Chapter 3 - Cedar Glen Had Never Evaluated Them
Evelyn called Cedar Glen the next morning.
She expected confusion.
Instead, the admissions coordinator immediately became cautious.
“Mrs. Whitmore, I’m glad you called.”
That sentence made Evelyn sit straighter.
“Why?”
The woman introduced herself as Megan Price.
She explained that Lauren had contacted Cedar Glen three weeks earlier requesting information about placing both parents in assisted living.
“She represented herself as helping you plan a transition.”
“Did I ever speak with you?”
“No.”
“My husband?”
“No.”
“Then why is there an admission packet with medical concerns already filled in?”
Megan paused.
“We did not complete those statements.”
Lauren had.
The facility had sent blank preliminary forms.
No nurse had evaluated George.
No physician had recommended placement.
No capacity assessment existed.
Megan added something else.
Lauren had repeatedly asked how quickly a home could typically be sold once elderly parents entered care.
“She said that?”
“She asked generally about families using home equity for care costs.”
Evelyn wrote every word down.
After the call, George stood at the kitchen counter staring at his coffee.
“They wanted the house empty.”
“They wanted us willing to empty it.”
“That’s different.”
“Not by much.”
Then Evelyn called the Ohio Secretary of State’s business search line and found the LLC registration.
Whitmore Family Property LLC.
Formed eleven days earlier.
Lauren was the statutory agent.
Dylan was listed in the filing contact information.
Creating an LLC using their family name was not illegal.
The problem was what their children planned to put inside it.
By noon Evelyn had scheduled an appointment with an elder-law attorney.
George seemed relieved.
Then she asked the question she had been holding since the previous night.
“Who ordered Dylan’s headstone?”
He stopped moving.
There it was.
Not surprise.
Calculation.
“George.”
He put down the coffee.
“I don’t know that this is the moment.”
“That means you know.”
He rubbed a hand over his face.
“I know something.”
“What?”
“I need you to give me a day.”
Evelyn stared at the man she had been married to for forty-six years.
“Our children just tried to get us into assisted living and take control of our house.”
“I know.”
“And now you’re keeping something from me?”
His shoulders dropped.
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because if I tell you now, you’re going to be angry with me too.”
May you like
Evelyn picked up the Cedar Glen packet.
“Then you’d better spend today deciding whether another secret is worth it.”
