Chapter 6 - THE FAMILY STORY WITHOUT MADDIE IN IT
Maddie stayed with her older sister in Downers Grove.
By Tuesday, the Lake Geneva deal was officially delayed.
The seller had another interested buyer.
Bradley’s cousins began calling Maddie.
Ethan tried charm.
Cody tried guilt.
Barbara tried history.
“This family has had a difficult few years.”
Maddie sat in Nora’s guest room staring at the rain.
“So have I.”
“Bradley lost his business.”
“I know.”
“You don’t know what that did to him.”
Maddie almost answered defensively.
Instead she asked, “What did he tell you it did to me?”
Barbara went quiet.
Maddie had spent years attending Mercer birthdays, graduations, July Fourth cookouts, and Christmas mornings where Bradley was treated as the generous one.
He brought expensive bourbon.
He paid restaurant tabs.
He helped Barbara.
Maddie had been cast as the ambitious wife who worked too much and watched every dollar.
The truth was almost embarrassingly ordinary.
Maddie worked because someone had to.
When Bradley’s landscaping partnership collapsed, she covered them.
When he said consulting would take time to grow, she gave him time.
When Barbara needed help, Maddie never objected.
Her mistake was confusing silence with generosity.
Silence had allowed Bradley to write the story.
Later that afternoon, Ethan sent a message that accidentally told Maddie more than he intended.
Brad said once this property closed he’d finally be able to breathe without you holding the money over his head.
Maddie called Ethan.
“What does that mean?”
“I don’t know.”
“You typed it.”
Ethan became defensive.
“He said the rental income would make him independent.”
“Independent from his wife?”
“I didn’t say that.”
“Did Bradley ever tell you I was supposed to own forty percent?”
Silence.
“Ethan?”
“I thought it was going to be Brad and Aunt Barb.”
Maddie ended the call.
May you like
Bradley had not changed the deal at the last minute.
He had apparently described a different deal to his family from the beginning.
