Chapter 5 - THE ACCOUNT
Sunday morning, Margaret’s bank called about a transfer request.
“Mrs. Collins, we need to confirm whether you authorized nine thousand eight hundred dollars to be moved from your savings.”
Margaret stood in her kitchen holding an orange.
“No.”
“The request came through online banking.”
“Cancel it.”
The representative guided her through securing the account, changing credentials, and removing old device access.
Margaret remembered giving Daniel help with the online setup after Arthur died.
He had said it would be easier if he could log in when she needed him.
At the time, she had been grateful.
Now she sat down.
There was only one person she knew who might still have those details.
She called him.
He answered with irritation already in his voice.
“Mom, it’s six in the morning here.”
“Did you try to transfer money from my savings?”
A long pause.
Then:
“It was temporary.”
Margaret set the orange on the counter.
“How much of that sentence was supposed to make me feel better?”
“We had an issue with a card. The hotel put a hold on it.”
“So you decided to take almost ten thousand dollars.”
“Borrow. And I knew you’d say yes.”
“You didn’t ask.”
“Because you’ve been acting strange.”
There it was.
Her refusal to open a gate had become permission to reach into her account.
Margaret held the phone away for a moment and drew a steady breath.
“Your access is gone.”
“Mom—”
“It stays gone.”
“Are you seriously going to leave us stranded?”
“You booked a luxury vacation. You will handle the bill.”
Rebecca’s voice sounded behind him.
“What’s happening?”
Daniel lowered his voice.
“We’ll discuss this when we’re home.”
Margaret almost said all right.
The words rose automatically.
She swallowed them.
“No. We’ll discuss it when I’m ready.”
She ended the call and phoned Ellen.
The attorney listened without interrupting.
“Keep the bank’s confirmation,” she said. “And make a note of exactly what he told you.”
Margaret wrote down the conversation.
For years, she had saved receipts for things.
Now she was saving a record of words.
That afternoon, Denise arrived with a casserole.
Margaret told her about the transfer.
Denise looked toward the cardboard box beside the sofa.
“You’re still unpacking a life he thought belonged to him.”
Margaret’s phone lit up again.
This time, it was an airline notification from the family calendar.
Daniel had changed their return flight.
May you like
They were coming home Tuesday.
Two days early.
