Chương 3
She had signed the lease eleven days earlier under her maiden name, Laura Hayes, then immediately felt ridiculous about it. Not liberated. Not transformed. Ridiculous.
Her driver’s license still said Bennett.
Sophie was Bennett.
Daniel had been Bennett.
Changing the name on a rental application did not undo six years.
Still, when the leasing agent had asked which name she wanted on the mailbox, Laura had said Hayes.
The apartment was on the third floor of a brick building above a dentist’s office and a small accounting firm. It had two bedrooms, one bathroom, old hardwood floors, and a kitchen so narrow that opening the dishwasher blocked the refrigerator.
Laura loved it.
She had not told Sophie that yet.
Children could detect salesmanship.
The rideshare driver helped put the damaged suitcase in the trunk.
Sophie climbed into the back seat.
Laura paused with one hand on the door.
Across the street, the Bennett mansion looked absurdly beautiful.
Margaret stood in the driveway surrounded by clothing she had thrown outside herself.
Richard was talking to the officer.
Jason had disappeared.
Laura wondered where.
Then she saw movement behind an upstairs window.
Jason.
Daniel’s old room.
He was looking down at her.
Their eyes could not possibly meet at that distance, especially through her sunglasses.
Still, Laura felt seen.
She got into the car.
Sophie buckled herself.
“Can we get pancakes?”
Laura looked at the time.
8:17.
She had a call with the closing attorney at nine.
The movers were arriving at the apartment at ten.
She had twelve unread messages.
Her stomach had been clenched since dawn.
“Absolutely.”
“With chocolate chips?”
“Let’s not lose our minds.”
Sophie smiled.
“Mom.”
“Fine. Chocolate chips.”
The driver glanced at them in the mirror.
“Celebrating something?”
Laura opened her mouth.
Nothing sensible came.
Sophie answered.
“We sold our house.”
The driver nodded.
“Congratulations.”
Laura looked out the window as the mansion disappeared behind trees.
“Thanks,” she said.
She cried in the pancake restaurant bathroom.
Quietly.
Annoyingly.
Not because Margaret had kicked her suitcase.
Not because Richard had looked betrayed.
Not because she had finally left.
She cried because Sophie had ordered chocolate milk without asking permission.
Margaret hated chocolate milk at breakfast.
For six years, Laura had enforced Margaret’s rule because it was easier than enduring the commentary.
Too much sugar.
No discipline.
Children need boundaries.
Daniel never drank chocolate milk in the morning.
Laura sat on the closed toilet lid and pressed toilet paper beneath her sunglasses until it came away gray with mascara.
A woman entered the next stall while talking on her phone about a plumber.
Laura listened to the stranger complain that somebody named Todd had once again forgotten to shut off the downstairs valve.
It was wonderfully ordinary.
She washed her face.
When she returned to the booth, Sophie was drawing a face in whipped cream.
“You were gone a long time.”
“I know.”
“Were you crying?”
Laura sat.
“Yes.”
Sophie licked whipped cream from her spoon.
“Because Grandma was mean?”
“Partly.”
“Is Grandma going to jail?”
Laura winced.
There it was.
Consequences.
“I shouldn’t have said the police were there for them like that.”
“But they were.”
“They were there because Grandpa threatened the person who brought him papers. That doesn’t mean anybody’s going to jail.”
“Oh.”
Sophie looked disappointed.
Laura almost smiled.
“Police aren’t decorations for dramatic exits.”
“What?”
“Nothing.”
Her phone vibrated.
Nora Feldman.
Laura’s attorney.
She let it ring once more before answering.
“Hi.”
“Tell me you’re not still at the house.”
“I’m not.”
“Good. Richard called me six times.”
“Only six?”
“Laura.”
“I’m sorry.”
Nora sighed.
“Are you safe?”
“Yes.”
“Sophie?”
“Eating pancakes.”
“Okay. I need to tell you something before you see it somewhere else.”
Laura stopped reaching for her coffee.
“What?”
“Richard contacted the buyer directly.”
“How?”
“He found their names in the closing documents he photographed yesterday.”
Laura shut her eyes.
“What did he say?”
“We don’t know exactly. Their attorney says he alleged the sale was fraudulent.”
The restaurant seemed to become louder.
Silverware.
A child laughing.
Coffee cups landing on saucers.
Sophie drew a smile in syrup.
“Can he stop it?”
“The sale already recorded.”
“That wasn’t my question.”
“No. Not simply by saying fraud. But he can create trouble.”
“What kind?”
“The expensive kind.”
Laura looked at Sophie.
“Of course.”
“Laura, listen to me. The deed was valid. Daniel inherited the property from his grandmother. His estate passed his interest according to the documents we reviewed. The title company signed off. The closing happened. None of that changes because Richard is furious.”
“But.”
“There’s always a but.”
Laura waited.
Nora continued.
“He’s claiming Daniel promised the property back to the family.”
Laura looked toward the window.
A delivery truck was backing into the parking lot.
Beep.
Beep.
Beep.
“Daniel promised a lot of things.”
“Was this one of them?”
“I don’t know.”
That answer frightened her more than no would have.
Nora became quiet.
“Think carefully.”
“I am.”
“Did Daniel ever tell you the house was supposed to remain with his parents?”
“He told me his grandmother left it to him because she didn’t trust Richard with it.”
“When?”
“Years ago.”
“Anyone else hear that?”
“I don’t know.”
“Anything in writing?”
“I don’t know.”
“Okay.”
“Nora.”
“Yes?”
“What aren’t you saying?”
The attorney exhaled.
“Richard says he has a letter.”
Laura stared at her untouched coffee.
“What letter?”
“A letter from Daniel.”
Sophie looked up.
Laura stood.
“I’ll call you back.”
She walked outside before Nora could answer.
The summer heat struck her shoulders.
Cars moved along the road.
A landscaping crew unloaded equipment across the street.
Daniel had been dead six years.
There should not have been new things he could say.
That was one of death’s few reliable rules.
Laura called Nora back.
“What does the letter say?”
“We don’t have it yet.”
“Then how do you know?”
“Richard described it to the buyers’ attorney.”
May you like
“And?”
“He says Daniel acknowledged that the mansion belonged morally to the family and that he intended to transfer it back.”
