Chapter 19 - THE LAST ORDER
David brought the note to his attorney instead of answering it.
That choice would have meant little a week earlier.
Now it was proof that he was learning the difference between protecting his family and protecting his father's reputation.
Susan's attorney gathered the bank correspondence, medical records from the week of the disputed signature, and copies of the account transfers.
The lender paused action on the challenged authorization while it reviewed the dispute.
Robert's business records were requested through the proper process.
Nothing was settled overnight, but the threats were finally being handled by people he couldn't shout into obedience.
At a supervised meeting arranged to discuss the property's finances, Robert tried his oldest trick.
He spoke to Susan as if the other adults weren't there.
“Sit down and let me handle this,” he said.
Susan remained standing.
“I've spent thirty-one years sitting down when you told me.”
Robert's face hardened.
“You'd throw our whole marriage away over one misunderstanding?”
“You threatened our son with a belt,” she said.
“You ordered him to use it on his wife.”
He turned toward David.
“Tell your mother to shut up.”
David's hands shook, but he didn't move toward her.
“No.”
Robert looked around, searching for someone else to command.
Nobody volunteered.
“I'm your father!”
“And I'm not your weapon,” David answered.
Susan slid a folder toward her lawyer.
Inside was her signed statement supporting the inquiry into the disputed financial documents.
Robert snatched at it.
The security officer at the door stepped between them and told him to back away.
For the first time since I'd met him, Robert obeyed without arguing.
Afterward, David asked if I thought his father could ever change.
“I don't know,” I told him.
“But whether he changes is no longer the decision that runs our lives.”
David looked at the wedding ring I no longer wore.
“Does that include us?” he asked.
I took a breath.
May you like
“Yes,” I said.
“It does.”
