Kate nodded. “I know. She'd want us to be the family she couldn't have. It’s just…”
“You’ll have to pretend for now,” Tom insisted. “Whatever you truly feel, at least right now, you’ll have to put that aside and meet her terms.”
The weight of the decision settled over them. Tom called Lillian first and then her attorney. James made lists of what repairs were most urgent. Dani gently took the Danish from Pop's hand before he dropped it.
Kate stepped outside, needing air. Ben climbed down from the roof, his face red from cold and exertion.
“How's it going up there?” she asked.
“Good. Structure's more solid than I thought. Your mom built well.”
“My mom?”
“The addition. I found her initials carved into one of the beams. E.P. and the date—1989.”
Elizabeth Perkins, a young mother, building an addition to the inn she loved. Another secret, another piece of history Kate hadn't known.
“You okay?” Ben asked, studying her face.
“We're taking the money. My grandmother's money.”
“That's good, right?”
“I don't know. It feels like...” She struggled for words. “Like surrendering.”
“Or like accepting help.” He pulled off his work gloves, stepped closer. “Kate, I've watched you these past few days. You're the strongest person I know. But even strong people need help sometimes.”
“I'm not strong. I'm just stubborn.”
“Maybe they're the same thing.” He smiled, and something in her chest loosened. “Want to help me with the measurements? I could use another pair of hands.”
It was an excuse, she knew. The measurements were a one-person job. But she nodded anyway, grateful for the distraction, for the simplicity of work that had clear outcomes.
They spent the next two hours on the roof, Ben teaching her how to read the lumber for weakness, how to spot where water traveled, how to build something that would last. His hands guided hers on the measuring tape, steady and warm despite the cold. When he smiled at her over a perfectly cut board, she felt something she hadn't felt in years: hope. She recognized Ben’s actions as kindness but felt something deeper she couldn’t explain.
“Kate!” Dani called from below. “Lillian's lawyer is here!”
Reality crashed back. Kate climbed down, her legs shaky from more than the height. Inside, the dining room had become a signing ceremony. Documents were spread across the table, multiple copies of everything.
The lawyer, a thin man who looked like he'd rather be anywhere else, walked them through each document. Initial here, sign there, date this. With each signature, Kate felt like she was signing away her independence, her right to struggle, her claim to have done it all herself.
But then she looked at Pop, awake now and confused, asking Dani who all these people were. She thought of him getting real care, professional help, the dignity of staying in his own home.
She signed.
When it was done, when the lawyer left with his briefcase full of executed documents, the siblings sat in exhausted silence.
“What now?” James asked.
“Now we start fixing things,” Tom said.
“The roof first,” Kate said. “Then the heating system. Then…”
“Kate,” Dani interrupted. “The nurse starts tomorrow.”
“What?”
“Lillian had everything arranged already, pending our signatures. A visiting nurse, trained in dementia care. She starts tomorrow morning.”
