Chapter 9 - THE OFFER SHE SHOULD HAVE TAKEN
Nicole gave Katherine one last chance to act like a rational adult.
Through counsel, she sent a settlement demand:
Full cost of demolition and restoration of the pool.
Replacement of damaged stonework and filtration systems.
Compensation for trespass and landscaping damage.
Written agreement to correct all encroachments and easement violations.
And a formal apology to my children.
It was, frankly, more generous than Katherine deserved.
Katherine rejected it in under three hours.
Her attorney’s letter called the survey “disputed,” the concrete pour “misunderstood,” and my damages “emotionally inflated.”
Nicole laughed when she read that sentence aloud.
Then she slid a second folder across her desk toward me.
Inside were the county findings.
Ted’s sunroom addition had been built without the required setback review.
The pergola foundation obstructed drainage flow.
The stone path interfered with access.
And because the easement had county implications, if Katherine refused correction, the county could order removal and place liens on the property for noncompliance.
I stared at the pages.
“So if she keeps fighting—”
“She risks losing a lot more than a lawsuit,” Nicole said.
That evening, I watched Katherine standing in her yard pretending to water flowers while she glared toward my house.
She still believed stubbornness was strength.
She still believed the world worked the way it probably always had for her: complain loudly enough, act certain enough, and everyone else eventually gets tired first.
She didn’t understand that grief had changed me.
Losing Mark had burned away my old fear of conflict.
Once you’ve watched the person you love die by inches and still get up every morning for your children, a woman like Katherine becomes a very solvable problem.
The hearing was set for two weeks later.
Katherine told people she couldn’t wait.
May you like
I believed her.
She had no idea what was coming.
