The property description promised exclusive use of the house.
Private lake access.
Luxury furnishings.
A fully equipped kitchen.
It even advertised the bedroom my husband and I had shared for twenty-three summers.
I felt sick.
Richard walked toward the fireplace.
“Diane, you’re being unreasonable. Madison and Evan wanted to keep this place in the family.”
Evan was Richard’s son.
My daughter’s husband.
They’d been married for four years.
“And how does renting it to strangers accomplish that?”
“Income. Obviously.”
He gestured toward the room.
“You’re always complaining about the cost of maintaining this property. I found a way to make it profitable.”
“You didn’t ask me.”
“Because you’d have said no.”
I stared at him.
He seemed unaware of what he’d just admitted.
Then my phone rang.
Madison.
I answered.
“Mom?”
“Madison, I’m standing in the lake house.”
She went quiet.
I continued.
“Your father-in-law has six strangers staying here. He says you authorized him to rent it.”
Silence.
Then she whispered, “Mom, I can explain.”
I closed my eyes.
