Then he said, “Yes.”
Vanessa looked stunned.
“You’re choosing Natalie over me?”
Dad’s expression changed again.
There it was.
The real grievance.
Not death.
Not grief.
Not paperwork.
Competition.
Dad shook his head.
“This was never about choosing one daughter over another.”
He pointed toward the house.
“This is about you deciding I was more useful dead than alive.”
Vanessa flinched.
Grant stepped between them.
“That’s ridiculous.”
Dad turned toward him.
“You told Natalie she was finally out of the family.”
Grant said nothing.
“You arranged to evaluate my truck before you had seen a death certificate.”
Nothing.
“You came here to change the locks.”
Nothing.
“And yesterday somebody called my funeral provider, contacted my attorney, and tried to interfere with my phone.”
That finally got a reaction.
Vanessa looked at Grant.
Not at Dad.
At Grant.
I saw it.
Dad saw it too.
Grant immediately said, “I didn’t touch your phone.”
