Chapter 3 - Three Days Later
Three days after the funeral, Avery’s doorbell rang.
She had not yet moved Lily’s pink backpack from beside the staircase. Daniel’s coat still hung on the hook near the entryway. The house smelled faintly of lilies from sympathy arrangements she could not bring herself to throw away.
When Avery opened the door, Brenda stood on the porch in white linen pants and oversized sunglasses. Her skin was newly tanned. A gold resort bracelet still circled one wrist.
Harold stood beside her in a tropical shirt under a light jacket, his mouth already pressed into a defensive line. Caleb leaned against the railing behind them, scrolling on his phone, looking bored by her grief before he had even entered the house.
There was no embrace.
No apology.
No mention of Daniel or Lily.
Brenda looked Avery up and down. “You don’t look well.”
Avery said nothing.
Brenda sighed, as if Avery’s silence was an inconvenience. “Anyway, we need forty thousand dollars.”
The number entered the hallway like a second death.
Avery looked past them at the wet driveway. The same driveway where Daniel used to lift Lily out of the car when she fell asleep after school events. The same porch where Lily had once drawn chalk stars and insisted they were “directions for angels.”
“What do you need it for?” Avery asked.
Caleb finally looked up.
“It’s urgent. Don’t make everything dramatic.”
Harold stepped closer. “Your brother’s restaurant has a tax crisis. That’s what families are for.”
Avery looked at her mother.
“You couldn’t come to their funeral.”
Brenda’s face tightened. “We sent our condolences.”
“You sent a text saying their funeral wasn’t important enough to ruin Caleb’s holiday.”
Caleb rolled his eyes. “That’s not exactly what she meant.”
Avery opened the door wider but did not invite them in.
Brenda’s patience snapped.
“After everything we’ve done for you, you owe us.”
Avery heard Daniel’s voice in memory.
They love what you keep giving them.
She turned toward the hallway console and picked up the thick black folder resting there.
Caleb’s expression changed first.
Not fear yet.
Recognition.
Brenda noticed his reaction and frowned.
Avery opened the folder.
The first page was not about the restaurant.
May you like
It was about Lily.
And the trust her grandfather had left in her name.
