Chapter 6 - THE HOTEL ROOM
Claire and Ryan spent Fourth of July weekend at a hotel in Greensboro.
Lorraine and Walter booked another room nearby.
The children never saw fireworks from Thomas’s dock.
Earl’s grandchildren did.
I knew because Janice sent me one photograph.
Two children sat on the end of the dock under a dark sky while fireworks reflected across the water.
Thomas’s porch swing appeared faintly in the background.
I cried when I saw it.
Not because strangers were enjoying the house.
Because the house finally looked peaceful again.
Claire did not speak to me for four days.
Then Daniel called.
“She called me.”
“What did she say?”
“That you lost your mind.”
“I expected that.”
“She said Ryan wants to sue.”
I put down the book I had been reading.
“For what?”
“She doesn’t know.”
That sounded exactly like Ryan.
A threat first.
Legal theory later.
Daniel continued.
“She also said you had no right to sell because Dad intended the house for the family.”
“Your father died before the land was purchased.”
“I know.”
“He never owned it.”
“I know.”
“The deed was always mine.”
“I know, Mom.”
I rubbed my forehead.
“I’m sorry.”
“Don’t apologize.”
“Your sister is making you choose sides.”
“No.”
Daniel’s voice hardened.
“She is making herself believe there are sides.”
He paused.
“Do you want to know what I told her?”
“What?”
“I told her Dad wanted the family together, not one child in possession.”
That night, Claire finally called.
Her anger had disappeared.
That frightened me more.
“Mom, can we meet?”
“Where?”
“Atlanta.”
“When?”
“Tomorrow.”
I agreed.
She arrived alone.
Her face looked exhausted.
We sat at my dining-room table.
She kept staring at her hands.
For several minutes, neither of us spoke.
Finally, Claire whispered, “Ryan said the loan application wasn’t real.”
“What does that mean?”
“He said it was preliminary.”
“He submitted documents.”
“He said the lender asked what assets we expected to have.”
I leaned forward.
“Expected to have?”
She flinched.
“He thought you were going to transfer the lake house eventually.”
“Why?”
Claire looked away.
“Because we talked about it.”
“You and Ryan?”
“Yes.”
“Or you, Ryan, and his mother?”
Her eyes snapped toward mine.
That answered the question.
“Lorraine was involved.”
“It wasn’t like that.”
“What was it like?”
Claire took a shaky breath.
“Ryan’s consulting business has debt.”
“How much?”
“I don’t know exactly.”
“How much do you think?”
She whispered the number.
“About six hundred thousand.”
My stomach turned.
Claire started crying.
“He kept telling me it was temporary.”
“Six hundred thousand dollars is not temporary.”
“I know that now.”
“What did the lake house have to do with it?”
She wiped her face.
“He said if you transferred it to us, we could refinance against the equity and stabilize everything.”
“And you agreed?”
She did not answer.
“Claire.”
“I thought we would own it someday anyway.”
The sentence broke something in me.
Not because it was cruel.
Because she said it so naturally.
I pushed my chair backward.
“I’m still alive.”
Her face crumpled.
“I know.”
“No.”
May you like
I stood.
“I don’t think you did.”
