Tiffany simply shrugged her shoulders. “He probably forgot because he is so swamped at work, but we are already settled in and there really is no room for extra guests.”
The phrase “extra guests” echoed in my head. In my own house, everyone stopped what they were doing to stare at me.
It was as if they expected me to scream or make a scene, but I refused to give them that satisfaction. “Okay,” I said with a gentle smile. “I will find somewhere else to stay for now.”
Her eyes shone with a clear sense of triumph. I went to a small motel a few miles away that had a partial view of the water where I could barely see the roof of my home.
I did not sleep that night, not because I was sad, but because I finally had total clarity. I understood that this was no longer just a family rudeness.
It was an invasion and a message. The next morning, when I returned to enter with my own key, I discovered that what Tiffany had done was much worse than I had imagined.
Part 2
My key would not turn. It wasn’t that I had the wrong key, but someone had replaced the entire lock cylinder on the front door.
I stood motionless in front of the entrance with the sound of the waves behind me and an icy feeling settling in my chest. I knocked three times, very loudly.
Mindy, who was Tiffany’s sister, opened the door with messy hair and a coffee mug in her hand. “Oh, Mrs. Sterling,” she said, treating me like an unwelcome solicitor. “Did you forget something?”
“Yes, I forgot several things including my clothes, documents, and personal belongings,” I replied firmly. Mindy hesitated and looked me up and down before closing the door in my face to go ask Tiffany for permission.
Five minutes later, Tiffany appeared wearing my favorite bathrobe with her hair still wet from a shower. “What happened now?” she asked while feigning a look of concern.
“I need to get my things out of the house,” I told her. “Right now everything is a mess since we have taken apart rooms and moved furniture, so maybe it would be better if you came back next week,” she suggested.
“No, I am going in today,” I insisted. She let me pass, but she did it with the attitude of someone granting a massive favor.
I went straight up to the master bedroom where the bed was unmade and other people’s cosmetics were scattered across my dresser. I felt a pang of disgust, but I kept moving toward the closet.