Chương 3
The first page was a cost estimate from a retirement community twenty minutes west of the city. Nothing luxurious. A one-bedroom apartment, meals, transportation, access to nursing care if he needed it later. The entrance deposit had seemed obscene when he first toured the place. Then he compared it with what he had spent keeping Logan’s household afloat during the previous three years.
The community was cheaper.
Loneliness, apparently, had a competitive rate.
He closed the file when another piano note sounded downstairs.
Chelsea’s meeting lasted forty-two minutes.
She presented the Tudor renovation from memory because she could not look at the notes in her portfolio without seeing Albert’s name printed above Logan’s signature. She recommended widening the kitchen opening, restoring the original oak in the library, and spending less on the primary bathroom than the clients expected.
The cardiologist’s husband, Daniel, watched her for a moment.
“Are you talking us out of giving you money?” he asked.
“Only the stupid portion.”
He smiled. “That may be why we hire you.”
She smiled back. Her face knew how.
When the meeting ended, Chelsea sat in her car with the engine off. Her cream robe was folded on the passenger seat because she had forgotten to leave it at home. She had driven the entire way wearing it over her dress and realized only in the parking lot. She removed it before going inside and hid it beneath her portfolio like evidence of a private collapse.
Now she took out the third notice.
The paper carried an attorney’s telephone number. Chelsea called it.
A receptionist answered, took her name, and placed her on hold.
Chelsea watched a woman push a stroller along the sidewalk. The child inside held a yellow plastic shovel. One of the wheels squeaked every few feet.
“Mrs. Higgins?”
A man introduced himself as David Kline, counsel for Albert Higgins. His voice was courteous and unhurried.
“I need to understand whether my father-in-law intends to take our house,” Chelsea said.
“I cannot characterize Mr. Higgins’s intentions beyond the notice.”
“Then characterize the notice.”
“The secured note has matured. Mr. Higgins has elected not to renew it.”
“Why thirty days?”
“It is an opportunity to present a good-faith plan.”
“And if we cannot?”
“There are several possible next steps.”
“That is not an answer.”
“It is the accurate answer. The process would depend on the loan documents, the property, any senior debt, and what you and your husband propose.”
“Could he force a sale?”
“Eventually, enforcement could place the property at risk.”
Chelsea closed her eyes.
The stroller wheel squeaked again outside.
“Did my husband tell Mr. Higgins I knew about this loan?”
A pause.
“I cannot discuss privileged communications.”
“That means yes.”
“It means I cannot answer.”
“What can you answer?”
“I can provide copies of the executed documents to your attorney, with Mr. Higgins’s authorization. I would also strongly recommend independent counsel for you and your husband.”
“Together?”
Another pause, shorter this time.
“That is a question for the attorney you choose.”
Chelsea thanked him because politeness had been drilled into her deeply enough to survive catastrophe.
She called the bank next.
The first person transferred her. The second explained that Logan had to join the call. The third, after verifying what little Chelsea could verify alone, told her that any refinance application would depend on income, existing debt, credit, and the property’s current value.
“What if the borrower’s income has changed?” Chelsea asked.
“Then we evaluate the current income.”
“What if the borrower has business obligations?”
“They may affect qualification.”
“What if I earn income through my own company?”
“We would need documentation.”
“How much?”
“Tax returns, profit-and-loss statements, bank statements, and other records depending on the file.”
Chelsea looked through the windshield at the brick Tudor she might redesign. The clients had not hired her yet. Even if they did, the project would pay in phases. Her business had a good reputation, but good reputation was not the same as dependable income. She had spent years explaining that distinction to young designers who mistook a full calendar for solvency.
She ended the call and phoned Logan.
He answered on the first ring.
“Where are you?”
“At the office.”
“Send me the last three years of our tax returns, your partnership statements, every mortgage document, every business guarantee, and a list of debts.”
Silence.
“Logan?”
“I heard you.”
“Send them.”
“I’m in the middle of something.”
“So am I.”
“You are panicking.”
“No. I panicked in the hallway. This is what I do after.”
“What did Dad’s lawyer say?”
Chelsea watched the yellow shovel drop from the stroller. The woman pushing it did not notice. Chelsea got out of the car, picked it up, and jogged half a block to return it.
The mother thanked her. The child stared solemnly, gripping the shovel with both hands.
When Chelsea returned to the car, Logan was still on the line.
“Chelsea?”
“Your father’s attorney suggested we may need separate counsel.”
“That is standard caution.”
“He also suggested you told your father I knew about the loan.”
“I never said that.”
“You implied it.”
“I said we had discussed our finances.”
“We discussed a gift.”
“This distinction did not matter until Dad decided to make it matter.”
Chelsea started the engine.
“It mattered the day you signed.”
“Where are you going?”
“To the house.”
“I’ll meet you there at noon.”
“Bring the records.”
“Chelsea, I cannot walk out of the firm carrying confidential financial material.”
“I asked for ours.”
“I need time.”
“You have thirty days.”
She ended the call.
At home, she changed out of the emerald dress and put on black trousers and a white blouse. The cream robe remained in the car.
May you like
She carried the three notices to the kitchen and spread them across the marble island Albert had helped pay for. Then she opened the household accounting program on her laptop.
Chelsea managed the bills she knew existed. Utilities. Landscaping. Staff payments for the woman who cleaned twice a week. Her car lease. Groceries. Club membership. Charitable contributions. Her business expenses were separate.
