Chapter 4
Elena Price met me at her office with a notebook and a cup of tea.
She was around Dad’s age, with silver-framed glasses and a voice that made it easier to slow down. She waited while I explained dinner, the house, and Mom’s call.
“When your grandmother made the trust,” Elena said, “she chose Robert to manage it until you turned twenty-five. She wanted the property transferred to you then.”
“Why not Mom?”
“You’d have to ask Grace what she was thinking. They had argued about money. She trusted Robert to respect the instructions.”
I thought of Dad waiting fourteen months after my birthday.
“He didn’t respect the date.”
“No,” Elena said. “He knows that.”
She asked me to send her the rental records and offered to have an independent accountant review the trust. She also advised me to speak to a lawyer who represented only me if I expected a dispute with my parents.
“Can’t you do that?” I asked.
“I prepared the trust for Grace and advised Robert about his duties. I can explain those records, but I want you to have someone whose only job is to protect your interests.”
For the first time since dinner, I felt someone had given me room to decide.
I called Aunt Celia afterward. She was Dad’s older sister and had known Grandma Grace well.
“Did you know about the desert house?” I asked.
“Yes.”
“You never thought to tell me?”
“I thought Robert had. Grace was proud of what she left you.”
I leaned against my car.
“He hadn’t told me.”
Celia swore softly.
“Come over tonight,” she said. “Bring the letter if you want. I’ll tell you what I remember.”
At her house, she made rice and chicken even though I said I was not hungry.
“Your mother wanted Grace to put the property in a family company,” Celia told me. “Grace refused. She wanted it to be yours.”
“Mom says she took care of Grandma.”
“She did, at times. They had a difficult relationship. Grace could be stubborn, and Diane took everything personally.”
“Did Mom ever need to get away from Dad?”
Celia set down her fork.
“Why are you asking?”
“Mom said I should ask him why she stayed at the desert house.”
“I know they’ve been arguing. I don’t know what she meant.”
I called Dad from Celia’s porch.
“Mom says she needed a place to go,” I told him. “Was she leaving you?”
“We’ve been living separately on and off for six months.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“We weren’t sure what we were doing. She stayed with her sister sometimes. I didn’t know she was using the desert house.”
I looked at the dark yard.
“Is that why she asked me to leave?”
“I don’t know. I think finding Grace’s letter frightened her because she knew what questions would follow.”
“That isn’t an answer.”
“No. You’ll need to ask her.”
After we hung up, Celia came outside with my coat.
“You can stay here whenever you need to,” she said.
“I have an entire house.”
“You can own a house and still need a person.”
I hugged her.
That night, I drove back through the hills. A light was on in the kitchen when I reached the gate.
I had turned everything off before leaving.
I called Dad, then waited in my car while he called the security company. A guard met me at the door. Together we went inside.
No one was there.
The back patio door stood unlocked.
On the kitchen island sat a copy of Grandma’s letter. Someone had circled the line about making my own choices.
Underneath it was a note in Mom’s handwriting.
Ask Robert what he signed last winter.
Dad arrived before I finished reading it.
He saw the note and closed his eyes.
“What did you sign?” I asked.
“A temporary agreement,” he said. “Diane said she’d repay the trust if I gave her time.”
“Did you give her the right to use the house?”
“I signed a letter allowing her to manage bookings to cover expenses. I didn’t know how many bookings there were.”
“You knew there were some.”
“Yes.”
I held up the note.
“Why did you tell me last night you didn’t know she rented it out?”
“Because I was ashamed I’d agreed to anything without telling you. I thought the letter only covered a few events.”
I stepped away from him.
“Both of you have been deciding what I can handle.”
“You’re right.”
“Go home, Dad.”
He hesitated.
“Is the security guard staying?”
“Yes. Elena can help me change the codes tomorrow.”
He nodded and left.
May you like
I stood in the kitchen with Grandma’s letter in my hands.
I had come to the house thinking Dad had finally told me the truth. Now I had to find out which part he was still holding back.
