Roland\u2019s mouth opened, but no sound came out. His eyes were locked on the owner line, and I knew exactly what he was reading, because I had chosen that name myself six months earlier at the lawyer\u2019s table. Sheila crossed the kitchen and snatched the folder from his hands, her cookies for the realtor forgotten on my mother\u2019s china plate.<\/p>\n
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She read it too. Then she read it again, the way Roland had, as if staring hard enough would change the letters. \u201cHazel Marchetti,\u201d she finally said, her voice thin. \u201cWho is Hazel Marchetti?\u201d The young woman in the hallway smiled for the first time, jingling the ring of keys in her hand. \u201cI\u2019m the girl your husband told everyone disappeared,\u201d Hazel said. \u201cAnd I\u2019m the owner of the house you were about to sell out from under his mother.\u201d<\/p>\n
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