Instead, she demanded that Daniel “set boundaries” with his mother. When he refused to keep f!ghting over the estate, she temporarily moved in with her parents, who were now renting a small house in Trenton. The word “temporarily” no longer convinced anyone.
Three months later, Daniel appeared alone at the main gate of Aspen.
He didn’t arrive with suitcases. He didn’t arrive with Claire. He didn’t arrive with lawyers.
He came with a yellow envelope.
Peter called Evelyn through the intercom.
“Ma’am, it’s Mr. Daniel. He says he only wants to deliver something.”
Evelyn walked to the entrance without rushing. The sun fell over the old trees, the same ones Henry had trimmed with his own hands on so many Sundays.
Daniel stood on the other side, thinner, with several days’ worth of beard and a shame that didn’t fit inside the casual suit he wore.
“I found this in Claire’s bag,” he said.
He pushed the envelope through the gap in the gate.
Inside was the key to Henry’s office.
Evelyn recognized it instantly by the small green ribbon she had tied to it years earlier.
“I didn’t know she had that one too,” Daniel said. “She swore they were only going to use the guest wing. But I found messages with her father. They wanted to move in permanently. They wanted to convince you after they were already inside.”
Evelyn closed her hand around the key.
For several seconds, neither of them spoke.
