I watched the expressions outside change at once. Shock from the older aunt. Curiosity from the cousin with the speaker. Quiet embarrassment from one of the nieces, suddenly old enough to recognize the script she had been raised around. No one missed what Helena had admitted. No one missed that this was never about balloons or cake.
“You want the truth?” I asked. “Ten days ago I changed the locks because I found out your mother had copies of my keys. The next day I disabled the gate remotes because Daniel had downloaded the registration code. After that, I installed another camera inside my office because I wanted to know how far this had gone.”
Daniel froze. So did Helena.
“Claire,” Daniel said, softer now, “whatever you think you saw, let’s not do this in front of everyone.”
“No,” I replied. “We’re doing this in front of everyone because you were planning to do it in front of everyone too.”
The road outside went quiet except for the wind brushing along the property line.