Chapter 16 - MY MOTHER’S ENVELOPE
I did not meet Luke alone.
We arranged for the envelope to be delivered through our attorneys.
The next morning, David placed it on his desk in a clear protective sleeve.
The corners were creased.
My mother's handwriting crossed the front in blue ink.
“Documents for Hannah.”
I knew it immediately.
I had seen that envelope on the day I packed up her house.
Inside were copies of old account statements, a deed to land she had sold, and the handwritten letter she'd left me.
Nothing in the envelope gave Luke any right to use my identity.
But it did explain how someone might have obtained reference signatures and biographical information.
I asked David to let me read the letter alone.
My mother had written it when she first learned she was ill.
She told me she was proud of the life I was building.
She also told me not to confuse generosity with the obligation to surrender everything.
That sentence hurt worse than the others.
I had done exactly what she warned me against.
I had given Brenda money to keep peace.
I had abandoned projects to provide care.
I had spent four years trying to earn a place at a table where people regarded my time as free.
When David came back into the room, I was still crying.
He handed me tissues and waited until I could speak.
“Luke says he took the envelope to help with financial paperwork,” he explained.
“He denies knowing it would be used improperly.”
“Do you believe him?”
“It isn't my job to believe him.”
“It's your job to protect me.”
“Yes.”
I looked at the envelope again.
One page was missing.
The insurance statement was gone.
At first I thought I had misremembered.
Then I found a photograph I'd taken of the envelope's contents after the estate closed.
There had been six pages.
Now there were five.
The missing page contained a beneficiary designation, account numbers partially visible, and the old address where my mother had lived.
David asked that the discrepancy be documented without my making accusations.
I agreed.
That evening, we received notice of a filing in a civil matter involving Cypress Harbor.
The company was claiming that it had relied on a family promise to acquire an interest in my property.
The claim was weak on its face, David said, but still required a response.
Then he turned the page.
Attached as an exhibit was a statement supposedly signed by me.
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Across the top were the words “Voluntary Family Transfer.”
