Chapter 2 - THE QUESTION MY SON ASKED
I sat down in George’s desk chair.
“What exactly did Matthew ask you?”
Daniel hesitated.
“He wanted to know whether the house was held inside the trust.”
“And?”
“I told him I could not discuss your estate without your permission.”
“What did he say?”
“He said it was urgent.”
My hand tightened around the phone.
“How urgent?”
“He said he and you were reviewing some financial options together.”
“We weren’t.”
Another pause.
“I figured.”
My stomach turned.
“When did he call?”
“Yesterday afternoon.”
I looked toward the ceiling again.
Yesterday afternoon, while I was still driving home.
“What else did he ask?”
“Whether you had ever given him power of attorney.”
I stood up so fast the chair rolled backward.
“I have not.”
“I know.”
“Daniel, why would he ask that?”
“That’s what we need to find out.”
I lowered my voice.
“He moved into my house while I was gone.”
“What?”
I told him everything.
The boxes.
My bedroom.
George’s belongings packed away.
Jessica calling the house hers.
When I finished, Daniel was quiet.
Then his voice changed.
Not panicked.
Professional.
Which scared me more.
“Do not sign anything they give you.”
“I won’t.”
“Do not give Matthew access to your phone, email, bank accounts, or identification.”
“He used to help with some online bills.”
“How much access?”
“I don’t know.”
“Find out.”
A floorboard creaked outside the study.
I turned.
Nobody was there.
“Daniel?”
“Yes?”
“I want to change my will.”
“That can wait until we secure everything else.”
The study door suddenly opened.
Matthew stood there.
His hair was messy.
His face was pale.
“How long have you been awake?” he asked.
I ended the call.
“Long enough.”
His eyes went to the papers on the desk.
“Mom, what are you doing?”
“Reading things I should have read more carefully years ago.”
He leaned against the door.
“Can we talk?”
“We did.”
“No, we fought.”
“I didn’t fight. Your wife told me to get out of my own home.”
“She was upset.”
“She was comfortable.”
He sighed.
“You don’t understand what’s been happening.”
“Then explain it.”
He looked down.
“My company cut my department.”
I stared at him.
“When?”
“Four months ago.”
My chest tightened.
“You lost your job four months ago?”
“Not completely. I’m doing contract work.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Because I didn’t want you worrying.”
I almost laughed.
“You moved into my house without permission because you didn’t want me worrying?”
He flinched.
“Our savings are almost gone.”
“Then you ask for help.”
“I was embarrassed.”
“Embarrassment doesn’t give you ownership of my bedroom.”
He walked closer.
“Jessica’s business has been struggling too.”
Jessica ran a boutique home-design company.
For years, she made sure everybody knew how well it was doing.
New car.
Expensive handbags.
Weekend trips.
Photos from restaurants where one dinner cost more than my monthly grocery bill.
“How much debt?”
Matthew rubbed his face.
“A lot.”
“How much is a lot?”
He didn’t answer.
“Matthew.”
“About eighty thousand.”
I stared at him.
“Credit cards?”
“Business loans. Cards. Some personal stuff.”
“And moving into my house fixes that?”
“It reduces expenses.”
“By making them mine?”
“No.”
“Yes.”
He took another step.
“Mom, the house is paid off.”
There it was.
The sentence I had been waiting for.
“What does that have to do with anything?”
He froze.
I stood.
“Matthew.”
“It’s just an asset sitting here.”
My heart started pounding.
“An asset?”
“You have a lot of equity.”
“So?”
“So there are options.”
“What options?”
He looked toward the hallway.
I followed his eyes.
Jessica stood near the stairs.
She had been listening.
She walked in.
“A home equity line,” she said.
Matthew closed his eyes.
I stared at her.
“You wanted me to borrow against my house?”
Jessica’s tone became impatient.
“Not borrow. Use the equity.”
“That is borrowing.”
“We could pay everything off.”
“We?”
“You help us now, and when the house eventually becomes ours—”
“Stop.”
She did.
The room went completely still.
I looked at Matthew.
“Did you call Daniel because you were trying to find out whether you could borrow against this house?”
“No.”
Jessica said, “We were exploring options.”
“I didn’t ask you.”
Matthew finally whispered, “We just needed to know what was possible.”
“Without me?”
“No.”
“Then why did you call my attorney before talking to me?”
He had no answer.
Jessica did.
“Because every conversation with you becomes emotional.”
I looked at her.
“My husband died in this house. My life is in this house. Forgive me for having emotions about it.”
She crossed her arms.
“You’re sitting on hundreds of thousands of dollars while your son is drowning.”
Matthew said, “Jess, stop.”
But she didn’t.
“He’s your only child.”
“And I’m still alive.”
Nobody spoke.
I gathered the documents.
“Forty-eight hours became twenty-four.”
Jessica laughed sharply.
“You cannot just throw us onto the street.”
“You had an apartment until last week.”
“We gave it up.”
“That was your decision.”
Matthew looked desperate.
“Mom, please.”
“No.”
His jaw tightened.
Then he said something I never expected.
“You already agreed.”
I stopped.
“To what?”
His face changed.
Jessica turned toward him.
“Matthew.”
But it was too late.
I stepped closer.
“What did you just say?”
He stared at me.
“You already agreed to the loan.”
My mouth went dry.
“No, I didn’t.”
Nobody moved.
Then Jessica slowly looked away.
May you like
And that was when I understood.
Somewhere, on some piece of paper I had never seen, my signature already existed.
