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“I’m not going to sayagain?”She sighed.“Are you going to give it to her?”
I shook my head, even though she couldn’t see it. “No. I’m going to take her to the store and buy her groceries. Ensure that’s what she’s really doing with the cash.”
“Mal–”
“I’ve got to go. I want to deal with her and get back. That new bathtub of yours has jets that are calling my name.”
I ended the call with Lindy and put my car into gear.
Ten minutes later, I was pulling up in front of my parents’ house. I’d deal with my mother. Get it over with.
56
THEO
I droppedinto a chair across from Mac. He wasn’t alone, but with the entire engine crew. All six of them were decked out in their navy fire uniforms and eating burgers and wings. A row of walkie talkies were on the tables, a reminder that while they were having a meal, they were always on call. The fire truck positioned around the corner for easy response couldn’t be missed either.
“You look like when we first met,” he said, shoving a fry in his mouth.
“How’s that?” I asked, tipping my chin in greeting to the others. They didn’t say much, just shoveled in their meals. I wondered what they’d been up to before this to want all those calories.
“Like you’ve got a stick up your ass again,” he said.
I frowned. “Early dinner?”
He picked up his own burger, took a huge bite, then spoke with his mouth full. “We eat when it’s quiet. Never know when we’ll get a call.”
The waitress came over and I pointed at Mac’s burger. “I’ll have one of those, please.”
With greasy fingers, he pushed a large envelope across the table. “This is for you.”
I picked it up, studied the label. It had my name on it with Hunter Valley Clerk and Recorder Office at the top. “How’d you get this?”
“Mary, who works at city hall, knows you and I are friends. Asked if I knew your address.”
“Jesus, small town life. She could have called Verna. She knows everything.”As she keeps reminding me.
“She did. Said Verna was mad at you.”
I humphed.
He eyed me, then wiped his mouth and mustache with a napkin. “Anyway, I told Mary I was seeing you and she passed this on to give you.”
I frowned at the envelope as I opened it, pulled out the single piece of paper.
“What is it?” he asked, taking another bite.
“It’s–” Holy fuck. “It’s a deed to a house.” To Mallory’s house. The one I gave her. And the one she obviously gave back. She couldn’t have done that in the past two hours since she overheard my conversation with Verna. I scanned the copy of the Quit Claim Deed again, noticed the date. Yesterday.
Which meant it had been filed and recorded while we were driving back from Vegas. Which meant she’d done the paperwork before then.
“She gave it back to me right after she got it,” I said absently.
57
MALLORY
“You could’ve just givenme the money. Saved both of us some time,” Cheryl said, her words laced with attitude. She was in the passenger seat, arms crossed. Angry. I wondered who was the parent and who was the child.
