She walked to the kitchen table and set them down in front of all of us.
The kitchen went quiet. Even the basketball game in the living room seemed to fade. Steve, Shirley, and Tanner had stopped talking. I could hear the clock on the wall again, ticking.
Rob put his cup down.
Pam looked at Mom, then at me, and took a breath.
“I need to tell you all something,” she said. “And I need you to let me get through it.”
Nobody moved.
She opened the white envelope first. Inside were four cashier’s checks from Harvey State Bank. She laid them on the table one by one, the way you’d deal cards.
One was made out to Rob Weber, one to Dean Weber, and one to Julie Hagen. Each was for $250.
The fourth was made out to Arlene Weber, for $5,600.
“That’s your propane money,” she said, looking at my brothers and me. “All three shares. And that’s Mom’s house payment money. Every dollar of it.”
Mom made a small sound. “Pam, no. I gave you that.”
“I know you did, Mom.” Pam’s voice shook. “And I shouldn’t have taken it. Not while you were sitting out here in the cold.”
“Where did you get this?” Dean asked quietly. “Shirley said you guys were…”
