Chapter 4

4: 4

I didn't take the pen the accountant held out.

"This three hundred thousand — why is it mine to pay?"

Anthony finally left Serena's side and came over.

"Eight hundred thousand is the sum our branch pledged. You've already paid five. Just make up the rest."

"And who pledged the eight hundred thousand?"

"I did."

"Then why is the payer's name mine?"

He glanced around, and his tone softened.

"Brenda, I know you've been through a lot today."

"Pay it first. Don't give the whole James family a show to laugh at."

"The family records and the wing — I'll explain all of it slowly once we're home."

Once we're home. Again.

For seven years, every time he needed my money, my presence, or my hands to clean up his mess, he promised me a later.

And once it was done, that later turned into me being petty over money.

Margaret came over too.

"You've already put up five hundred thousand. What's another three?"

"You really want to make Anthony lose face on the day this place opens?"

I flipped the payment slip over.

On the back was the donation pledge Anthony had signed.

This branch pledges eight hundred thousand dollars; upon full payment, assumes the daily upkeep of the chapel and use of the east wing.

The donor name and the branch's total pledge are accounted separately.

I pointed at the last line.

"Did the elders force you to sign this too?"

Anthony didn't answer. He just pushed the pen back into my hand.

"Sign first."

"I'll take you to dinner tonight. Whatever you want to make up for it, name it."

Serena stood behind him, the side-wing keys in her grip, and coaxed me.

"Brenda, Anthony's been running himself ragged over this chapel for half a year."

"You two are married. It comes out of one account or the other, it's the same thing."

"If you mind about the wing, I don't have to move in for now."

She said she wouldn't move in, but her fingers only closed tighter around the keys.

Anthony turned back at once.

"This has nothing to do with you. You don't need to move."

He guarded the place she'd just been handed, then turned back around to hurry me for the money.

Serena slipped the keys into her bag. Anthony stood in front of her, waiting for me to make up the last three hundred thousand for the two of them.

The accountant was starting to look uncomfortable.

"Ms. Henson, the slip needs confirming today. Will you transfer now, or pay before month's end?"

"I'm not paying."

"This pledge isn't the one I signed."

I pulled my five-hundred-thousand transfer receipt back out of the accountant's folder, folded it, and put it in my bag.

Anthony's face darkened.

"Don't gamble with money out of spite."

"You walk out that door today, and in the end you'll still be back to fix it."

The old me really would have come back.

I'd have been afraid people would laugh at him for marrying a rich wife who wouldn't help her own husband, afraid Margaret couldn't hold her head up in front of the family.

That was exactly why they dared to use my money to restore the chapel, then seat me with the guests who weren't family.

I took the pen and crossed Brenda out of the payer line.

The ink bled through the paper, leaving two deep grooves.

Beside it I wrote a new payer: Anthony James.

"Whoever's name is in the family records can be the one to keep this family funded."

I pushed the slip back into the accountant's hands.

"From now on, the donations, the memorial dues, the upkeep fees for Anthony's branch — don't come to me for any of it."

Margaret reached out in a panic to snatch it.

"You've already married into the James family. What gives you the right to just walk away from it?"

The accountant moved out of her reach and lowered his head to confirm the pledge.

"Under the upkeep agreement, if the eight hundred thousand isn't paid in full by month's end, Anthony's upkeep rights will be revoked."

Margaret asked quickly, "What about the five hundred thousand already paid?"

"Applied to completed work. Non-refundable."

The keys in Serena's hand knocked lightly together.

The accountant looked toward the east wing.

"The side wing will be reclaimed as well, and reassigned by the family."