Chapter 10 - MY MOTHER'S SECRET
I called Mom immediately.
She didn't answer.
Again.
No answer.
Third time.
Voicemail.
James closed the laptop.
“We should drive over.”
I shook my head.
“No.”
“Sarah—”
“No more showing up in that house and letting everyone hide behind the same table.”
“What do you want?”
“I want her here.”
So I sent one message.
Mom. Come to my house alone. If you don't, my attorney gets everything before sunset.
She arrived forty minutes later.
No makeup.
Same clothes from Christmas Eve.
She looked ten years older.
James opened the door.
Mom stepped inside.
“Where's Emma?”
“Sleeping,” I said.
She nodded.
“Can I see her?”
“No.”
Her eyes filled with tears.
I felt guilty for half a second.
Then I remembered Emma screaming.
And the guilt disappeared.
We sat in the living room.
James stayed beside me.
Mom stared at her hands.
“Why are you an owner of North Star?”
She didn't answer.
“Mom.”
“Lauren couldn't qualify for some of the paperwork.”
“So you became a partner?”
“On paper.”
“How much do you own?”
“Twenty percent.”
James asked, “Do you receive distributions?”
She looked at him.
“What?”
“Money.”
“No.”
“Have you ever?”
“Once.”
“How much?”
Her voice barely carried.
“Thirty thousand.”
I stared at her.
“You took thirty thousand dollars from that company?”
“We used it to pay taxes.”
“Whose taxes?”
“Lauren's.”
I laughed.
Of course.
“Did you know my $360,000 went into North Star?”
Mom shook her head.
“No.”
“Did you know Grandma's original inheritance funded Lauren's store?”
“Yes.”
“Did you know Lauren forged my name?”
“No.”
“Did you know she forged James's?”
“No.”
James leaned forward.
“Did you sign any document authorizing North Star to use Tom's house as collateral?”
Mom froze.
I felt cold.
“Mom?”
“Yes.”
James's voice stayed calm.
“Did Tom know?”
She looked at the floor.
“No.”
My hand went to my mouth.
“You forged Dad's approval?”
“No. I signed as co-owner of the house.”
“Without telling him?”
“He was going to lose the store!”
“Lauren was going to lose the store.”
“She is my daughter!”
“So am I!”
The words exploded out of me.
Mom jerked back.
“So am I.”
I stood.
“All my life you treated her emergencies like they mattered more than my boundaries.”
“That's not true.”
“You stole from me for her.”
“I was going to replace it.”
“You lied to me for her.”
“She needed us.”
“I needed you too!”
Mom's face crumpled.
“I know.”
“No. You know now because everything blew up.”
She covered her mouth.
I kept going.
“When I had Emma, you stayed three days.”
“You said you were fine.”
“Because you told me Lauren was having a crisis with her boyfriend and needed you.”
Mom stared at me.
“She wasn't.”
I froze.
“What?”
Mom's eyes closed.
“She wasn't having a crisis.”
“What was happening?”
Silence.
“Mom.”
“She had a weekend trip.”
For a moment, I couldn't speak.
“You left me three days after I gave birth so you could watch Lauren's dog while she went away?”
Mom started crying.
I felt something inside me die.
Not violently.
Quietly.
The last little piece of the mother I kept hoping existed.
“Get out.”
She looked up.
“Sarah.”
“Get out.”
“Please.”
“I don't want you near Emma right now.”
“She's my granddaughter.”
“And I'm her mother.”
Mom stood.
“You can't take her away from me because I made mistakes.”
“Mistakes?”
I looked directly at her.
“You participated in financial fraud that stole hundreds of thousands of dollars from me, hid a company, signed away Dad's home behind his back, and then sat silent while Lauren slapped my baby.”
Mom flinched.
“That's not one mistake.”
James opened the door.
Mom walked toward it.
Before leaving, she turned back.
“There is something you need to know about Lauren.”
I almost laughed.
“Of course there is.”
Mom wiped her cheeks.
“She didn't come to Christmas dinner just to celebrate.”
“What does that mean?”
“She came because she needed access to your purse.”
My blood ran cold.
“Why?”
Mom looked toward James.
Then at me.
May you like
“She needed Emma's Social Security card.”
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