Chapter 3 - My Ex-Wife Was Drinking Coffee in My KitchenVanessa was drinking from my father’s mug when I walked through the cabin door.
That almost made me angrier than seeing her.
Ryan stood beside the dining table in an expensive leather jacket.
My mother sat near the window looking nervous.
A man in a navy suit was arranging documents.
Vanessa smiled.
“Caleb.”
I looked at the mug.
She followed my eyes.
“Still sentimental.”
Claire entered behind me.
Vanessa immediately noticed her.
“And who is this?”
“None of your business.”
Ryan laughed.
“Moving fast these days?”
I ignored him.
“What paperwork?”
The suited man introduced himself as Travis Bell, a real-estate attorney representing Ryan.
He pushed a document across the table.
A trustee’s certification.
A quitclaim deed.
And an agreement assigning the cabin property to Whitmore Mountain Holdings LLC.
Managing member:
Ryan Whitmore.
“Mom signed this?”
“She had authority as successor trustee under Daniel’s family trust,” Travis said.
I looked at Evelyn.
“Did you know this gives Ryan control?”
Mom pressed her lips together.
“It keeps the property in the family.”
“I am the family member Dad left it to.”
Vanessa sighed.
“That obsession again.”
I turned toward her.
“What are you doing here?”
She smiled.
“Ryan and I are developing the land.”
There it was.
Not sentiment.
Money.
Ryan walked toward the window.
“The county approved preliminary access for a luxury lodge project north of here. Your parcel is the cleanest route.”
“My parcel.”
“Not anymore.”
Claire had said nothing.
She was studying the deed.
Then she pointed.
“When was this notarized?”
Travis frowned.
“Excuse me?”
“December seventeenth.”
“Yes.”
Claire looked at Mom.
“Were you in Colorado on December seventeenth?”
Mom’s face changed.
Ryan stepped forward.
“Who the hell are you?”
Claire ignored him.
“Mrs. Whitmore?”
Mom whispered:
“I was in Arizona.”
Silence.
Travis looked sharply at Ryan.
Ryan’s expression hardened.
“It was remote notarization.”
Claire picked up the page.
“Then why does the acknowledgment say the signer personally appeared before a Colorado notary in Larimer County?”
Nobody answered.
Claire worked with historical documents for a living.
Signatures.
Seals.
Paper trails.
Details people assumed nobody noticed.
She looked at me.
“This document has problems.”
Ryan snatched it from her.
“You’re a stranger.”
Claire’s face remained calm.
“So was my brother when your uncle found Caleb’s father dying beside a road.”
Ryan froze.
Mom made a small sound.
I turned toward her.
“You know Noah Mercer?”
She looked down.
That was answer enough.
“Mom.”
She stood.
“Caleb, please.”
“You knew there was a witness when Dad died.”
“It was eleven years ago.”
“You lied to me.”
“I was trying to protect you.”
“From what?”
Ryan interrupted.
“Can we stop digging through ancient family drama and discuss the property?”
I looked at him.
Suddenly the cabin made more sense.
The rushed paperwork.
Mom’s involvement.
Ryan and Vanessa arriving before I did.
Whatever Dad had buried here had mattered enough that they wanted control before I found it.
I held up the brass key.
Mom stared at it.
Then all the color disappeared from her face.
“Where did you get that?”
Claire answered.
“Noah.”
Mom whispered:
“Oh God.”
Ryan looked between us.
“What does it open?”
May you like
For the first time that morning, I smiled.
“I guess you’re about to find out.”
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