“Oh, Poppy. It was such a mess. He overheard me say I was pregnant. He contacted Anthony and told him he’d say the baby was his if Anthony paid him off—and paid me off, too. Michael set up an account, and for a while, I got some of the money Anthony gave him. And then the rest of it was just gone. He spent it. He benefited from my situation.”

“He wouldn’t.”

“He sure would. I’ve got checks in Michael’s name to prove it. All these years I’ve been putting myself through school, eating tuna out of a can for every meal, never going out, barely able to pay rent much less cover the cost of Noah’s school supplies. That’s why I freaked out when you pounced him on me the other night, and why I don’t want him to have the house. Poppy,” Ann said, “you can’t let Michael have this house. Promise me.”

Poppy drew back. “I can’t do anything about that. Did you know he’s already filed to remove you as executor? He wants to force the sale. And Ann, it’s bad. Carol told me—”

“Oh, don’t worry about that,” Ann said. “Michael says he can buy me out, but I think he’s bluffing.” Ann sprang from the couch, bright, energized. “I know you don’t want the house to leave the family, and even though I thought I wanted to sell, I just can’t stand the thought of giving it up anymore, but I couldn’t afford it on my own. But then Maureen, Anthony’s wife, well, his widow I guess—anyway, we’re close now. We were both there when he—” Ann made a gun with her index finger and thumb and pretended to put it in her mouth.

“Oh, Ann. I’m so sorry you saw that.”

Now that the truth was coming out, Ann felt impatient to tell her sister everything. “But I was racking my brain trying to think of a way to keep this place, and when I told Maureen, she said her house here was totally destroyed this winter. She got some insurance money, and she wants to buy another one. She said she’d front me the money and we could go in on this place. Isn’t it horrible, having to buy your own house? But do you see? Thanks to Maureen, we can buy Michael out. The house can be ours!”

It was perfect, so why did Poppy seem so hesitant?

“What?” Ann asked. “What’s wrong?”

“Well, Brad is totally obsessed with Dad’s old tools.”

“He can have them! Oh my God, is that what you’re worried about? He can have every last one of those rusty hunks of metal. I made sure Noah had a tetanus shot at his last appointment.”

“No, listen…”