“There she is!”
Mom hugged me tightly.
“We’re so proud of Jake for looking out for you.”
I looked around the room at my family’s happy faces.
They genuinely believed Jake had done something wonderful.
In their minds, I was the irresponsible younger sister who had gotten in over her head, and Jake was the hero who cleaned up my mess.
“Tell me exactly what happened,” I said, sitting across from Jake.
“It’s pretty simple,” Jake began, clearly enjoying the attention.
“I noticed you never came back to check on the house.”
“Neighbors mentioned they hadn’t seen you in months.”
“I drove by and saw the lawn getting overgrown despite the service.”
“Mail was piling up despite forwarding, and the place looked abandoned.”
“So I did some digging.”
He continued proudly.
“I called the mortgage company, pretending to be worried about my sister.”
“They confirmed you were behind on payments.”
“Three months, Sarah. Three full months.”
That was impossible.
I knew my automatic payments were working. I checked my accounts regularly, even from overseas.
“So I went to the bank,” Jake continued.
“I explained the situation.”
“They said foreclosure proceedings had started, and the property would go to auction within 60 days.”
“That’s when I knew I had to step in.”
“How did you get the legal right to sell it?” I asked carefully.
Jake pulled out a folder of documents.
“Power of attorney.”
“Lucky thing you signed this before you left for your mysterious job.”
He handed me a document with my signature at the bottom.
The signature looked perfect.
Too perfect.
Jake had always been good at forgery, a skill he’d used in high school to sign his own report cards.
“I don’t remember signing this,” I said quietly.
“You signed it the day before you left,” Jake said confidently.
“You said it was in case of emergencies.”
“Don’t you remember? You were really stressed about leaving the house.”
The room full of family members nodded sympathetically.
In their version of events, I had been overwhelmed and Jake had stepped up to help.
“The buyers were great,” Jake continued.
“A nice young couple, first-time homeowners.”
“They were preapproved for the full amount and willing to close quickly.”
“Honestly, Sarah, you should see how happy they are.”
“They’re planning to start a family in your old house.”
“And you handled all the paperwork?”
“Everything.”
“Title transfer, mortgage payoff, even coordinating with the real estate agent.”
“I saved you thousands in commission by finding the buyers myself.”
Jake was beaming with pride.
“I sold your little house for $300,000.”
The family burst into applause.