I didn’t comfort her.
Not because I hated her.
Because for years, whenever Fiona made a mistake, Mom and Dad had rushed to clean up the consequences.
This time, I wouldn’t let them.
Claire gathered the documents.
“We’ll have to document everything. The attempted transfer, the forged signature, the unauthorized occupancy agreement, and the property damage.”
Mom looked at me.
“Lucas, we don’t want Fiona arrested.”
I nodded.
“I know.”
Dad touched her shoulder.
“But we also don’t have to protect her from the consequences.”
That was the sentence that finally broke Fiona.
She looked up at our father.
“I thought you didn’t love me anymore.”
Dad’s eyes filled with tears.
“I never stopped loving you.”
He took a breath.
“But loving you doesn’t mean letting you hurt us.”
Fiona covered her face.
I walked toward the window.
Outside, Gregory was speaking with the officers.
The ocean stretched beyond the dunes, calm and endless.
Three weeks earlier, I had stood in that same room watching my parents open the door to their new life.
I had thought the deed was the most important thing I was giving them.
I was wrong.
The house wasn’t the gift.
Security was.
The knowledge that nobody could walk into their home, threaten them, or take advantage of them simply because they were getting older.
Claire came to stand beside me.
“There’s one more thing,” she said.
I turned.
“What?”
She handed me a sealed envelope.
“This was attached to the original closing documents.”
I opened it.
Inside was a letter from the attorney who had handled the purchase.
There was a handwritten note from me.
I had written it the night before I gave my parents the keys.
*Mom and Dad,*
*You spent your whole lives giving everything to your children.*
*This time, let me give something back.*
*This house is yours to live in for the rest of your lives.*
*No matter what happens.*
