Chapter 16
“The current agreement names you as trustee, but not as sole beneficiary. There is a clause your father added after your mother’s death.”
She slid the page toward me.
I read it once.
Then again.
The clause stated that if I engaged in conduct that caused marital abandonment or jeopardized the welfare of my immediate family, the beneficial interest could be transferred to my spouse and child.
My mouth went dry.
“Why would he put this in the agreement?”
“Because he believed he had failed your mother. He wanted to prevent you from using the family assets to avoid accountability.”
“I didn’t know.”
“I believe you.”
The words should have comforted me.
They did not.
“Corinne knew?”
“She knew the clause existed. She did not know the full history until she met with Eleanor.”
I looked at the door.
“Where is she now?”
Miriam was silent for a moment.
“She and Owen are staying with your mother’s former neighbor outside Asheville. The woman’s name is June Bell. She cared for your mother during her illness.”
My chest tightened.
“My mother knew her?”
“She trusted her.”
“And Corinne took Owen there.”
“Yes.”
I pictured my mother’s house, though it had been sold after her death. The porch swing. The blue shutters. The small garden crowded with lavender.
Corinne had taken our son to people who had loved my mother before I understood her.
“Can I speak to her?”
“Not today.”
“Why?”
“Because she wants you to review the documents first. Then she wants you to decide whether you are willing to place the property and finances under independent management.”
“That’s all?”
“No.”
Miriam reached into the folder and removed a handwritten page.
“She wants you to write a letter.”
“To her?”
“Yes. Not an apology filled with promises. Not an explanation of why you made the choices you made. She wants you to tell her what you are prepared to change, even if she never returns.”
I stared at the page.
“That sounds like a test.”
“It is not. It is a boundary.”
I wanted to reject the distinction.
Instead, I thought of Corinne’s voice on the recording.
You need the chance to decide what kind of man you intend to be when no one is standing beside you to absorb the damage.
“What if I don’t write it?”
“Then she will assume you are waiting for her to make the first move.”