“Explain these.”
His face immediately went pale.
“It’s not what you think.”
“What do I think?”
“I was helping Mom.”
“By getting access to her accounts?”
He rubbed his jaw.
“Come on.”
I stared at him.
“Why, Jason?”
He didn’t answer.
“How much did you need?”
His eyes finally lifted toward mine.
Silence.
“Twenty.”
“Jason.”
“Twenty.”
“Twenty what?”
“Thousand.”
My hands went cold.
“Why?”
He looked toward the stairs.
“My business is in trouble.”
And finally, the entire story came out.
Payments were late.
Two major jobs had fallen through.
He was behind on equipment financing.
He owed money to suppliers.
“Mom has money sitting there,” he said. “I would’ve paid it back.”
“You asked her before, didn’t you?”
