Chapter 5 - THE SON AT THE DOOR
Helen came over the next morning carrying coffee and a legal pad.
She read the document without speaking.
Then she photographed it and asked Margaret to tell the story again.
Slowly.
Every detail.
“Daniel came back the next day,” Margaret remembered. “He said he’d forgotten something.”
“Were you with him the whole time?” Helen asked.
“No. I was folding towels.”
The house seemed too quiet.
I looked toward the framed photograph above the mantel: Daniel at twelve, standing between us on a fishing dock.
Helen followed my gaze.
“Thomas. Don’t decide what happened before we have the records.”
“I know what that signature looks like.”
“So will someone trained to examine it. Let’s give them facts.”
She explained that the paper appeared to grant broad authority related to Margaret’s interest in the house.
Whether anyone had actually used it was the immediate question.
By noon, Helen had contacted the closing attorney and the company that had handled our title work. She sent written notice that Margaret disputed the signature and had authorized no transfer or guarantee.
At one fifteen, Daniel arrived.
Alone.
He still wore his wedding shoes.
Margaret sat in the living room with her knee elevated. I opened the door only wide enough to stand in it.
“Where’s Vanessa?”
“At her dad’s.”
“Good.”
“Can I see Mom?”
I looked back.
Margaret nodded.
Daniel entered, took in her brace and bandaged wrist, then dropped his eyes.
“Are you okay?”
“No,” she said.
He looked startled.
“I mean, is anything broken?”
“That’s a different question.”
He sat on the edge of the sofa.
For several seconds, he said nothing.
Then he leaned forward.
“Richard’s going to lose a lot of money if the house paperwork gets held up.”
I felt Helen straighten beside the dining table.
Daniel hadn’t noticed her.
Margaret’s face changed.
“You came here about the house?”
“I came because this whole thing is getting out of control.”
Helen stood.
“What paperwork, Daniel?”
He froze.
“Why is she here?”
“Because someone signed your mother’s name.”
He looked at the document on the table.
His face drained.
May you like
Then he said something that made the room feel smaller.
“I told Richard we should wait.”
