Chapter 3: What Brooke Had Asked For
The attorney kept two fingers on the envelope.
Brooke reached for it, but he pulled it beyond her grasp.
“Graham,” she said, “that was a private consultation.”
“You never retained me,” he replied.
“I told you I represented Jack’s estate and Ethan’s mother.”
Ethan looked between them.
“What did she ask you?”
Graham opened the envelope and removed three printed emails.
“She asked whether your mother could be declared incapable of managing her property.”
My chair scraped against the floor.
“Brooke came to you about my mind?”
Brooke lifted her chin.
“I asked a reasonable question.”
“You called her confused,” Graham said.
“You claimed she had forgotten promises Jack made about Harbor Ridge.”
“She has forgotten.”
“I have forgotten nothing,” I said.
Brooke pointed at the key.
“Then tell Ethan you promised us that house.”
“I planned to give it to you.
Planning is not promising.”
Ethan unfolded Jack’s card with shaking fingers.
“What does Dad say?”
“Read it aloud,” I said.
He swallowed and began.
“Ethan, a house is only walls until the people inside it learn how to treat one another.
Your mother will decide when—and whether—you and Brooke are ready to care for Harbor Ridge.
The key is an invitation, not an entitlement.”
Brooke’s champagne glass struck the table.
“Jack wanted us to have it.”
“He trusted Mom to decide,” Ethan said.
“He expected her to be fair.”
Graham placed the second email beside the card.
“In this message, you asked me how quickly an incapacity proceeding could remove her authority.”
Brooke’s face reddened.
“Because she lives alone on a farm and refuses help.”
“I run that farm,” I said.
“Last month I delivered three foals, repaired a broken fence, and completed my own tax records.”
“That doesn’t mean you understand property values.”
One of Brooke’s clients lowered her eyes.
Another quietly moved her chair away.
Ethan tapped the third page.
“What is Harbor Development?”
Brooke’s hand closed around her purse.
“Nothing you need to worry about.”
Graham’s voice hardened.
“It is the company that offered eleven million dollars for Harbor Ridge.”
Ethan stared at her.
“You tried to sell my mother’s house?”
“I explored an opportunity.
That property sits empty.”
“It does not belong to you.”
“It was supposed to.”
I took the key from Ethan and tied the ribbon around it again.
“Jack and I restored that house together.
You saw a price before you ever saw his letter.”
Brooke leaned close enough for only our table to hear.
“You cannot punish Ethan because you dislike me.”
“I am not punishing anyone.
I am refusing to reward contempt.”
She turned to my son.
“Say something.”
Ethan set the card down.
“You tried to take control away from my mother.”
“I was protecting our future.”
“From her?”
“From sentimentality.”
The word landed harder than her first insult.
My fingers closed around the navy box.
Graham gathered the emails, but Brooke suddenly smiled.
“You’re all acting as though I failed.”
She removed a folded document from her purse and placed it over Jack’s card.
Graham read the first page.
The color left his face.
“What is it?” I asked.
May you like
Brooke looked directly at me.
“It’s the contract you signed giving me authority to sell Harbor Ridge.”
