Chapter 8
My grandmother had known Marlene.
That discovery changed everything.
I called my mother, who lived three states away and avoided family drama like it was contagious.
When I mentioned Marlene’s name, she went silent.
“Mom?”
“Where did you hear that?”
“My mother-in-law.”
Another pause.
Then my mother said, “Jenna, your grandmother hated that woman.”
My skin prickled.
“Why?”
“They fought over the lake property years ago. Marlene’s father tried to buy it cheap after your grandfather died. Your grandmother refused.”
“Did Marlene know I inherited it?”
“Everyone in town knew.”
I sat down.
“So she didn’t target the cabin after I married Caleb.”
“No,” Mom said softly. “She may have targeted you before.”
I could not breathe.
Caleb stood across the room, watching my face collapse.
Mom continued.
“Your grandmother once told me that if anything happened to her, I should check the cabin safe.”
“What safe?”
“She never told you?”
“No.”
My mother swore quietly.
“She said there was a floor safe under the pantry boards.”
Caleb drove me to the cabin that afternoon.
Neither of us spoke much.
The cabin sat by the water, small and weathered and mine.
My grandmother’s wind chimes still hung on the porch.
Inside, the pantry smelled like cedar and dust.
Caleb lifted the boards carefully.
There was a safe.
Small.
Old.
My birthday opened it.
Inside were letters.
A property map.
A cassette recorder.
And a file labeled Lawson.
My hands shook.
Caleb whispered, “Jenna.”
I opened the file.
Marlene’s father had tried to pressure my grandmother.
Then Marlene herself.
Years later, Marlene’s signature appeared on a development proposal.
The lakefront lots.
The cabin.
The surrounding land.
All marked for purchase and resale.
My grandmother had written one sentence across the top.
They will wait for weakness.
The cassette held her voice.
“If Marlene Lawson ever gets near this family, protect the cabin and protect yourself. That woman smiles like a neighbor and plans like a thief.”
Caleb covered his face.
I stared out at the lake.
May you like
Marlene had not wanted five hundred dollars.
She had wanted revenge dressed as family.
