Chapter 14 - The Closing
He approached slowly, keeping his hands where I could see them.
“I’m not here to stop you.”
“Then why are you here?”
“Jennifer said she was coming. I wanted to get here first.”
I looked past him. Her car wasn’t in the lot.
“I’ve told her to stay away from you,” he said. “She says we need you to help repay her dad.”
“I hope she repays him.”
Stuart swallowed. “The contractor will keep our deposit. We can sell our place and make things right with Aaron’s family. It’ll take time.”
For once, he was talking about a problem he had to solve himself.
“I found the serving spoons,” he added. “Jennifer had them in a drawer. I brought them.”
He handed me a small paper bag. I didn’t open it.
Inside, the Hendersons were waiting with Martha. They told me they would care for the house. I believed them.
I signed the papers. I received my copies. The sale was complete.
When I came outside, Stuart was still on a bench.
“I’m sorry,” he said. “For Thanksgiving. For letting her talk about you like you weren’t there. For joining in.”
I sat at the other end of the bench.
“You humiliated me in my own home,” I said. “Lily and Max watched you do it. I need you to understand that an apology doesn’t erase it.”
“I know.”
“You need to apologize to them too. They were frightened.”
“I will.”
I stood. I wanted to believe him. I would watch what he did next.
Martha drove me back to collect the last of my things. The movers had finished. The rooms echoed.
On the mantel, I had left the old photograph of Stuart by accident.
I picked it up.
Then my phone rang.
May you like
It was Max.
“Grandma,” he said, “Dad told us what happened. Can you still come to my school concert?”
