Chapter 6 - The Bank
Stuart had tried to get account information. He had said he was my agent and my memory was declining.
The bank refused him. Helen’s revocation notice had arrived the day before.
“He asked when the notice was filed,” Helen told me. “He knows something changed.”
That night, Stuart called.
“Why did you remove me from your accounts?”
“Because they’re my accounts.”
“I’m trying to protect you.”
“From whom?”
He didn’t answer.
Then his voice hardened. “Jennifer says you’ve been packing. Are you selling Dad’s house behind my back?”
“Robert and I bought this house. Robert and I paid for it.”
“That’s not what I asked.”
“You can come by tomorrow. We’ll talk.”
When he arrived, he saw boxes stacked inside the front hall.
He didn’t ask where I was going.
“How much are you getting?” he asked.
“Hello to you too, Stuart.”
“Mom, this is a mistake. You can’t manage a sale alone.”
“Martha is managing it. Helen is reviewing the paperwork.”
His expression changed at Helen’s name.
Jennifer stepped out from behind him. She had been waiting on the porch.
“You hired a lawyer?”
“Yes.”
“To turn you against your family?”
“No one needed to do that for me.”
Stuart’s face reddened. For one moment, he looked as he had at Thanksgiving, seconds before he threw the turkey.
Then Max came up the walk carrying his school bag, and Stuart forced his hands into his pockets.
“Fine,” he said. “Sell it. But Dad meant for this house to stay in the family.”
“Your father meant for me to live safely in it.”
Jennifer laughed once. “You can say whatever you want. We know how forgetful you’ve become.”
I held her gaze.
“Tell me about the stove I supposedly left on.”
She went still.
Stuart looked from her to me.
May you like
“What stove?”
For the first time, I saw that Jennifer had told him only part of her plan.
