My stomach dropped because it was a cashier’s check made out to me for forty thousand dollars.
I honestly thought it had to be old or canceled somehow. My hands were shaking so bad I had to look three times at the date.
Tucked behind it was one folded note from Mom.
“Denise already took what she thought mattered.”
That was it. One sentence.
The next morning I drove straight to the bank. The teller checked everything twice, disappeared into the office for ten minutes, then came back smiling and said, “Looks good to me.”
I didn’t tell anybody for almost a week.
Then Denise called asking if I wanted the old sewing cabinet too because they were “trying to clear junk out fast.” I said sure, and when I got there, everybody was back in her living room dividing things up again like vultures picking over bones.
My nephew was arguing over a set of golf clubs when Denise asked if I’d found anything interesting in the Bible.
I said, “Actually, yeah.”
The whole room got quiet.
I pulled Mom’s note from my purse and handed it to Denise first. She read it once, then again slower. Her face went red right up her neck.
Rick leaned over her shoulder trying to see it. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
I said, “I think Mom knew exactly how this was gonna go.”
Then I told them about the check.
Nobody laughed this time. Denise just sat there holding that little note while everybody suddenly acted very busy looking at furniture.
I used the money to pay off my mortgage two months later.
Denise still has Mom’s china cabinet. I have the Bible on my nightstand exactly where I left it.