Chapter 2 - THE SON WHO ASKED ABOUT THE MONEY
Elaine placed the envelope inside her handbag and left the baby shower without opening it.
Daniel followed her through the front door into the cold Ohio rain.
“Mom, please.”
She continued down the driveway.
Behind them, music had started again inside the house. Someone was trying to rescue the party. Through the bright living-room window, Elaine saw Marissa gesturing angrily at the woman who had been recording.
Daniel caught up beside Elaine’s car.
“You shouldn’t drive like this.”
“You didn’t mind letting me leave alone thirty seconds ago.”
“I was in shock.”
“You were silent before the envelope appeared.”
His jaw tightened.
“Marissa was emotional.”
“She was cruel.”
“She’s seven months pregnant.”
“Pregnancy did not put my blanket over a trash can.”
Daniel glanced toward the house, checking whether anyone was watching.
“What did Dad leave?”
Elaine studied him.
Not Are you all right?
Not Can I see the letter?
Not I’m sorry.
“What did he leave?” she repeated.
Daniel shoved his hands into the pockets of his black sweater.
“I’m asking because it may concern my son.”
“The child you are using as an excuse was not the one who humiliated me.”
“Mom, don’t turn this into something bigger than it was.”
Elaine opened her car door.
“Your wife mocked your dead father’s gift while you watched.”
“She didn’t know it was from him.”
“You did.”
Daniel’s eyes shifted.
Only for a second.
But Elaine saw it.
“Why would you say that?” he asked.
“Because you weren’t surprised by the envelope.”
“That’s ridiculous.”
Elaine got into the car.
Daniel caught the edge of the door before she could close it.
“If Dad left money, we need to talk before you make any decisions.”
There it was.
Money.
Elaine looked at her son’s hand on the door.
“Move.”
“Mom—”
“Take your hand off my car.”
He released it.
Elaine drove home with the blanket on the passenger seat and the envelope inside her handbag.
Her small brick house in Westerville felt painfully quiet. Paul’s boots still rested beside the back door because she had never found the courage to move them. His reading glasses remained in the kitchen drawer. His blue coffee mug stood upside down beside hers.
Elaine sat beneath the same yellow lamp where she had knitted the blanket.
She opened the envelope.
Inside was a four-page letter, a copy of a trust agreement, and a key taped to a small card.
She read the letter twice.
Paul had established an education trust for their first grandchild. The account contained $250,000 from the sale of a piece of lakefront property he had inherited from his uncle.
Elaine was the sole family trustee.
Daniel and Marissa could not withdraw the money, borrow against it, or use it as collateral. Funds could be paid only for the child’s education, medical needs, or essential care.
Paul’s letter explained why.
Elaine,
I hope I am wrong about Daniel.
Those words made her chest tighten.
Paul wrote that during his final year, Daniel had repeatedly asked for large loans. He blamed business problems, medical bills, and repairs to the house. Paul later discovered that Daniel had lost more than forty thousand dollars through online sports betting.
Elaine had known about one loan.
She had not known about the others.
According to Paul, Daniel had also attempted to remove money from their joint savings account while Paul was hospitalized.
Paul had stopped the transfer.
He had never confronted Daniel because Elaine was already exhausted from caring for him.
I did not tell you because I knew you would try to save him, Paul wrote. You have always mistaken rescuing Daniel for protecting him. Please do not make that mistake with our grandson.
Elaine lowered the letter.
Her phone began vibrating on the table.
Daniel.
Then Marissa.
Then Diane.
Elaine ignored all three.
A message appeared from Daniel.
WE NEED TO HANDLE THIS AS A FAMILY.
Another followed.
DAD WOULD HAVE WANTED ME INVOLVED.
Elaine looked at Paul’s signature.
No, she thought.
Paul had gone to extraordinary lengths to keep Daniel out.
The key in the envelope belonged to a safe-deposit box at a bank in downtown Columbus. Paul’s note said the box contained the original trust documents and evidence supporting his decision.
Elaine called the number printed on the attorney’s letterhead.
The attorney, Rebecca Shaw, answered from home.
After Elaine explained what had happened, Rebecca became quiet.
“Mrs. Mercer, do not give that key to Daniel.”
“I wasn’t planning to.”
“I also need you to photograph everything in the envelope and place it somewhere secure tonight.”
“Why?”
“Because your son came to my office three weeks after Paul died.”
Elaine’s fingers tightened around the phone.
“What did he want?”
“He claimed Paul had promised him access to the trust.”
“But the baby hadn’t even been born.”
“I told him he had no legal authority. Two days later, someone tried to open the safe-deposit box using a photocopy of your driver’s license.”
Elaine stared at the cream blanket.
“Are you saying Daniel did that?”
“I could never prove it.”
A car door slammed outside.
Headlights swept across Elaine’s rain-streaked kitchen window.
Rebecca heard it through the phone.
“Is someone there?”
Elaine stood.
Daniel appeared on the front porch.
He was not alone.
May you like
Marissa stood beside him, no longer smiling.
And in Daniel’s right hand was the small white card that had been placed inside the blanket’s gift box.
