“For your sister?”
“No.”
That single word unsettled him more than shouting would have.
Avery joined him, my ring still hidden in her coat pocket.
“You’re making this embarrassing,” she said.
I almost laughed at the absurdity of it.
They had locked two grieving children out after their father’s funeral.
Frederick had struck one of them.
Avery had taken a wedding ring from my hand.
And I was making things embarrassing.
I raised the window.
Twenty-five minutes later, Miles Abernathy’s car turned into the driveway.
Frederick recognized him before I did.
The color left his face.
Miles stepped out carrying a black leather case.
He was a compact man in his late fifties with silver at his temples and the tired expression of someone who had already attended too many difficult meetings that week.
Frederick intercepted him halfway to the porch.
“What are you doing here?”
Miles did not answer until I had gotten out of the car.
He looked at me first.
“Hazel?”
I nodded.
Then he looked at Toby’s cheek.
His mouth tightened.
“Let’s go inside.”
Frederick blocked the path.
“You don’t have permission.”
Miles opened his case.
“I don’t need yours.”
Avery folded her arms.
“This is a family matter.”
“It is a property matter,” Miles replied.
“And at the moment, you are standing on property owned by Hazel.”
The rain seemed suddenly louder.
Frederick stared at him.
“What did you say?”
Miles removed a document from the case but did not hand it over immediately.
“The residence was legally transferred to Hazel.
The documents were executed before Jasper’s death and properly recorded.
You have no ownership interest that allows you to remove her or her children.”
Frederick gave a short laugh.
“That’s impossible.”
“It is recorded.”
“Jasper would never give her the house without discussing it with us.”
Miles looked at him evenly.
“He was an adult.
He didn’t require your permission.”
Avery’s eyes flicked toward me.
For the first time that afternoon, she seemed unsure.
Frederick grabbed for the paper.
Miles moved it back.
“You may look.
You may not take it.”
Frederick read enough to lose the expression he had worn on the porch.
His face hardened instead.
“This can be challenged.”
