“No. For you. So you wouldn’t have to hear no.”
Evelyn studied him closely.
“Where did they get keys?”
Daniel looked away.
Claire stopped crying.
The answer was there, hanging between the three of them.
“Daniel,” Evelyn said. “Where did they get keys to my house?”
He took a deep breath.
“I made a copy from your purse during the rehearsal dinner. Just the side entrance key and the guest wing key.”
Aunt Susan covered her mouth.
Evelyn said nothing for several seconds.
From the back, the mother of one of Daniel’s friends murmured:
“That’s no longer a favor. That’s breach of trust.”
Daniel tried to touch her shoulder.
“Mom, don’t look at it that way.”
Evelyn took one step back.
“Don’t tell me how to look at a betrayal you committed with your own hands.”
The phone was still on speaker. On the other end, a man’s voice shouted in the distance.
“Tell the old woman we’re here! Daniel said this part of the house was ours!”
The whole ballroom heard it.
Claire went white.
Evelyn lifted the phone slightly higher.
“Peter, who said that?”
“Mr. Arthur Blake, the bride’s father.”
Evelyn looked at Claire.
“Ours?”
Claire pressed her lips together.
At that instant, another sound came through the phone: metal banging against the gate.
Peter spoke quickly.
“Ma’am, they’re trying to force the side lock. A patrol car is on the way.”
Daniel put both hands on his head.
“Tell my father-in-law to stop!”
Evelyn looked at him with a sadness that finally cut through him.
“No, Daniel. You tell him. I already understand who thought they were in charge of my house.”
