Then I called Marcus, a carpenter who had worked on the lake house since I was a kid.
« Claire, honey, what happened? »
« Everything okay at the lake? »
« A party happened. I need the whole place restored. Quietly. And I need the locks changed by tonight. »
« Give me two days on the locks. A week on the rest. »
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****
I paid him from my inheritance account, the one Daniel had never bothered to learn the login for. I hired a cleaning crew that afternoon. By sundown, every wrapper and bottle was gone.
At home, I kissed Daniel on the cheek and asked about his day.
I started disappearing to the lake on weekends.
« Long one, » he said, watching me a little too closely. « You seem tired. Everything okay at the lake? »
« Just dusty. Might need some real work one of these days. »
« Yeah? Might not be worth it. »
