When Daniel and I opened the home equity line of credit two years ago to replace the failed furnace, which cost six thousand four hundred dollars, and to repair the back porch, the remaining principal stood at forty-one thousand dollars.

I logged into my company laptop, opened my monthly budget ledger, and lined the numbers up side by side.

Even though six hundred dollars went straight toward the equity line principal every month from my main payroll account, the balance statement Frank Vance had handed me showed the debt had grown to fifty thousand dollars.

Nine thousand dollars had been added back onto the equity line in May without my knowledge.

I picked up my phone, dialed the main line for Sloan Family Law in Denver, and asked the receptionist for the first available consultation with Rebecca Sloan.