Chapter 11 - One Dollar
The deed had been recorded twenty years earlier. June Reed had paid one dollar for a thin rectangle of dirt between Riverbend House and the alley. My mother, who sometimes counted pennies to buy milk, had owned the piece of land that could stop a multimillion-dollar sale.
“Why didn't she tell me?” I asked again.
“Because she wanted the land protected, not sold,” Elliot said. “The trust says the beneficiary can grant access only if the property stays dedicated to affordable housing.”
Mara read the document carefully. “That condition may give us leverage. It doesn't automatically cancel the fraudulent sale. But it makes this development deal a lot harder.”
The phone rang before she finished. Martha's name flashed across Nick's screen. He put it on speaker with Mara's permission.
“Nicky, darling,” Martha began in her usual syrupy voice. “I'm worried about you. That woman has dragged you into a mess.”
“Her name is Anna. She's my wife.”
“She's using you.”
“You cut off her hair. You told the whole room it was a tradition.”
“Everyone is so sensitive now.”
“Did you forge Dad's name?”
A pause. “Your father has a history of confusion. Don't embarrass yourself repeating his fantasies.”
Mara passed Nick a note: ASK ABOUT RIVERBEND.
“Who authorized MHC to sell Riverbend House?” he asked.
“The trustees made a business decision. Don't worry about things you don't understand.”
“Forty families live there.”
“Forty tenants,” Martha snapped. “Not forty saints.”
My fingers curled against the table. Nick looked at me and asked, “Why was Anna's name put on a donation account six months before our wedding?”
Silence stretched long enough to hear Martha breathing.
Then her voice turned flat. “Tell your little bride the land her mother left isn't worth the trouble it will bring.”
May you like
The call ended. A moment later, I received a text from Vivian: TWO HUNDRED FIFTY THOUSAND FOR YOUR EASEMENT. SIGN TODAY AND EVERYONE STAYS OUT OF COURT.
Below it was a photograph of my mother's grave.
