spies running off and telling my granddaughter my business.”

“But, Birdie,” Cam said, her voice softening, “why didn’t you tell me? Like I said, I can help.”

“I’m selling, and that’s that. You know better than to try to convince me once I’ve made up my mind.”

You can say that again, Cam thought. But not this time.

“Birdie, just think about it—”

Her grandmother cut her off. “Sweetie, I had a contractor come over to look at the mess. It’s more complicated. It turns out the whole roof needs to be replaced.”

Cam thought about the steep, cedar-shingled roof with dormers jutting out in a few odd places. She didn’t know a thing about roofs, but that didn’t sound cheap.

Birdie continued. “And it seems over the years, there’s been a little rot in the frame of the old girl,” she said. “The nice man used some fancy words to describe it, but the bottom line is she’s sinking.”

Cam had always found the sloped floors charming. She hadn’t thought they might belie serious problems.

“And replacing the old windows and doors is rather expensive,” Birdie continued.

Cam didn’t know the dollar amounts, but it was all adding up.

“But you have insurance for that kind of thing, don’t you?” Cam asked.

There was a pause, and suddenly Birdie sounded tired and very far away. “It seems, well, it seems I forgot to renew the policy,” she said.

“How could you forget insurance?” Cam heard a touch of exasperation creep into her voice.

“They had changed some things around and there was so much paperwork, and it was all a little confusing,” Birdie said a touch defensively. “And then I just forgot, I guess.”

Cam’s mind whirled. “How much did he say it would cost to fix up?” she asked.

“A hundred thousand dollars,” Birdie answered flatly.

Cam blanched. Her rainy-day fund would be just a drop in a puddle that big.

“You could get a loan,” Cam said, suddenly inspired. “I’m sure you have a ton of equity in the house. Do you want me to help you look? We could ask at the bank, and there are places online—”

“Sweetie, I’m afraid I… Well, I owe quite a bit already. I took money out a while back.”

Cam’s brow furrowed. How could Birdie owe anything to anyone? She and Eddie had paid off their mortgage years ago. Her car was ancient.

“What did you need it for?” Almost as soon as she asked, it dawned on Cam. Memories played out in her mind like she was watching an old video: Birdie looking over college brochures with her. All the reassurances that she could go where she wanted, whatever made her happy. Eddie had left her plenty, Birdie had told her. And then later, cooking school. Tuition, rent money, fancy knives. The security deposit on her first studio apartment in New York. Checks at Christmas time, just a little something extra, Birdie had said. Cam felt like she was going to be sick. Birdie had taken out loans to give Cam her dreams. And now it was costing her grandmother the thing she held most dear.