Chapter 8 - THE QUESTION RACHEL DIDN’T WANT ANSWERED
Rachel drove to Glenview despite Samantha telling her to rest.
Her physical therapist would have been furious.
She did not care.
Elaine opened the door before Rachel reached it.
“Tell me.”
Elaine stepped aside.
They sat in the small living room.
For several seconds Elaine stared at her own hands.
“Last winter I told Brooke I was worried about you.”
Rachel frowned.
“About what?”
“Being alone.”
Rachel almost interrupted.
Elaine continued quickly.
“You work all the time. You never married. You barely let anybody help you.”
“That does not explain a forged power of attorney.”
“I know.”
“What did you say to her?”
Elaine looked miserable.
“I said maybe after your surgery you’d finally stay with me for a while.”
Rachel’s anger cooled into confusion.
“That’s it?”
“No.”
Elaine swallowed.
“I told her if you stayed long enough, maybe you’d realize you didn’t need the condo.”
Rachel stared.
“Why would you care?”
“Because you mentioned moving to Boston last year.”
Rachel remembered.
Her company had offered her a senior position.
She had declined for reasons unrelated to family.
Elaine apparently never knew that.
“You thought I was leaving.”
“I thought everybody was leaving.”
Brooke’s marriage had ended two years earlier.
Their father had died seven years before that.
Elaine’s closest friend had moved to Arizona.
Her fear suddenly made emotional sense.
What did not make sense was what came afterward.
“I said if you sold the condo, maybe you’d buy something near me.”
“And Brooke?”
“She said she could make you see that the condo was more trouble than it was worth.”
Rachel’s skin prickled.
“What exactly did you agree to?”
“I agreed you should recover here.”
“Did you agree Brooke could rent my condo?”
Elaine hesitated.
“At first, I thought you had agreed.”
“At first?”
Elaine began crying.
Rachel felt something inside her drop.
“When did you realize I hadn’t?”
“The night before your surgery.”
Rachel stopped moving.
“You knew.”
“Brooke said you were going to sign the paperwork the next morning.”
“But I didn’t.”
“No.”
“And you said nothing.”
Elaine wiped her face.
“I told her to stop.”
“Did you?”
“Yes.”
“Then why was she outside my condo with my suitcase?”
Elaine looked toward the window.
“Because she told me the paperwork had already been completed.”
Rachel stood carefully.
Her knee protested.
She barely noticed.
Her mother had not created the forgery.
But she had helped create the opportunity.
Rachel picked up her crutch.
Elaine reached toward her.
“Please don’t leave like this.”
Rachel looked at her.
“I’m not leaving because Brooke lied.”
Elaine’s hand dropped.
“I’m leaving because you knew enough to ask me one question and chose not to.”
May you like
Rachel walked out.
For the first time since this began, the betrayal hurt more than the fraud.
