"No, she hasn't," I growled. "Stop spreading lies."
"It's not a lie," my mother insisted. She held out several pieces of paper. "I found this in her mail."
"You stole Hazel's mail?" I shouted, snatching it from her.
"It was for a good reason. I'm trying to protect you. Isn't that what mothers do?"
"Read it, Archer," McKenna said.
I looked over the papers.
"This says she was in debt," I said, confused.
"And behind on her utilities, her student loan payments,her mortgage payments," McKenna added. "She saw you as a meal ticket."
"That's not true!" I shot back. "Hazel always says she doesn't want a handout, unlikesome people."
"Don't be naïve, Archer. Everyone wants a handout," McKenna sneered. "Hazel played you. She told you exactly what you wanted to hear."
"This is just speculation. You don't have any proof."
My mother and McKenna looked at each other. Then McKenna pulled out her phone and navigated to a page.
"Look," she said.
"What am I looking at?" I asked tersely.
"The property record for this building," she said, pointing with a French manicured fingernail. Hazel's fingernails were always covered with paint… I shook off the ache and read the web page.
Former Owner: Hazel Loring.
Current Owner: Pending sale to Svensson Investment.
"How?"
"She slipped her building into some property you and your brother were buying," my mother said. "She tricked you into buying it. Now watch, you're going to go confront her, and she'll make it sound like it's a really grand idea, that she can play girl boss and you can foot the bill."
"That's not true. None of this is true," I said, refusing to believe it for a second. "Hazel loves that building; she would never sell it."
* * *
After driving aroundfor several hours and trying and failing to call Hazel, I went back to the estate that afternoon and called Greg.
"The property you bought," I said in a rush as soon as he answered.
"You are not going to build hotels on all of it, Archer," my older brother said. "I hear you still haven't figured out how you're going to secure that land from McKenna."
"Look, can you just shut up for once!" I shouted. "Did you buy Hazel's property, yes or no?"
"No, of course not," my older brother said, an undercurrent of anger in his voice. I would probably pay later for yelling at him, but I didn't care. I needed to know the truth.
I breathed a sigh of relief.
"Why?"
"Nothing."
"You better have a good reason for your outburst," he said in a clipped tone. "I will not—oh."
