“You’re her lawyer?” I sound skeptical.
“I’m on her team.” He nods, sliding his hand into his pants pocket.
“Did you read over everything you’re signing, Ma?” I step around to the other side of the table to look over the documents.
“She was able to e-sign for almost everything. This is just the deed transfer. They like to have ink on these, since ID fraud and reverse mortgages have been such an issue lately.”
“Deed transfer?” My eyes are probably about to fall out of my head when I look at Mom.
“Could you give us a minute?” Mom asks Carter sweetly.
His back straightens, and he pats his palm over his chest. “Oh, excuse me.” His lips roll in, and he shakes his head like he realizes he let the cat out of the bag. “Could I use your restroom?” he inquires, recovering quickly. I guess that’s better than kicking him out of the house while I find out what the heck my mom is doing here.
“First door on your right.” I point down the hall to Mom’s bathroom. My ears are burning when I look over at my mom. “What is going on here?” I hiss.
Her eyes soften, and she looks at me without an ounce of reservation. “Lucy, this ranch…” Her lips pinch. “I can’t take care of it anymore. I don’t even want to.”
I kneel next to her, mostly because my legs give out. “You said I’ve been doing okay.”
“You have, babe,” she reassures me, grabbing my hands in hers. “That’s why I’m giving it to you.”
I land on my butt. My hands slip from Mom’s and plop next to me on the ground. “Do what?”
“I’m transferring everything over to you and setting up an escrow for the taxes.” She looks down at me. It’s been a long time since I’ve had to look up at my mom. It makes me feel young.
I shake my head. “You don’t need to do that. It’s our ranch. I’ll keep looking after it and you.”
“Lucy, babe, I don’t need you to take care of me.Ineed to take care ofme,” she states with a sheen of tears in her eyes. “Come up off the floor,” she admonishes and waves at me to get up. “We’ve got company.”
I try because she’s my mom and it’s a habit to listen to her, but I’m so shocked, my legs don’t want to work right. I end up leaning on her chair, and she uses her hands to help. “I wanted to have this all taken care of so you couldn’t argue.” She raises her brows at me as if she’s warning me not to get started.
“But…”
“No buts, Lucy. It’s already done. There are some other things we need to talk about, but I think we should let Carter out of the bathroom so he can get on with his day.” She pulls out a chair for me, and I fall into it, then she wheels herself toward the hallway. “All clear, Carter,” she calls loudly. “He’s cute,” she whispers to me while waggling her brows.
“Mom,” I whine and drop my head into my hands.
“What? I’m just saying, and he obviously has a good job,” she encourages, sounding all sweet.
Moments after her comment, Carter walks out of the hall. He probably heard her last remark, but I pretend I didn’t and shuffle the papers around a bit on the table while scanning them. I don’t even know what I’m looking at or for, but it feels like the right thing to do.
“I’m really sorry, Ms. Lawson,” Carter begins, but my mom cuts him off with a wave of her hand.
“It’s Lily, and don’t you worry about it. Come on over and have a seat so we can finish up,” she tells him. It’s been a long time since I’ve heard my mom be so forward, so confident. She wheels herself over to the table and focuses on the papers. I watch her for several long seconds, wondering when she started putting herself back together. How didn’t I notice sooner?
“We’re done for the most part. I just needed a few signatures, but now that you’re here” —he looks over at me with his head tilted to the side and his eyes narrowed, as if I’ve piqued his interest— “you can sign your half of the paperwork.”
I dart my eyes over to Mom. “Don’t start, Lucy. It’s already done,” she states in a firm tone.
“I just don’t see why this was necessary,” I mumble under my breath, making sure I’m not looking at her while I do it. I still see her glare at me in my peripheral vision.
“What do you need her to sign?” Mom asks Carter.
He ignores our little family drama and places a soft sided briefcase into his lap, then he pulls out a large envelope with even more papers inside. “Two signatures, and that’s it.” He sets two documents on the table with little orange tab stickers on them with arrows of where exactly to sign.
My hand is shaking a little when I take them from him, but no one comments on it. I read over the words, but I can’t make sense of any of it. It’s almost like I’ve forgotten how to read. It’s just a bunch of jumbled letters mashed together.
“Right here.” Carter points to the line next to the orange tab. I look over at Mom, but all she does is nod encouragingly with wide, excited eyes. My mouth feels so dry, I don’t even think I can swallow. “Are you sure this is okay?” I croak.
