Page 40 of The Moment They Can Never Forgive
He nodded and then left, ignoring the knowing look in his brother’s eyes.
Dan walked through the house slowly. He’d been in here a few times, when Chuck Reynolds had been off the property. It was dated, paint faded and chipped, with floor coverings that needed ripping up. He found a hole in a living room wall and made a note in his phone. Then, easing back a corner of the carpet, he found floorboards that would look good sanded and polished.
The house had good bones. With work, someone could bring it back to life. Would Leah stay here long enough to do that?
What he also found was more pottery. Bowls, dishes, and a vase. If he was a betting man, he’d say whoever had made those mugs had also made these things.Was Leah responsible?
He’d get that information out of her, too, another time.
Dan took the stairs and checked the rooms up there, going over the first floor and making notes. He stopped in a bedroomdoorway.Hudson’s.Leah had hung Lego curtains, and a thick blue-and-red rug was on the floor. The walls and windowsills needed paint, but it was a light and airy room and smelled dry. A little boy would be happy in here.
Next, he moved to the room Leah was sleeping in. Big enough to tell him it had once been her parents’, it was dreary and smelled moldy. The heat slapped him in the face when he walked inside. He moved to the windows, but when he attempted to open them, he found them stuck.
“No,” he whispered. “Not good enough.”
“Why are you up here?”
He turned to find Leah behind him. The truce, it seemed, was over judging by the look in her eyes.
“Want me to unstick these windows?”
“I can do it.”
“And yet you haven’t. It must be sweltering up here.”
She shrugged.
“A shrug is not an answer. I believe we’ve already covered that.”
“You didn’t ask a question,” she fired back.
“So I’m good enough to help you bake cookies, but?—”
“Fine. Sorry, and yes, thank you for the cookie help. I need to check on them.”
“Leah, I am not your enemy,” Dan said when she turned away.
“But for seven years, that was what I believed.” She spoke the words and then was gone. He could hear her feet on the floorboards in the hallway and then running down the stairs.
Fuckseemed like the only word that fit that moment.
Dan went and got some tools, then dragged Sawyer back with him, and between them, they managed to get her windows to open and shut.
“This room needs painting, and there’s damp there.” He pointed to the bottom of one wall.
“It needs a shit ton of stuff done to it, and we’ll get there eventually.” Sawyer went to the door and pushed it shut. “But right now, the family needs to discuss how to get Leah some money. We have to step in with a random act.”
Dan nodded at his brother’s words.
He and his family had for years been giving money to desperate Lyntacks who needed it, using various methods. Tax overpayment reimbursements. Lottery winnings. They’d become inventive.
Sawyer had made a lot of money in a startup years ago, and then he and JD, who also had money, had increased it through investing. They were all comfortable, so they’d decided to help others who weren’t so lucky.
“We’ll work it out,” Sawyer added. “How are you feeling about her being back?”
“We’re in her bedroom. Should you be asking that now?”
“She’s outside. So, talk. It’s not like the place is bugged or anything.”
