Page 11 of Bitter House

Her eyes widen slightly. “So it’s true.” She looks past me and into the hallway, stepping inside without warning. “She left you the house.”

It doesn’t really seem like a question, but I look at Cole. “Well, actually, she left it to both of us.”

She drops her jaw, staring between us. “The two of you? Who are you? The son of the help?” She sneers, looking back at me. “What did you say to her? Why did she do this?”

At my side, Cole is surprisingly quiet.

“I don’t know. Neither of us do. We found out after she died,” I say.

She blows an indignant breath through her nose. “Well, clearly it’s a mistake.”

“Edna said she left you an inheritance.”

Her eyes flame with rage. “Edna should keep her nose where it belongs. Wait a minute.” She lifts her chin and sniffs—she literally sniffs the air, as if she might be able to track her down like a bloodhound. “Is she here?”

“Who? Edna?”

“No. She’s not here. My mom moved out after Vera’s death. She’s staying in my apartment until she finds a place of her own.” Cole’s voice drips with venom. “She’s doing exactly what Vera wanted her to, just like she always has. And, for the record, the will is literally, legally, her business.”

Jenn wrinkles her nose, her wrist bent up near her shoulder like she’s afraid to touch anything—as if being poor is contagious—as she turns her attention back to me. “Well, clearly, it’s a mistake. She wouldn’t have left the house to you. No offense. I’m her daughter.”

Cole steps next to me, his shoulder brushing mine. It sends a wave of electricity down my body that I’m not prepared for. “Bridget’s mom was her daughter, too. She left Bridget the house for a reason.” Something about him standing up for me has my muscles smoothing out like I’ve slipped into a warm bath. The feeling is foreign.

“Be that as it may, I’m going to fight it,” she says. “No judge in his right mind would let this stand.”

A bitter, acrid taste settles in the back of my throat. “Be our guest.”

She shakes her head, looking around the room with haunted eyes. I wonder if she can still smell Vera here, the way I can. “This was never the plan. My mother could be cold, but this…this is beyond what she was capable of. She was going to leave the house to me. Her only living daughter. You’re stealing it from me. You, Bridget Lancaster, are a thief. In this house or not, you’ll never be a Bitter.”

“I—”

“How dare you? You have no idea what you’re talking about. Bridget may as well have been a daughter to her.” Cole’s tone is sour, angry as he steps in front of me. “You have no right to claim you know what Vera wanted, or to make Bridget feel bad for something she had no say in.”

Jenn’s chilling blue eyes lock on Cole as a block of ice slides down my ribcage. “Yes, you certainly would come to her defense, wouldn’t you? This is all just too convenient for you, isn’t it? How do we know this wasn’t some weird trick by you and that twisted mother of yours? I always told my sister I thought Edna was after Vera’s money, and now she’s gone and proven me right, just used you as her pawn. I’ll bet you two are laughing all the way to the bank, aren’t you? Bridget is just too naïve to see it. If your mother were here, Bridget, she’d agree with me. She always did.”

I don’t think that’s true. I only ever heard my mother and father speak kindly of Edna from what I remember, though it isn’t much. Still, I don’t respond, searching my memory for anything that might hint that Jenn is right. After all, Edna betrayed me once. Could she be doing the same now?

Cole is quiet for a second, the room eerily still. When he speaks, his voice is softer, lower. Somehow, it’s even more threatening. Like the first vibrations of an earthquake. “My mother was the closest thing Vera ever had to a friend. She cared about her, even when Vera did nothing to deserve it. And, as you well know, she was left nothing in her will. The house was left to me and Bridget, but all the money went to you. And your children. My mother isn’t getting a dime.”

She sneers. “I’ll bet she hates that.”

“Edna deserved a lot more than Vera left her,” I say firmly. “After all she did for her, and for this family. But the money never mattered to her.” I cross my arms. “I don’t know why you’re so upset about the house. It’s not like you grew up here. We did.” I move my thumb back and forth between Cole and me. “It’s ours, and Vera knew that.”

Cole steps backward, his eyes on mine as our shoulders brush once again. It’s clear he didn’t expect me to stand up for him, but right now it feels like it’s us against the world. Two little outcasts ruling the castle. “It’s ours,” he agrees. “Feel free to fight that, but until you’re able to, unless someone tells us you’ve won, we’re going to have to ask you to leave and not come back.”

She scoffs. “You can’t kick me out of my family house.” As if to prove her point, she stalks across the room and takes a seat at the desk. “I’m not leaving, and I’m certainly not listening to a child.”

Next to me, Cole bristles, but before he can argue or make this worse, I switch tactics.

“Please don’t do this,” I say softly. “I don’t want it to be like this between us. We’re family. You’re…you’re the only family I still have. Even if we haven’t stayed in touch over the years, I know my mom would want us to fix this. You were her sister. She loved you.” My voice cracks as I say it, knowing how true it is.

Her face softens slightly, somewhere around the eyes. I never really knew my aunt, and I knew my cousins even less. When I was a kid, my family was close. We visited Bitter House for birthday parties and Christmases, family dinners, and Thanksgivings, but those days are just distant memories. We haven’t spoken in years, but with Vera gone, they’re the only thing I have. They’re my only remaining connection to my mother. To my past.

“I don’t know what happened between Vera and the rest of the family. When I was younger, you guys were around more, and then…you just stopped coming.”

“That was never my decision,” Jenn says, refusing to look at me. “My mother always had things her way. You know how she was.”

“Well, it’s not how I want it. As long as I’m here, if we can be civil, I’d love for it to go back to the family I remember from before Mom died. The holidays and the get-togethers, don’t you miss those days? Because I do. I know it can’t be fixed overnight, but I’d love to find a place to start. Maybe we could get together for dinner or something. I just…I want to get to know you. All of you. I haven’t seen Jonah or Zach since we were all kids. It shouldn’t be like that. We don’t have to be the family Vera left. We can do it our own way.”

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