Chapter 3 - Mom Would Have Wanted This
Ryan called the night I moved in.
“We’re coming tomorrow.”
I thought I misheard him.
“Coming for what?”
“To move in.”
His wife, Megan, ran an online clothing store from their dining table. Their lease had ended, and they were behind on rent.
Ryan decided my lake house solved every problem.
“Megan needs the office. The kids need the extra rooms. Dad approved it.”
“Dad cannot approve who lives in my house.”
Ryan laughed.
“You bought it with money you earned while the family supported you.”
“What support?”
“Mom raised you.”
Mom had been dead four years.
They used her memory whenever they needed moral authority without legal evidence.
“Mom would have wanted you to share.”
“Mom would not have thrown me out of my own home.”
“No one is throwing you out. You can use the downstairs couch until we work out sleeping arrangements.”
The sentence was so absurd that I became calm.
“You expect me to sleep on the couch?”
“You live alone. Why do you need the primary bedroom?”
I looked through the windows toward the black water.
“When are you arriving?”
“Eight. We rented a moving truck.”
“Bring whatever paperwork Dad gave you.”
Ryan paused.
“What paperwork?”
“The document transferring my house.”
He recovered quickly.
“Dad said he handled it.”
May you like
That was the moment I knew the plan involved more than entitlement.
People attempting innocent family arrangements did not pretend nonexistent documents had already been handled.
