“Do you really think it’s a good idea to abandon your mother?”
My fists curled into balls. I wanted to punch him. He was pushing this guilt on her when he was the one who’d abandoned them?
“I’m fine,” Alice insisted.
“You don’t look fine. You seem worse than you were the last time I saw you.”
“Aunt Katy is moving here,” Heather announced.
“Katy? She’s gonna look after your mother? She can’t even take care of herself. You’re gonna leave so you can study how to take care of sick people when your mother is sicker than them all?”
Alice trembled. “Stop!”
Heather clenched her jaw. “Why do you even care about anything that happens here?”
I couldn’t take it anymore. I had to speak up.
“With all due respect, Rick, I don’t think you’re being fair. Heather has done nothing but take good care of her mother for several years. It’s time for her to have some freedom.”
“With all due respect to you, I don’t need to sit here and listen to someone who literally blew in like the wind five minutes ago. You don’t know anything about this family.”
“As of late? I guarantee I know more than you do.”
“You have no right to an opinion here.”
Heather intervened, “Well, you lost your right to an opinion the day you walked out on us.”
“This house is half mine,” he said. “I do have an opinion.”
“What are you talking about? This house is Mom’s.”
“Alice? You want to break the news to our daughter?”
Heather looked confused as she turned to her mother. “What’s going on?”
Alice was shaking as she looked at Rick. “You bastard. You promised you wouldn’t go after that money.”
Heather looked between them. “What are you talking about?”
“After your grandfather died, he left the house to your mother,” Rick said. “But during our divorce proceedings, it was determined that when the property sold, I would get half of the money.”
My heart sank.
Heather turned toward her mother. “Is this true?”
Alice looked like she wanted to disappear. “Technically, it is, but your father assured me some years back that he would sign over his rights to us if we ever had to sell, that he wouldn’t take any of that money because he didn’t feel he was entitled to it. This is the first I’m hearing that he seems to think he has a right to half of my father’s house.”
“Things have changed,” he said. “My financial situation isn’t what it used to be. My company is going under, and I’m going to need that money after all. It wasn’t my intention to have to take advantage of it, but I’m afraid I do. Although, as I’ve said, I think waiting for the market to strengthen in a couple more years would be wise.”
“Are you kidding me right now?” Heather cried. “You’ve made plenty of money, and you’re so cheap, I bet you have a heap of savings. The money from this house is the only future we have. This house belonged to her father. Her name is on the deed, not yours. You abandoned us years ago. What right do you have to anything you left behind?”
“Well, you may not believe I deserve it, but the fact remains that I do have the legal right to half.”
My blood boiled. I’d never wanted to annihilate anyone so much in my life.
Heather looked ready to collapse, and Alice’s face was turning white.
Without thinking it through, I reached for Heather’s hand under the table. I wanted her to know I had her back, that everything would be okay despite what her father was trying to pull.
Heather squeezed my hand as she spoke to him.
“We thought we lost everything when you left. But that was nothing compared to losing Opal. All we’ve been trying to do is get back on our feet ever since, to rise up from the guilt and pain. We’ve survived thus far, and we can handle anything else life throws at us. So if you want half the house, take it. We’ll survive without it.”
The room went quiet. I broke the silence when I couldn’t hold my words in any longer.
“I’ve spent more quality time here in the past several weeks than you have in years. I see how hard your daughter works, not only to take care of her mother, but to make sure everything else gets done around here. You couldn’t possibly understand what their life is like if you only come around once a year. A lot of bad shit has happened, but she still gets up every day and does the best that she can, keeps her mother alive and well and keeps this house running. She’s your daughter, and she’s never asked you for one goddamn thing, least of all your love. All she’s asking is that you keep out of what’s not rightfully yours, so she can live her life. If you’re legally entitled to something, I suppose you can take it. But you can never get back your daughter’s trust.”
I looked over at Heather and she mouthed, “Thank you.” I grasped her hand tighter. I just wanted to protect her.
She let go of me and stood up. “I need to be by myself for a while.”
She took off up the stairs, and Teddy followed her, leaving me alone with her parents. I needed to get out of here.
“Thank you for dinner, Alice,” I said as I got up, refusing to even look at Rick.
I made my way out the door, getting angrier by the second as I walked back to the boathouse.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
* * *
HEATHER
It took me a few hours before I had the energy to come out of my room. My father had gone back to western Massachusetts. He’d texted to let me know. His leaving didn’t surprise me. After what he’d pulled, I didn’t want to see him, and he was smart enough to figure that out. I wondered if he planned to take that money or if it was an empty threat to keep us from selling now. I suspected he had every intention of taking it.
My mother was back in bed, probably totally mentally exhausted, just as I was. I needed to check in on her before I went over to Noah’s to thank him for standing up for me. When he’d reached for my hand under the table, I’d grabbed it like a lifeline.
Mom sat up in her bed when she noticed me at the doorway. “I’m so sorry I never told you about the divorce settlement. He assured me he wouldn’t come after that money.”
“It’s not your fault,” I said, rubbing her legs.
“Even if he takes half, there’s still plenty for your schooling. It will be tight, but we can manage. Promise me you won’t let this stop you.”
I nodded. “I have to rethink things. Maybe I’ll take out some loans.”
Her eyes flitted back and forth as she seemed to search for a solution. “I have lots of jewelry from your grandmother. I’ll sell it.”
“I just can’t believe he’s putting us in this position. I never thought he’d do something like this.”
“Your father has always been a selfish man. I’ve tried not to badmouth him too much over the years or taint your view of him…but this doesn’t really surprise me at all.”
“His actions have always proven his selfishness,” I said. “I’d forgiven him for abandoning us. I’m not sure I can forgive him for this, though. It’s one thing to not give us anything. It’s another to take from us.”
“I’m so sorry, honey.”
Picking some lint off her bedspread, I asked, “How long did Noah stay after I went upstairs?”
“He left right after you went to your room.”
I couldn’t blame him. I’d left him alone in the middle of a shit storm.
“I can’t believe how he stood up to Dad.”
“He’s very fond of you.”
“I need to go thank him.”
“Bring him the dessert we never ate. It’s the least we can do.”
I’d love to give him more than that tonight.
***
Carrying the chocolate cake, I walked carefully over to the boathouse.
As I approached, a flicker of a flame caught my eye; Noah was on the porch smoking a cigar.
When he spotted me, he stood. “Are you okay?”
“I am. Sit. I’m just gonna grab two forks so we can have some cake.” I entered his kitchen and grabbed the utensils.
When I returned, he said, “It’s a no-plates-needed kind of night, huh?”
“Yes.” I spoke with my mouth full. “Have some. Don’t make me feel like a pig.”