Chapter 10 - The Rebuilt Hearth
Six months later, summer had returned to Oak Park.
The oak tree in the front yard was thick with vibrant green leaves. The porch had been sanded down and stained a warm honey brown, and Diane’s flowerbeds were once again bursting with yellow marigolds and red roses.
The legal proceedings had moved like an avalanche. Lauren and her brother took plea deals to avoid federal prison sentences exceeding twenty years. Lauren received seven years for wire fraud and forgery, her assets were liquidated by court-appointed trustees, and Marcus Vance was disbarred and faced five years of his own.
Jared had recovered nearly every penny stolen from the trust, using the remaining funds to clear the mortgage on the Oak Park house and establish an ironclad conservatorship that could never be touched by anyone other than me.
Jared sat across from me on the back patio, drinking iced tea while the warm afternoon breeze rustled the trees.
“Business is picking up again,” Jared said, stretching his arms. “I broke ties with all of Marcus’s old associates. Built an entirely new team. It feels good, Dad. Honest work.”
“It’s the only kind of work that lets you sleep through the night,” I smiled.
He laughed, taking a sip of his tea. “You really love this house, don't you?”
“It holds your mother’s soul,” I said, looking toward the sunroom window. “Every corner has a memory.”
Jared stood up, wiping his hands on his jeans. “Speaking of the sunroom... the contractor called me this morning. When they were pulling up the rotten floorboards under Mom’s old sewing station to reinforce the foundation, they found something buried in the crawlspace.”
I frowned, setting my glass down. “In the crawlspace? What are you talking about?”
May you like
“A fireproof steel lockbox,” Jared said, heading toward the back door. “They said it had an old mechanical dial, and it looked like someone had recently tried to drill the lock out.”
***
