Chương 5
It had been an act of practical surrender disguised as estate planning.
Anna had warned her against it.
Daniel had warned her.
Even Caroline, during a call in June, had said, Mom, if you give Richard authority, he’ll hear ownership.
Eleanor had said everyone was being dramatic.
Now her left hand was turning purple.
Anna glanced at Madison’s phone.
“Do you still have the recording?”
“Yes.”
“Don’t edit it.”
“I won’t.”
“Don’t post it.”
“I wasn’t going to.”
“Don’t send it around to relatives.”
Madison looked toward Eleanor.
“Connor has a copy.”
Anna sighed.
“Ask him not to forward it. Keep the original file and the phone.”
Richard called Eleanor while Anna was speaking.
His name appeared on Madison’s screen because Eleanor’s own phone remained inside her handbag.
Madison looked at her grandmother.
Eleanor shook her head.
The call stopped.
A minute later, Anna’s phone rang.
She checked it.
“Richard.”
“Answer,” Eleanor said.
Anna hesitated.
“You’re my client. He isn’t.”
“Answer anyway.”
Anna put the phone on speaker.
“Richard.”
His voice filled the small hospital room.
“Anna, good. Listen, my mother is upset and Madison is making this worse. We need to keep this contained.”
Eleanor looked at Madison.
Madison’s face went pale.
Anna said, “Contained how?”
“Within the family.”
“What happened?”
“You know what happened.”
“I know what you told me.”
Richard exhaled.
“There was horseplay on the dock.”
Daniel made a sound that was almost a cough.
Richard heard it.
“Who’s there?”
Anna said, “Your mother.”
Silence.
Then, “Put her on.”
Eleanor leaned toward the phone.
“I’m here.”
“Mom, Jesus. Why didn’t you answer?”
“I didn’t want to.”
“You scared everybody.”
“I was the one in the water.”
“I know, and I’m sorry you got scared.”
Anna looked at Eleanor.
There it was.
Not sorry I kicked your hand.
Sorry you got scared.
Richard continued.
“But this is turning into something it wasn’t.”
“What was it?”
“You know.”
“I’d like to hear you say it.”
A pause.
“We were messing around.”
“I was hanging from a dock.”
“You had your feet under you.”
“No, I did not.”
“How would I know that?”
Leah’s voice from the dock came back to Eleanor.
She can’t swim.
“How would you know what?” Eleanor asked. “That I couldn’t stand? Or that I couldn’t swim?”
Richard did not answer.
“You knew both.”
“Mom—”
“You knew I couldn’t swim before you were old enough to shave.”
“You were right next to the dock.”
“That was what I was holding.”
Richard’s breathing became audible over the speaker.
“Can we not do this with Anna listening?”
Anna said, “I’m fine leaving.”
“No,” Eleanor said.
Richard gave a brittle laugh.
“This is exactly what I mean. Everybody’s turning it into a trial.”
“Nobody said trial.”
“Madison filmed it.”
“So?”
“So she needs to delete the video.”
Madison stiffened.
Eleanor said, “No.”
“Mom.”
“No.”
“You really want your granddaughter carrying around a video that makes her father look like some kind of psychopath?”
Eleanor glanced at Madison.
“What does the video show?”
Richard went quiet.
“What does it show?” Eleanor repeated.
“You know damn well.”
“I know what happened. I’m asking what it shows.”
His voice lowered.
“You’re enjoying this.”
That surprised her enough that she laughed once.
It hurt her ribs.
“Richard, I am wearing a hospital bracelet.”
“You know what I mean.”
“No. I don’t.”
“You finally have everyone looking at me like I’m Dad.”
The room became very still.
James Whitmore had been a demanding man.
Successful, disciplined, funny in rooms where he felt comfortable, and sometimes cruel in rooms where he did not. He had loved Richard in a way that frequently resembled evaluation.
Eleanor had spent years interrupting their fights and then pretending she had solved them.
“Your father is dead,” she said.
“I know that.”
“Then stop putting him between us.”
Silence.
Richard’s next words were quieter.
“He promised me the lake house.”
Eleanor looked at Anna.
Anna’s face revealed nothing.
“Your father promised many things when he was angry, drinking, generous, afraid or trying to end a conversation.”
“He told me it was mine.”
“He told me something different.”
“What?”
Eleanor did not answer.
Richard pressed.
“What did he tell you?”
She looked at her bruised hand.
“Not over the phone.”
Richard’s breath came out hard.
“Fine. I’ll come to the hospital.”
“No.”
“Mom, we need to talk.”
“We are talking.”
“Face-to-face.”
“No.”
Another silence.
Then he said, very calmly, “You don’t want to make decisions while you’re emotional.”
Anna closed her eyes briefly.
Eleanor felt the insult arrive with unusual clarity.
“You are right,” she said.
Richard sounded relieved.
“Good.”
“So I won’t.”
He paused.
“What?”
“I won’t make the decision I came to make today.”
“Mom.”
“I will not name you co-trustee.”
His voice changed.
“You said you would.”
“I said I would consider it.”
“You told me this weekend was it.”
“I told you Anna was coming to discuss options.”
“No. You said—”
“I know exactly what I said.”
“This is because of one stupid moment?”
Eleanor looked at Madison.
The girl’s eyes were fixed on the phone.
“No,” Eleanor said. “It is because I finally stopped pretending one stupid moment was the only moment.”
Richard hung up.
For a while the only sound in the hospital room was the ventilation system.
Then Daniel said, “About time.”
Eleanor looked at him.
He lifted both hands.
“I’ve been quiet for twenty years.”
Anna opened her tote.
“Well, don’t get reckless.”
Madison laughed.
This time Eleanor laughed too.
The doctor kept her for observation longer than she wanted. There was no dramatic diagnosis, which irritated Richard later when he learned it. Eleanor had bruising, strained muscles, mild irritation from the water she had inhaled, and instructions to return if her breathing worsened or new symptoms appeared.
The ordinary nature of the paperwork almost made what happened feel smaller.
May you like
Then a sheriff’s deputy came into the room.
He introduced himself as Deputy Hanley and asked whether Eleanor wanted Madison and Daniel present.
