“Okay, I’ll read it for you.” He picked it up. “Your Aunt Nadine is on your side, right? She wouldn’t have removed you from it.” He sat back on the couch, scanning through the document. “You’re still in here, but it looks like it’s split between youand Stuart but…” He pursed his lips. “I think if something happens to your dad, Karen receives the money first, and then you and Stuart will split it.” He scoffed, throwing it onto the coffee table. “I don’t know, Wren. I’m no lawyer. You should have an attorney decipher this for you.”
I stared through the room, seeing nothing. “Yeah, sure.” Like I had a fucking attorney in my back pocket. Numbness spread through my body.
“What do you want to do? Do you think your mom knows about this?” He angled toward me. “Wren?” Grabbing my chin, he forced me to look at him. “Let’s call your mom and see what she knows.”
With a nod, I said, “Okay.” Shaking myself from my stupor, I scanned the room. “Where’s my?—”
“Here.” Eli plucked my phone from the coffee table. “Put it on speaker, so I can hear the conversation and you don’t have to repeat it.”
“I will.” I called Mom, set the phone on speaker and waited through three rings.
“Hi, Wren. Are you ready for Christmas?” she said in a cheery voice.
“Uh, I don’t know.” I straightened my spine. I had to snap out of it. “Mom, Eli is here, and I have you on speaker. I got a package today. A legal package.”
“Oh?” She clicked her tongue. “What’s he done now?”
“Dad?” My shoulders sagged. She must know already.
“Yes, your dad. He’s the only one who’d do such a thing. What are they? Trust papers?”
“Looks like it. Did you know about it?” I glanced at Eli as he hooked his arm around my shoulders and set his hand on my thigh.
“No, I’ve heard nothing. I can call Aunt Nadine and find out though.” She huffed. “What do they say? Did you read them?”
“I read them, Vicky.” Eli’s forehead wrinkled. “Now, I’m not a lawyer, so I’m not sure what all the terms mean, but it soundslike they’ve changed the trust so the money goes to Karen if something happens to Darren and after that, it’d go equally to Wren and their new baby, Stuart.”
“I can’t believe Aunt Nadine would agree to such a thing. I thought your father had a prenup with Karen,” Mom said.
“No, he told me he didn’t.” Fuck, should I just sign it and forget about it? I’d never see the money, anyway. If Karen got ahold of it, I was pretty sure she’d spend it all or funnel it to Stuart somehow. “I want nothing more to do with this shit. I’m done with Dad. He’s…he’s dead to me.” As my eyes pricked, my vision grew hazy.
“Wren, you stop that right now. Don’t you sign anything. Let’s have a lawyer review this to see what recourse we have. Obviously, they can’t change the trust without your consent. So, let’s withhold your consent.”
“She’s right, babe.” Eli hooked his arm around my head and brought me close, kissing my hair. “At least leave this mess until after the holidays. You don’t have to act on it right now.”
“Bring it with you. I have a lawyer here who can review it for us,” Mom said.
Of course, Mom dealt with attorneys all the time with her real estate transactions. “Okay, I’ll bring it.” It’d hurt every time I saw it or thought about it, though.
“I’ll leave Nadine out of this one until we know for sure what’s in it, okay, honey?” Mom asked.
“Okay.” I didn’t care anymore. I wanted only to go home and forget all this shit.
After flying home with Eli,my mom was picking us up at the airport since she was the one with flexible hours. It was nice to travel here with him, comforting after the legal situation yesterday.
We grabbed our luggage from baggage claim and rolled ittoward the arrivals curb, stepping into the cool afternoon air through sliding glass doors.
“How are you doing?” Eli stood next to me, rubbing his hands together, his team hoodie stretching across his shoulders.
“Fine.” We hadn’t talked about the trust at all since yesterday. Eli knew I wanted to forget about it. I scanned the cars driving slowly by us and noticed the snow-capped mountains. “Look, the mountains have snow.”
“I saw. It’s gorgeous.” He stepped close and pecked my cheek. “Like you.” He gave me a warm grin.
As my cheeks warmed, I dipped my head. He’d been full of compliments lately. Okay, always. I looked around us. We had to be careful in Medford. People didn’t accept gay people as much here as in Tempe.
My mom’s white Jeep Cherokee drove next to the curb.
“There she is.” I pointed at the SUV and rolled my suitcase to the liftgate in the back, with Eli following me.
