Chương 10
Elise leaned back.
Robert’s eyes were red-rimmed. He looked exhausted, but she resisted the urge to comfort him. His guilt did not require her labor.
“Why did Eleanor tell you about changing the trust?”
“She wanted me to serve as a witness if Diane challenged her capacity.”
“Did you agree?”
“Yes.”
“Then why is no statement from you in the file?”
“I never signed one.”
“Why?”
“Grant asked me not to.”
There it was.
Not Diane. Grant.
Robert looked toward the window, where trucks passed on the wet road.
“He came to me after Eleanor told him he had been removed,” he said. “He said a statement from me would humiliate Diane and divide the family. He said Eleanor was angry because he refused to abandon the business. He said she would calm down.”
“Did you believe him?”
“I wanted to.”
“What happened when she didn’t change her mind?”
“I told myself the lawyers had enough evidence.”
“And after she died?”
“Diane said we should challenge the trust quietly before notice went out. Grant said he could negotiate with whoever the beneficiary was.”
“He knew it might be me.”
“He suspected.”
“Why?”
Robert looked at her then. “Because Eleanor told him she wanted the house to protect the baby.”
Elise’s hand moved to her belly.
“She changed the trust before I was pregnant.”
“She changed the beneficiary then. She added the written explanation after you told her about the pregnancy.”
A memory returned: Eleanor in hospice, lifting one papery hand toward Elise’s stomach and saying, You are allowed to keep some news for yourself. At the time, Elise had assumed she meant Diane’s complaints about learning the pregnancy after Marisol.
“Grant knew Eleanor wanted to protect the baby from him?”
“From instability,” Robert said. “That is how she put it.”
“Don’t soften it.”
Robert looked down.
Elise asked, “What does Grant’s business need?”
“Money.”
“How much?”
“I don’t know exactly. More than he has.”
“Debt?”
“Yes.”
“Personal?”
“Some.”
“Did he use our joint savings?”
Robert’s silence answered.
“How much?”
“I saw a transfer for seventy-five thousand dollars last winter.”
Elise gripped the edge of the table.
Their account had never held seventy-five thousand dollars, not while she had access to it.
“From where?”
“An investment account Eleanor funded for him years ago. He told you it had been exhausted paying for the first gym.”
“He told me there was nothing left.”
“There was.”
“Why would he hide that?”
“He believed you would object to the second location.”
“I would have.”
Robert nodded.
The server arrived with menus. Neither had ordered food. She glanced between them and said she would return.
Elise felt suddenly hungry and nauseated at once.
“What are you asking me to do?” she said.
“Nothing.”
“You didn’t come here just to confess.”
“I came because Grant asked me to persuade you to sign a temporary authorization allowing him to negotiate financing against the property while the trust challenge is resolved.”
Elise stared at him.
Robert took a folded document from his jacket but did not place it on the table.
“He says it will save the business.”
“And you brought it?”
“To show you what he is doing.”
“Did you read it?”
“Yes.”
“What does it actually do?”
“It appoints him as your agent for property transactions.”
A coldness spread through Elise’s chest.
“Give it to me.”
Robert slid the paper across.
The document included a signature line with her name typed below it. A notary block waited at the bottom.
“Who drafted this?”
“A lawyer Grant’s partner uses.”
“Does that lawyer know I haven’t agreed?”
“I don’t know.”
Elise photographed each page and sent them to Rachel.
“Did Grant think you would trick me?”
“He thought I would explain the stakes.”
“What did you tell him?”
“That I would meet you.”
“That isn’t what I asked.”
Robert’s face tightened. “I told him I would not ask you to sign.”
“Did you tell him you were showing me?”
“No.”
“Why should I trust you?”
“You shouldn’t. Not yet.”
The answer disarmed her more than a plea would have.
Robert pushed his untouched coffee away.
“I should have spoken when Eleanor asked. I should have stopped Diane from opening the box. I should have told Grant the business was his risk, not yours. Last night I finally stood between you because I had run out of ways to call myself neutral.”
Elise looked at the authorization.
“Will you give a statement now?”
“Yes.”
“Even if Diane leaves you?”
Robert’s fingers curled around the edge of the table.
“Yes.”
The pause before the answer mattered.
Rachel called before they left the diner. She had reviewed the photographs and advised Elise not to communicate directly with Grant about the document. Her office would notify the drafting attorney that Elise had not authorized representation and that any attempt to use the document would be disputed.
When Elise ended the call, Robert said, “He will blame me.”
“Yes.”
“I know.”
“Do you?”
Robert looked toward the pie case near the register. “Probably not yet.”
The next three days passed without a single dramatic event, which did not make them peaceful.
Elise worked from Marisol’s dining table on a packaging design for a company that sold organic dog treats. She adjusted shades of green while lawyers exchanged notices about a house worth more than she had earned in her lifetime. Maya asked whether dogs cared about typography. Elise said probably not. Maya said then the work was silly. Elise could not disagree.
Grant sent one message each morning.
Friday: I hope you and the baby are safe.
Saturday: Mom hasn’t slept.
Sunday: I am still your husband.
May you like
Elise did not answer.
She changed passwords. She moved client payments to her new account. She discovered that Grant had listed himself as administrator on their shared cloud storage and removed her access after downloading several folders. Ben helped her recover files from her laptop. In a folder labeled TAX, she found scanned statements from an investment account she had never seen.
