Chapter 11
The amount was $28,600.
I read the line again.
“What is this?”
“An accounting of expenses already covered for you.”
“Which expenses?”
“Your living expenses. The baby. Getting you settled.”
Mom leaned forward.
“Where was that money paid?”
Doreen turned a page.
“I'm not here to argue over every little detail.”
“That number is not a little detail,” I said.
There was a paragraph stating that I acknowledged receipt of the advance and agreed it would be credited against my eventual share of the property.
I thought of the rental payments. Paige's dresser. The crib I'd been told was too expensive.
If I signed this, the money would become something I had already received.
I picked up my phone.
“What are you doing?” Doreen asked.
“Sending this to my attorney.”
“You hired an attorney?”
“Yes.”
She stood so quickly her chair scraped the floor.
“Garrett was trying to keep this from becoming ugly.”
“Why did you come here talking about forgiveness if he already wants a settlement?”
Doreen pressed her lips together.
“He needs to know where he stands.”
“So do I.”
“He has another baby coming.”
“I know.”
“He can't carry everyone forever.”
I looked toward the bassinet.
“She is six days old.”
Doreen didn't look at Lucy.
Instead, she smoothed the corner of the proposed agreement.
I had thought she wanted me to take Garrett back. Now I could see she wanted something easier for him: my signature, my silence, and permission to call the missing money settled.
“Then he should have put the right name beside the money.”
“It is a draft.”
“I understand.”
“A draft can be changed.”
“Then he can change it.”
I photographed the pages while they lay on the table.
Doreen watched me, her face flushed.
“He's willing to let you stay in the condo eventually.”
“It already belongs to both of us.”
“You know what I mean.”
I did.
She wanted me to hear generosity in something I already had a right to discuss.
I placed the pages back in the folder.
“I won't sign this.”
Doreen looked toward Lucy again.
“One day, you'll have to explain why her father wasn't there when she was born.”
The words landed exactly where she wanted them to.
I took a slow breath.
“I'll tell her the people helping me stayed. I'll tell her she was loved.”
“You can't erase Garrett.”
“I haven't tried to.”