Chapter 2 - THE SON CATHERINE NEVER MENTIONED
Laura did not sleep.
She searched Catherine Hayes’s name until nearly dawn.
Most results were ordinary.
Real-estate development.
Charitable donations.
Planning-board appearances.
One old newspaper article changed everything.
MASON HAYES, 24, DIES IN CONSTRUCTION ACCIDENT.
Twenty years earlier.
The article said Mason fell from scaffolding at a residential development.
Developer:
Miller & Shaw Construction.
Daniel’s father’s company.
Daniel had worked there summers.
Laura’s stomach tightened.
The accident had happened on this same street.
Before the current houses were built.
She printed the article.
Then found another.
Lawsuit dismissed.
Hayes family alleged negligence.
Miller & Shaw denied wrongdoing.
Settlement confidential.
Catherine had lost a son.
Daniel’s family had been involved.
Laura suddenly understood part of the hatred.
Not all of it.
The next morning she confronted Catherine at the fence.
Catherine wore a white quilted robe and pearl earrings as if even anger required presentation.
“Did you know Daniel before I met him?”
Catherine looked at the article in Laura’s hand.
“So you finally learned his name wasn’t holy.”
“What happened to Mason?”
Catherine’s face changed.
Only for a second.
Then she became composed again.
“He died because men like your husband’s father cut corners.”
“Daniel was twenty-two.”
“He was there.”
“Was he responsible?”
Catherine stepped closer to the fence.
“He testified.”
Laura froze.
“Against you?”
“Against my son.”
Laura stared.
Catherine continued.
“Mason had complained about missing guardrails. Daniel said under oath that the platform had been properly secured when he inspected it.”
“Was that true?”
Catherine’s eyes hardened.
“Ask your dead husband.”
Laura swallowed.
“You bought this house because of him.”
“I bought back what was ours.”
“What does the pool have to do with Mason?”
Catherine looked toward it.
“That pool sits over the access easement my family once used to reach the old construction parcel.”
Laura frowned.
“Access to what?”
Catherine smiled thinly.
“You don’t know.”
Then she turned away.
Laura called Marcus.
This time he sounded uneasy.
“Daniel never told you about the easement?”
“No.”
Marcus sighed.
“The pool wasn’t supposed to go there originally.”
“Why did it?”
“Daniel insisted.”
“Why?”
“He said if the easement stayed open, someone could reopen a development claim through the back lot.”
Laura stared out at the pool.
“Someone like Catherine.”
“Yes.”
“Did Daniel own the strip?”
“He bought something. I don’t know if it was recorded correctly.”
“Why wouldn’t he record it?”
Marcus was silent too long.
“Marcus.”
“Because the seller died before final recording.”
Laura closed her eyes.
“So legally?”
“Messy.”
Catherine might have a claim.
Not necessarily to destroy the pool.
But enough to fight.
Then Marcus added:
“Laura, don’t underestimate her. Catherine lost Mason and spent twenty years learning exactly how property law works.”
That afternoon, Evan came home from school holding a folded paper.
“What’s that?”
“A lady gave it to me outside.”
Laura’s blood ran cold.
“What lady?”
“Grandma Hayes.”
Laura snatched the paper.
It was a copy of Daniel’s old deposition.
One sentence highlighted:
I observed Mason Hayes bypass the safety lock voluntarily.
May you like
Evan looked up.
“Mom… did Dad lie?”
