"What are you doing?"
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I took it.
Mom and Dad stood outside the courthouse. Dad had one arm around her, holding her up.
Behind them stood Aunt Denise and Uncle Warren.
Aunt Denise was smiling.
***
I turned the photo over.
Mom's handwriting nearly split me open.
"If anything happens to us, don't let Denise take the kids. Our eldest, Rowan, will know what to do.
Marianne."
"Don't let Denise take the kids."
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***
"Did Mom know they were going to die?" Benji whispered.
"No," I said, but my voice shook. "No, buddy. But I think she knew whom not to trust."
The next morning, I took the photo to Mrs. Dalrymple.
She stared at it for so long that I thought she had not heard me.
Then she sat down.
"Oh, honey."
My stomach dropped. "You know this picture?"
"I know that day."
"She knew whom not to trust."
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"What day?"
Her eyes filled. "The day your mama came home and said, 'If Denise ever gets near my babies, you call Rowan first.'"
I gripped the back of her kitchen chair. "She said my name?"
Mrs. Dalrymple reached for my hand. "She said you were the only one who loved them without wanting something back."
I couldn't breathe right.
"Tell me everything."
"She said my name?"
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She did.
Mrs. Dalrymple opened her safe while I gripped Mom's photo like it might disappear.
"You knew Denise was after us?" I asked.
"I knew your mother was afraid she would try," she said.
She handed me a folder.
Inside were copies of guardianship papers, emails, and a note in Mom's handwriting.
The papers didn't just name Denise as backup guardian; they gave her control of the house, the insurance payout, and every account Mom and Dad had opened for us.
