Chapter 1 - The Envelope at Lunch
Three days earlier, Linda Mercer had believed the Sunday lunch was an apology.
Brandon had called twice that week, speaking with a softness he used only when he needed something. He said he missed her. He said Jessica wanted to clear the tension between them. He suggested lunch at the Pacific Heights house because it had been months since all three of them had sat together.
Linda prepared roasted chicken, potatoes, and the pear salad Brandon had loved as a child. She set white flowers in the center of the table and opened the curtains to let in the warm city light.
Brandon arrived twelve minutes late. Jessica entered behind him carrying no flowers, no wine, and no apology.
They barely touched the food.
After the plates had gone cold, Jessica placed a cream envelope on the table.
“It’s just a restructuring document,” she said.
Linda opened it and saw a property-transfer agreement. Yellow tabs marked every place where her signature was required.
The house would be transferred into a holding company connected to Brandon’s failing development business. In exchange, the company could use the property as security for a new loan.
Linda read the first page twice.
Brandon smiled too quickly. “It’s temporary.”
“How temporary?”
“Six months. Maybe nine.”
“And if your project fails?”
“It won’t.”
Jessica leaned forward. “The lender needs confidence.”
Linda looked at the woman’s carefully composed face. “The lender needs my house.”
Brandon sighed as if Linda were being difficult on purpose.
That sound carried her back through thirty years of motherhood, to every time he had mistaken her sacrifice for obligation.
She closed the envelope.
May you like
“I need time.”
Brandon’s smile vanished.
