Chapter 5: The Day They Called Me Incapable
Richard shut the car door and faced her.
“You filed for emergency guardianship?”
Jessica leaned against the doorway.
“Colin did.”
Colin stared at her.
“I did not.”
“Your electronic signature is on it.”
“You used my signature too?”
“I protected our family from an unstable woman hiding millions.”
I stepped off the porch.
“Look at me, Jessica.”
She lifted her chin.
“You laughed when you thought I was poor,” I said.
“Now you’re calling me unstable because I’m not giving you my money.”
“You concealed a major financial event for ten months.”
“Privacy is not incapacity.”
Richard’s phone rang.
He listened, then covered the receiver.
“The judge has temporarily restricted transfers above ten thousand dollars until tomorrow’s hearing.”
Jessica smiled.
“There.
A judge agrees with me.”
“No,” Richard said.
“A judge agreed to hear you.”
At the courthouse the next morning, Jessica arrived with Daniel Reese and a physician named Dr.
Lowell.
Colin entered alone and sat behind me.
Jessica’s attorney rose first.
“Mrs.
Vance concealed an eight-million-dollar lottery award, purchased property secretly, and abandoned her family without warning.”
I leaned toward Richard.
“Abandoned?”
“Let her finish,” he whispered.
Dr.
Lowell took the witness chair.
“In my professional opinion, Mrs.
Vance displays signs of impaired judgment.”
Richard stood.
“When did you examine her?”
“I reviewed information supplied by her family.”
“So you never met her?”
“No.”
“You signed a competency letter about a woman you never met?”
Jessica’s attorney objected, but the judge raised one hand.
“The witness will answer.”
Dr.
Lowell adjusted his collar.
“The circumstances suggested urgency.”
Richard placed the Oakridge message on the screen.
“Did Mrs.
Vance’s sudden fortune create that urgency?”
Dr.
Lowell looked toward Jessica.
“I cannot discuss private communications.”
“You just discussed Margaret’s supposed condition in open court.”
Daniel Reese shifted in his chair.
Richard faced him next.
“Did Oakridge accept a deposit for Margaret?”
“Yes.”
“Did Margaret sign an admission agreement?”
“No.”
“Did you meet her?”
“No.”
“Then why did you tell Jessica a competency letter was ready?”
Daniel swallowed.
“Mrs.
Vance, I believed your family was acting in your interest.”
“You believed the attorney who promised to recommend wealthy clients to your facility,” I said.
Jessica stood.
“That is a lie.”
The judge struck the desk with her gavel.
“Sit down.”
Daniel looked at his shoes.
“She said her firm could send us referrals.”
Jessica’s attorney whispered urgently to her.
Then he faced the judge.
“We request that the laptop be excluded.
It contains privileged legal material.”
Richard replied, “It also contains files titled with Margaret’s full name and Social Security number.”
“The device was taken without permission.”
The judge studied both attorneys.
“Until ownership and access are resolved, the laptop will be sealed.
The financial restriction remains in place.”
Jessica turned and smiled at me.
For the first time, she appeared to be winning.
Outside the courtroom, Colin caught up with me.
“Mom, come home until this is settled.”
“Home?”
“Our house.”
“The house where you signed papers sending me away?”
His eyes filled.
“I was weak.”
“You were cruel.”
He flinched.
“I heard you call me a burden,” I said.
“I carried that sentence every time I carried your laundry.”
“I said it because Jessica kept pressing me.”
“But your voice said it.”
He covered his face.
“Dad would be ashamed of me.”
“So am I.”
He lowered his hands, and the pain on his face nearly broke what remained of my strength.
Before I could speak, Lucas came running down the courthouse corridor with a small silver device.
“Grandma, wait.”
Jessica followed him, shouting, “Don’t give her that!”
Lucas placed the device in my palm.
May you like
“It was Grandpa Arthur’s recorder,” he said.
“I left it running the night Mom told Dad what Oakridge was really for.”
