The Roof Receipt Led To A Company That Never Came

On Monday morning, I took a personal day from the boat yard.

My boss said, "Your desk will be here tomorrow. Take care of what you need."

I sat in Inez's office with my feet on a spare chair while an accountant named Priya Cole spread papers across the table.

She worked for the supper board. Her job was to check its money, including the $18,400 paid to Celia.

"First," Priya said, "we separate what we know from what people have told us."

I liked her at once.

She had confirmed the board's transfer to Celia Events. Walter had approved it after receiving the roof invoice and the page with my signature.

"He should have checked with you directly," she said. "He's put that in his statement."

"Who did the roof?" I asked.

Priya turned the invoice toward me.

Bayou Ridge Roofing. A local firm. An address off the highway.

I knew that address. We sent boat trailers past it every week.

"That's an empty lot," I said.

Priya nodded.

"The company is real. That isn't its address. Its owner says the invoice number isn't his, either. He's sending a signed statement and his estimate."

"His estimate?"

"He visited in February. He quoted twelve hundred dollars to fix loose flashing. He never got the job."

Aunt Lorna had left $6,200 in a building account. I had checked its balance after her death. Priya confirmed that money was still there. There had been enough for that work.

I had let Evan take over the paperwork because he offered, and because I was tired.

That was the whole mistake. It had felt so small when I made it.

Inez placed a hand beside my notebook.

"Trusting your spouse doesn't make you responsible for a false invoice."

I wrote that down because I knew I would forget it later.

My phone rang. June was outside the hall.

"Celia told me to bring back my key," she said. "She says supper is canceled this week. Is that true?"

Walter looked up.

"No."

June put him on speaker.

"She said there wouldn't be a hall after Friday. She told the kitchen helpers to take their pots home."

Walter asked her to wait there. He and another board member went to the hall while we kept working.

Twenty minutes later, he called back.

"The food is here. The utilities are on. We're opening as usual. Celia's turned over her keys pending the review."

I let out a breath.

Kit ate there two nights a week while June worked the late shift at a care home. Other families counted on those meals, too.

They had become pieces in a sale they knew nothing about.

Near noon, Evan sent me a message.

You're scaring everyone over paperwork. Come home and talk.

I replied: Send the reserve statements to Inez.

He did not answer.

Priya studied the page with my false approval.

"Have you signed anything for the building recently?"

"An inspection request in January. Evan brought it to work."

I found a scan in my sent mail. The request had been for a low-cost roof inspection through the parish housing office. Evan had said it might help us plan repairs.

Priya placed the two signatures side by side on her laptop.

There was a tiny stray line below the M. My pen had caught on the edge of my desk when I signed in January.

The same stray line appeared on the approval dated three weeks earlier.

"That needs proper examination," Inez said. "But keep both files."

At two, Walter sent a copy of a folder from the board's shared email archive. Celia and Evan both used it for hall business.

The folder held the roof invoice, the approval, and a message Evan had sent to Celia before she asked for payment.

Inez read it first.

Then she turned the screen so I could see.

Use the signature from January. Mae won't have to deal with another form. Once the board pays you back, we can settle the other account after closing.

I read it twice.

"After closing," I said. "He meant selling the hall."

Inez printed the message.

Rosa arrived to drive me back to her house. Before we left, she gave me a folded sheet she had found inside one of my unopened shower gifts.

It was from Celia to the guests.

Please join us Thursday evening for a family resolution. Mae has agreed to explain and apologize.

Below that was the address of Lantern Hall.

I had agreed to nothing.

"Can the board meet Thursday?" I asked Walter over the phone.

"Yes," he said.

I flattened the invitation against my knee.

"Then let's keep her date."