He looked away.
Madison wiped her cheeks.
Then she said the words that hurt almost as much as finding strangers in my living room.
“I thought once you saw the money, you’d forgive us.”
I looked toward the windows.
Outside, the lake was perfectly still.
My husband, Thomas, had loved mornings like this.
He used to bring coffee onto the deck and watch the water while Madison slept upstairs.
He’d always said we were lucky to have a place where the family could come together.
Now our daughter had apparently decided that meant she could make decisions about it without me.
I looked back at her.
“Madison, the house is mine. It isn’t yours yet.”
“I know.”
“Then why did you tell Richard he’d be managing it?”
She lowered her eyes.
“Because I didn’t want you to sell.”
I stared at her.
“Why didn’t you tell me that?”
“I did!”
“You told me you’d miss coming here. That’s different from authorizing someone to turn it into a business.”
She began crying harder.
Evan looked toward his father.
“Dad, did you really start taking reservations without Diane’s approval?”
Richard folded his arms.
“Your wife gave me a key and said she wanted the place to generate income.”
I turned toward Madison.
“You gave him your key?”
She nodded.
I’d given Madison an emergency key years earlier.
Sometimes she checked the property after storms when I couldn’t travel.
