Nothing more. No drama, no curse words. Just okay. Let him wonder what I meant. Let him wonder what I did.
That afternoon, the loan officer called.
“Mrs. Taylor, we noticed you revoked your co-signature on the Green Leaf mortgage file for Jacob Taylor and Ellie Taylor. Is that correct?”
“Yes,” I said calmly. “That’s correct.”
There was a polite pause on the other end, tightening the air.
“Unfortunately, that will significantly impact their creditworthiness. We’ll have to halt approval pending a new co-signer or full income verification.”
“I understand,” I said. “Have a nice day.”
I hung up.
Less than ten minutes later, Jacob called. I didn’t answer. I sat on the couch nursing my arm, listening to the phone ring out.
Then Ellie texted. “What did you do?”
That made me laugh. Not a bitter laugh. A real one, the kind that comes from a place so deep in your chest you forgot it existed.
I typed back one word, the same word I had given Jacob.
“Okay.”
What I meant was: you made a mistake, and now you will learn what that costs.
The next morning, I woke to twenty-three missed calls. Seven voicemails from Jacob, desperate and confused.
But the last one made me freeze.
“Mom, please call me,” he said. “Ellie says she’s pregnant.”
My heart slammed.
Before I could process it, someone knocked on my door hard, three loud bangs that rattled the frame. I looked through the peephole and opened the door to find Jacob standing there looking disheveled, shirt wrinkled, hair uncombed, holding a folder like he was practicing what to say. Behind him stood Ellie with her arms crossed and sunglasses hiding her eyes.
The first words out of her mouth weren’t I’m sorry.
They were: “You just ruined our lives.”
I stepped aside silently and let them in. They sat on the couch. I stood.
The silence stretched too long, so I broke it.
“You hurt me,” I said quietly.
