Chương 6 - WHAT GRANDMA LEFT
Arthur met us in Ruth’s conference room.
He brought copies from the acquisition data room.
I recognized Grandma’s handwriting on the first page.
Her signature.
Her address.
The amount she had given me after selling her house.
But the agreement underneath was unfamiliar.
The money had been documented as a loan secured against the original restaurant’s equipment and other business assets.
“If it’s valid,” Ruth said, “the obligation doesn’t disappear because Brett wants to sell.”
“Grandma died five years ago.”
“Who inherited her estate?”
“Me.”
Arthur slid forward another sheet.
“The company’s books say payments were made.”
Ruth read it.
“To whom?”
Arthur tapped the account number.
“An account labeled Finch Family Reserve.”
I shook my head.
“I’ve never had an account called that.”
The listed payments totaled more than ninety thousand dollars.
I remembered clipping coupons that winter.
Brett had told me we needed to conserve cash.
I had postponed dental work.
I had canceled a trip Micah wanted.
Somewhere, somebody had been collecting payments in my grandmother’s name.
Arthur sat back.
“I liked Brett’s restaurants.”
“They’re my restaurants too.”
“I understand that now.”
“You understood it when you saw the check.”
His face tightened.
“Fair criticism.”
Ruth asked for the complete data room.
Arthur agreed to share what he lawfully could and preserve the rest.
After he left, I called my aunt in Iowa.
“Do you remember Grandma signing a business loan?”
“She said your husband wanted proper paperwork.”
“Why didn’t she tell me?”
“She said you already worried enough.”
My aunt fell quiet.
Then she said something that made me grip the phone.
“Opal didn’t trust him by the end.”
“Why?”
“He came asking her to sign something else.”
“What?”
“I don’t know. She sent him away.”
That evening, Lena arrived carrying an old external drive.
“I should have given you this sooner.”
“What’s on it?”
“Opening-week backups. Supplier lists. Photographs. Scanned contracts.”
“Why did you keep it?”
“Because your grandmother told me to.”
Lena looked at the brooch resting beside my laptop.
“She said Brett liked clean copies.”
“And?”
“She wanted somebody to keep the messy originals.”
The drive opened.
May you like
Inside a folder labeled OPAL was a scanned handwritten note.
If anything happens to my money, ask Audrey to check the back page.
