Chapter 5
The accountant Elena recommended was named Patrice Warren.
She arrived at the desert house with a laptop, a stack of folders, and no patience for vague answers.
“I need every trust statement, every rental agreement, and the letter Robert signed,” she said.
I liked her immediately.
Dad sent the agreement that morning. It allowed Mom to schedule limited use of the property for six months, with all income going into the trust’s maintenance account.
The six months had ended long ago.
Patrice compared it with the records from Desert Dawn Events.
“There are rentals after the agreement expired,” she said. “And most payments did not go into the trust account.”
“Where did they go?”
“An account controlled by your mother’s company. I’ll need the full statements to see what happened next.”
I thought of the cream jacket, the pearls, and Mom telling me my rent was small.
“I want to hear her explanation before I decide what this means,” I said.
“Then ask for the records,” Patrice replied. “You’ll be able to hear her with the facts in front of you.”
I called Mom and asked her to meet me at the house with the company statements.
She arrived an hour late. She wore dark glasses even though the sun had gone behind clouds.
“I’m surprised you’ll let me through the gate,” she said.
“I changed the code because someone entered while I was out.”
“I came for my clothes. I left the door unlocked by mistake.”
“You left a note and a copy of Grandma’s letter.”
“I wanted you to ask your father questions.”
“I did. Now I’m asking you.”
I took her into the kitchen, where Patrice waited. Mom’s face tightened.
“You brought an accountant.”
“I want to understand the rentals.”
“They were my business.”
“They used my property.”
Mom sat down.
“I arranged guests, cleaners, repairs, and catering. I built that business.”
“You can be paid for work you did,” Patrice said. “We need to know what belonged to the trust and what belonged to the business.”
Mom opened her bag and produced partial statements. Patrice skimmed them.
Several large transfers were marked as loans to an account I did not recognize.
“What is this?” I asked.
Mom took off her glasses.
“My sister Denise had a medical bill. I helped her.”
“Did Denise know the money came from this house?”
“I used income I earned.”
Patrice kept reading.
“The transfers began before Denise was ill.”
Mom looked at the window.
“I borrowed some money when Robert and I separated. I planned to put it back.”
“How much?” I asked.
She told me an amount smaller than what Patrice had already found.
“Mom,” I said, “please give me the real number.”
Her eyes filled.
“I don’t know it without checking.”
“Then let Patrice check.”
Mom stood.
“You invited me here to put me on trial.”
“I invited you to explain the records.”
“You were always closer to Grace. She gave you this place because she knew it would keep you on her side.”
“Grandma died four years ago. I didn’t even know I owned it.”
Mom’s shoulders dropped.
For a moment, she looked as tired as I felt.
“Grace believed I was careless with money,” she said. “Every time I helped her, she checked what it cost. Then she left everything here to you and asked me to trust Robert with it.”
I understood why that stung. I did not understand why Mom had let me pay rent while she earned money from my house.
“You could have told me how you felt,” I said.
“You would have repeated it to your father.”
“You didn’t give me a chance to decide.”
She picked up her bag.
“I’ll have the remaining statements sent.”
After she left, Patrice closed her laptop.
“There may be another person involved,” she said.
She pointed to repeated payments to an account labeled Holloway Services.
“What does it do?” I asked.
“I don’t know yet. The invoices describe property management, but the address is the same as Desert Dawn Events.”
I recognized the name Holloway. It belonged to a man Mom had introduced at a dinner last year. She said he was a consultant.
I called Dad.
“Do you know a man named Leonard Holloway?”
There was silence.
“Diane’s business partner,” he said.
“She told me he was a consultant.”
“That was how she introduced him to me too. I found out they were closer than that after she started staying away.”
I sat down.
“Did you confront her?”
“Yes. She said the marriage had been over for years.”
I remembered Mom asking why she needed a place to go. I had thought she was trying to tell me Dad had hurt her.
I would not decide what their marriage meant from one phone call. I did need to know what Leonard had done with the property.
“Do you know if he had a key?” I asked.
“He had access to the event bookings.”
May you like
I looked toward the back patio door.
For months, people I barely knew had been able to enter the house Grandma meant to be mine.
