Chapter 7 - THE SON WHO SAID HE DIDN’T KNOW HOW FAR IT WENT
Three days later, Eric asked through counsel to speak to me.
Nora did not want me alone with him.
Neither did I.
We met in her office.
My son looked exhausted. Hollow under the eyes. He had not been arrested, but his phone and laptop had been seized under warrant and he had been told not to contact me directly.
He did not start with “How are you?”
He started with “I’m sorry.”
That made me angrier than if he had lied.
“Sorry for what part?” I asked. “The draft guardianship? The memory-care bed? The list of my accounts? Or the part where your wife told me to follow the family’s standards while I stood in your yard like a stranger?”
His face tightened.
“I thought Amanda wanted a consultation.”
“You signed papers.”
“I signed one paper about an assessment. She told me it was precautionary.”
“Eric, there was a notary waiting.”
He looked down.
“I didn’t know about that.”
“Did you know about Silver Pines?”
Silence.
Nora answered for me.
“That means yes.”
He swallowed hard. “Amanda said if you had a real evaluation, you might choose it yourself.”
The sentence was so weak it insulted both of us.
I leaned back.
“You let your wife reduce me to a problem to be managed.”
His eyes filled.
“I thought you were angry since Dad died. I thought maybe… maybe you were slipping and I couldn’t tell because I’m too close.”
“No,” I said. “You thought access was easier if I was declared weak.”
That landed.
He did not defend himself immediately.
Finally, he said, “I didn’t know about any plan to drug you or make a false 911 call.”
Nora’s head lifted.
“Drug her?”
May you like
He closed his eyes.
That was the first moment I realized he had said more than he intended.
