Chapter 4 - What They Planned To Do
Standing in the middle of her house now, Nina understood why that night looked different from the earlier camera footage. This was no longer snooping or “helping.” This was preparation. The kitchen had been rearranged. The second bedroom door was open, and through it she could see two floral storage bins on the floor that absolutely did not belong to her. A folded quilt sat on the bed. Her mother followed Nina’s gaze and straightened a little.
“We thought it made sense to get things ready early,” Linda said. “Ready for what?” Nina asked. Robert sighed, as if the real problem here was that she was forcing him to explain the obvious. “For family,” he said. “Your aunt will need the second room at Christmas, and your cousin Paige may stay a few weeks after New Year’s while she gets settled.” Nina stared at him. “You invited people to stay in my house?” Linda lifted one shoulder. “It’s just practical. You live alone. There’s all this space.”
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That would have been bad enough, but the truth was worse. Once Nina pushed past their excuses, the real plan came out in pieces. Robert had made a bad investment with one of his friends from church—bad enough that he and Linda were behind on their own mortgage. Linda tried to frame it gently, as though they had been protecting Nina from unnecessary worry. “We thought, if things get tight for a while, we could stay here temporarily. Just until everything evens out.” Nina let the silence sit there until it became unbearable. “So you copied my keys, entered my house without permission, moved my belongings, invited relatives, and decided you might move in—and you never once asked me?”
Linda’s eyes hardened in that familiar way they always did when guilt failed. “After everything we’ve done for you, I can’t believe you’re acting like strangers broke in.” Nina almost laughed. “That’s the problem,” she said. “Strangers would’ve needed less entitlement.”
