Chapter 1

The smell of alcohol reached me before Brandon Kaiser even walked through the door.

I set my phone and the bill side by side on the coffee table.

He paused and glanced at me. Without saying a word, he crossed the room, sat down on the couch, and pinched the bridge of his nose.

"About your mom's membership card…"

He leaned back and rubbed his temples before continuing in a casual tone, "When Goldie came down with acute gastroenteritis, Alana panicked and called me. I happened to have the card with me, so I used it."

"That was my card," I said. "I got it for my mom."

"Your mom hadn't arrived yet. There was no point letting the card go unused," he countered.

My grip tightened around my phone.

"She went to the hospital today. The nurse told her there was no coverage left on the card, so she paid 398 dollars out of pocket. All she received was the basic exam. They didn't even check her bone density."

Brandon looked up at me. His lips parted as though he wanted to say something, but he swallowed the words.

Finally, he replied curtly, "I'll talk to the hospital and take care of it."

"Take care of what?"

"I'll arrange another exam for your mom."

"Brandon, even if you arrange for another exam now, there's no reversing the three hours she spent waiting at the hospital," I said.

He rolled onto his back and stared at the ceiling. When he spoke again, his voice was strained. "Do you really have to argue about this in the middle of the night?"

I didn't answer. Instead, I thought about what had happened the previous year.

Mom had injured her knee and wanted to use the card to see an orthopedic specialist at Juniper Hospital.

Brandon had told me, "She doesn't need a specialist for something like that. A regular appointment will be fine. The hospital may still need that slot."

Mom had spent the entire morning waiting in the general clinic.

That same year, Alana Sutton's cat had the sniffles, and Brandon got out of bed at 3:00 am to drive it to Juniper Pet Center for VIP treatment.

"When Alana's mom went to Stonby for the winter, you booked business-class tickets for her family," I said, looking directly at him. "When my mom came to Heston, you never once asked whether she needed someone to pick her up."

Brandon sat up, rose to his full height, and looked down at me.

"Alana's dad requested that I make the arrangements. I couldn't exactly turn him down after he came to me for help."

"You didn't turn anyone down last year, either," I said. "The only person you turned down was my mom."

He stared at me for a couple of seconds, then walked around the coffee table and headed for the bedroom.

At the doorway, he spoke without looking back, "I'll talk to the hospital about the membership card. Don't bring this up again. It'll look bad if my coworkers hear about it."

The bedroom door closed behind him, while I remained where I was in the living room.

Two pieces of paper lay side by side on the coffee table.

One was an itemized bill for 6,300 dollars from Juniper Pet Center, with an echocardiogram listed as the first item.

The other was Mom's receipt for the 398 dollars she had paid out of pocket. The bill was blank except for the total, and the notes section was empty.

Just then, my phone lit up.

Mom had sent me a voice message.

I clicked on it, and her gentle voice came through the speaker, "Hannah, I've made it to the hotel. I put the apples I brought you in the fridge."

I didn't reply.

I locked my phone, picked up the 398-dollar receipt, folded it in half, and then folded it once more and slipped it into my coat pocket.

My heartbeat remained perfectly steady, as though nothing had happened.