Chapter 4 - The Signature Nobody Checked
Kyle answered on the fourth ring.
“Tell me you didn't bill my mother for work you never did.”
He didn't speak.
I could hear a television in the background.
Somebody laughed at a commercial.
The ordinary sound made the situation feel even worse.
“Kyle.”
“I didn't bill your mother.”
“Then why is your company on the invoice?”
“What invoice?”
“Eight thousand nine hundred dollars. Roof repair. February 2024.”
He went quiet.
Then he said something I wasn't expecting.
“Ryan, I didn't even have that company in February 2024.”
I stared at Emily.
“What?”
“I registered Keegan Property Services last year. Before that, I worked under my own name.”
I felt my anger shift into confusion.
“Then how did your logo get on a 2024 invoice?”
“I don't know.”
“Steve's been working with you on the property.”
“Since August,” Kyle said. “Not before.”
I took a breath.
“Can you prove when you started?”
“Of course. Business registration, insurance, old invoices. But Ryan, I want to see that paper.”
I asked Mom to photograph it.
A minute later, the image appeared.
White paper.
Blue company logo.
An invoice number.
A description of roofing materials and labor.
Kyle stared at the copy after I forwarded it.
Then he called back.
“That's my logo,” he said.
I waited.
“But that's not my invoice format.”
“What do you mean?”
“Steve asked me for a sample estimate in August. He said he needed it for comparing contractors.”
I closed my eyes.
“He copied your logo?”
“Looks that way.”
Emily leaned toward the phone.
“Did he tell you the house needed sixty thousand dollars in repairs?”
Kyle paused.
“Who's that?”
“Emily.”
Another silence.
Then he whispered, “Steve's Emily?”
She leaned back.
“Apparently I'm still his daughter.”
Kyle apologized awkwardly.
Then he answered her question.
“Yes. He told me the house needed significant work.”
“Did you inspect it?”
“Only part of it.”
“What part?”
“The porch, dining room, and kitchen ceiling.”
“And?”
Kyle hesitated.
“The damage was worse than I expected.”
I looked at Emily.
“How much worse?”
“The porch has movement in the supports. The dining room ceiling has old water damage. There are electrical issues near the kitchen wall.”
“But Steve says sixty thousand will fix it.”
“That's not a real quote from me.”
“Then what is it?”
“A number he gave me.”
I rested my elbows on the table.
My best friend had helped Steve prepare marketing materials for a house with serious damage, using drawings I'd created for Grandma.
And he never questioned why I wasn't involved.
“Why didn't you tell me about any of this?” I asked.
Kyle sighed.
“Because Jenna asked me not to.”
There it was.
My sister.
Again.
“Why would Jenna tell you to keep secrets from me?”
“Ryan, there's something else.”
I waited.
“Jenna and I have been seeing each other.”
For several seconds, I couldn't respond.
“You're joking.”
“No.”
“How long?”
“Seven months.”
I looked through the diner window.
Cars passed beneath the streetlights.
My whole life seemed to be rearranging itself while everybody else carried on normally.
“Seven months,” I repeated.
“We wanted to tell you.”
“When? At Thanksgiving? The dinner I wasn't invited to?”
He didn't answer.
I could practically see him rubbing his forehead, the way he always did when he knew he'd disappointed somebody.
“Jenna thought you'd be upset.”
“About you dating?”
“About us not telling you sooner.”
I laughed once.
It wasn't a happy sound.
“Funny how keeping secrets makes the thing you're afraid of worse.”
“I know.”
“Do you?”
“Ryan, I love her.”
The words surprised me.
Kyle wasn't a man who said that lightly.
But loving Jenna didn't excuse betraying me.
“I hope you're good to her,” I said. “That doesn't change what you did to me.”
He was quiet.
Then he said, “I need to come clean about something else.”
I waited.
“Steve showed me your old renovation drawings. He said you wanted to use them to help the family sell the place.”
“I never said that.”
“I believe you now.”
“Now?”
“I should've asked.”
I pressed my hand against my forehead.
Emily took a sip of cold coffee.
Then my mother called again.
This time, her voice was trembling.
“Ryan, I found more invoices.”
“How many?”
“Four.”
“For what?”
“Roofing. Electrical. Porch supports. Interior repairs.”
“Are they all from Kyle?”
“No.”
I sat straighter.
“Who are they from?”
“Different companies.”
Emily motioned for the phone.
I put it on speaker.
“Mrs. Harper,” she said gently.
My mother's maiden name was Harper.
There was a sharp intake of breath.
“Emily?”
“Hello, Aunt Linda.”
Mom didn't answer.
Emily continued.
“Would you please look at the bottom of each invoice? Find the payment instructions.”
I watched her face.
She already suspected something.
Mom rustled papers.
“There's a bank name.”
“Read the account holder.”
A long silence followed.
Then Mom whispered:
“Harper Building Services.”
Uncle Steve's business.
Every invoice, no matter which contractor's name appeared at the top, directed payment to his company.
Mom began crying.
But Emily wasn't finished.
“Aunt Linda,” she said, “I need to ask you something.”
“Yes?”
“Is the silver watch Dad accused me of stealing still missing?”
Mom's breathing changed.
“Why would you bring that up?”
“Because he said I took it to pay his debts.”
“Emily, please.”
“Did anyone ever find it?”
Silence.
Then Mom said something that made Emily go completely still.
“Steve told me last month that he was having Grandma's watch repaired.”
I looked at my cousin.
Her face had drained of color.
May you like
For seven years, she had been treated like a thief.
And the watch she supposedly stole had been with her father all along.
