I stabbed a green bean harder than necessary. "I came back to settle the estate. That's all."
"Sure," Sadie said. "That's why you've been poking around in old land records and asking questions about the feud."
My stomach dropped. "How do you?—"
"It’s a small town, Claire. People talk." She tilted her head, studying me with that sharp, assessing look she'd perfected over the years. "So what is it you're really looking for?"
I set my fork down, forcing my voice to stay level. "Aunt Lois left some gaps in her files. I'm just trying to make sense of them."
"Gaps," my father repeated.
"Missing documents. Cross-references that don't lead anywhere." I met his eyes. "She was meticulous. If something's missing, it's because someone took it."
The table went quiet. Tanner stopped chewing. My father’s fork hovered halfway to his mouth before he slowly set it down. Even Sadie, who never backed down from anything, looked uneasy. I felt the shift immediately, like I’d stepped on a mine and was waiting for it to explode.
"Claire," my father said. "Some things are better left alone."
"Why?"
"Because digging into old family business doesn't help anyone. It just stirs up trouble."
"Or," I said, keeping my voice steady, "it clears up lies that never should have been told in the first place."
My father's expression didn't change, but something flickered behind his eyes. Not anger. Something closer to resignation. "You sound like Lois."
I didn't know if that was a compliment or a warning.
The silence stretched until my mother cleared her throat and reached for the serving bowl. "More potatoes, anyone?"
Tanner took the bowl without answering and scooped a second helping onto his plate. Sadie pushed green beans around with her fork, her mouth pressed into a thin line.
I'd crossed some invisible boundary, and everyone at the table knew it.
"So," Tanner said after a long moment, his tone shifting to something lighter. "Are you planning on telling us why you've been spending so much time with Torin Thompson?"
Heat crawled up my neck. "I haven't been?—"
"Ruby saw you two at the Merc the other morning. She said you looked cozy." Tanner shook his head. “I always knew he had a thing for you.”
I rolled my eyes, even though my cheeks warmed. “She’s just trying to stir up some gossip.”
Sadie grinned. "And Mrs. Davis said she saw him at Aunt Lois's place. Twice."
"He fixed the window," I said. "The one I cut my hand on breaking in."
My mother's fork paused halfway to her mouth. "You what?"
"The front door was stuck. I used the window. Torin helped me get through and then came back to replace the glass." I kept my voice matter of fact, refusing to give them anything else to work with. "That's it."
Tanner's eyebrow lifted. "That's it."
"Yes." I focused on my plate, but the memory of Torin’s mouth on mine flashed through my head anyway. My heart pounded and I tried to will my pulse back to normal.
"Right." He cut into his roast, not bothering to hide his smirk. "Because Torin Thompson definitely makes house calls for every stuck window in town."
Sadie snorted into her water glass.
"Leave her alone," my mother said, but there was a glint of interest in her eyes that made my stomach twist. "Though I will say, he's grown into a good man. How he managed that with parents like his…"
