“Your mother understood the value of order,” my father said. “If you walk out of this house with him, you do so as a stranger.”
Liam turned to me, his hand finding the small of my back and pressing flat against it, warm and solid. “We have the deposit for the Cedar Street place, Sarah. We can go now.”
I stood up from the mahogany table, my chair scraping against the hardwood floor. My father did not move. He remained seated, staring straight ahead at the wall.
I walked out into the drafty hallway, the cold air from the front door instantly chilling my arms.
Before I could reach the bottom of the stairs, Miriam was there, her silk skirt rustling in the dark. She cornered me near the grandfather clock, its pendulum swinging with a rhythmic, metallic clunk.
“Sarah, let us talk like reasonable women,” Miriam whispered, her tone sweet and soft.
She adjusted her gold watch again, her fingers twisting the dial as she spoke.
“You have your mother’s trust to think about,” Miriam said. “The estate files are on my desk. I am reviewing the disbursements for next quarter, and I can easily smooth this over with your father.”
