“A million dollars,” I whispered.

Juliette’s eyes snapped to mine.

The hatred in them was unmistakable.

“You keep out of this, Annie,” she said.

“This is family business.”

“Annie is my family,” Dan said, his voice rising in anger.

“And you’ve been lying to us for months.”

“I did it to protect myself,” Juliette said, her voice turning defensive.

“You children don’t understand the value of money.”

“You would have wasted it.”

“So you let us struggle?” Dan asked.

He looked like he had been slapped.

“We almost lost the car last winter, Mom,” he said.

“And you sat on a million dollars.”

“It’s my money!” Juliette shrieked.

“I earned it by taking care of my brother while he was dying!”

“You didn’t take care of him,” Sarah said.

“You visited him twice.”

“I was the one who drove him to chemo.”

“And you didn’t give me a single cent.”

The kitchen screen door creaked open.

Dan’s cousin, Marcus, looked in, his face red from the sun.

“Hey, is the food ready yet?” Marcus asked.

“People are starving out here.”

Nobody answered him.