Chapter 1 - The House on Magnolia Hill
Three years earlier, the Vale residence had looked untouchable.
The four-bedroom house stood on Magnolia Hill overlooking the gray waters of Puget Sound. It had tall windows, a curved staircase, cream-colored stone, and a dining room large enough for twenty guests. Marjorie called it the family legacy, although the family had owned it for only nine years.
Clara returned to Seattle after a fourteen-month overseas assignment expecting two quiet weeks before reporting to her next post.
Instead, she found her father sitting alone in the dark kitchen.
Richard had always seemed dependable. He paid bills early, balanced every account, and lectured his daughters about saving money. That night, however, unopened envelopes covered the marble counter.
“What happened?” Clara asked.
Richard removed his glasses and rubbed his eyes.
His engineering consulting business had lost two major contracts. Then one of his business partners had disappeared with company funds. Richard had borrowed against the house to keep employees paid, believing new contracts would arrive before the debt became dangerous.
They never did.
The mortgage was three months behind.
A foreclosure warning had arrived that morning.
“Does Mom know?” Clara asked.
“She knows we’re having a difficult year. She doesn’t know how close we are to losing the house.”
“And Serena?”
Richard shook his head. “Your mother would never let her worry about something like this.”
The answer stung, though Clara did not show it.
Serena lived twenty minutes away in a luxury apartment. She earned a good salary as a public-relations director, traveled regularly, and arrived at family gatherings wearing new jewelry. Yet Richard was protecting her from the truth while asking nothing of her.
Clara picked up the foreclosure notice.
“How much do you need?”
Richard looked ashamed. “Too much.”
“Give me the number.”
He did.
Clara had saved nearly that amount for a down payment on a small townhouse near Joint Base Lewis-McChord.
She transferred the money the following morning.
The foreclosure process stopped.
May you like
Richard promised it would be temporary.
Clara wanted to believe him.
