Chapter 6 - Jessica's Weekend Plan
At three fifty-five that afternoon, I was sitting in Tom Alvarez's office at Cedar Bend Marina.
Rebecca sat beside me.
Eric stood near the window.
Mason was back at the cabin with Howard, Jessica's father, who had returned that morning after Eric called him.
Tom had frozen every marina authorization connected to my property.
Robert Kline joined us by video.
Nobody had heard from Jessica since noon.
That worried Rebecca.
“It means she knows something changed,” she said.
At exactly four, Robert's phone rang.
He looked at the screen.
“It's her.”
Rebecca nodded.
“Answer.”
He put the call on speaker.
“Robert?”
Jessica's voice filled the room.
“Hi, Jessica.”
“Are we ready?”
“For what?”
“The revised agreement.”
Robert looked at me.
“I have concerns about authorization.”
Silence.
Then Jessica said, “Linda is emotional. Eric is handling it.”
Eric closed his eyes.
Robert replied, “I need direct confirmation from the owner.”
“You have signed authorization.”
“We've been told the signature may not be valid.”
Another silence.
Longer.
“Who told you that?”
Robert said nothing.
Jessica's voice hardened.
“Is Linda there?”
I leaned toward the phone.
“Yes.”
No one breathed.
“Linda,” she said.
“Jessica.”
“You have no idea what you're destroying.”
I almost laughed.
“My property?”
“Your family's financial future.”
“You created an LLC with your sister.”
“That was temporary.”
“You accepted twenty-five thousand dollars.”
“It was a deposit.”
“Against something you don't own.”
“I was trying to build something.”
“With my house.”
“With an asset you're wasting!”
The words echoed through the little office.
Even Tom looked surprised.
I remained quiet.
Jessica continued.
“You go there a handful of weekends. You keep everything frozen because Frank loved it. Meanwhile it could be producing income.”
There was the truth.
Not concern about me.
Not Eric.
Not Mason.
Revenue.
I said, “You told me there wasn't room for me.”
She didn't respond.
“You filled my cabin with people, planned a cruise on my boat, and sent me to a motel because you wanted marketing photographs.”
Eric looked sick.
Jessica said, “That's ridiculous.”
“Eric told us.”
Her voice sharpened.
“Eric doesn't understand business.”
He finally spoke.
“I understand enough now.”
Jessica went silent.
Eric stepped toward the phone.
“You used me.”
“Oh, please.”
“You told me Mom had agreed.”
“I told you she would agree.”
“That's not the same thing.”
“You never objected.”
He flinched.
Because she was right about that.
He looked at me.
Then back at the phone.
“No. I didn't. And that's on me.”
It was the first honest thing he'd said all weekend.
Jessica's voice became cold.
“You'll crawl back to her now?”
“No.”
He paused.
“I'm going to apologize to her. Whether she forgives me is her choice.”
I looked away.
I wasn't ready.
But something in my chest loosened.
Rebecca leaned toward the phone.
“Jessica, this is Rebecca Shaw, counsel for Linda Dawson. Effective immediately, you are instructed not to represent yourself as Linda's agent or as authorized to transact concerning her property.”
Jessica laughed.
“You're threatening me?”
“I'm clarifying Linda's position.”
“The deposit has obligations.”
“Not Linda's obligations.”
Robert spoke.
“My company will address the deposit separately.”
Jessica said, “Robert, don't do this.”
“I can't proceed.”
She disconnected.
Nobody spoke for several seconds.
Then Tom exhaled.
“Well.”
Rebecca gathered the papers.
“That takes care of today.”
“Not everything,” I said.
“No.”
There were still documents to correct.
Records to preserve.
Questions about the forged signature.
But the immediate danger was over.
My cabin remained mine.
My boat remained mine.
My future remained mine.
We returned to the cabin.
Howard was sitting on the porch with Mason.
When he saw us, he stood.
“Is it stopped?”
“Yes,” I said.
His shoulders dropped.
“I'm sorry.”
“You didn't know.”
“I should have.”
“No. That's not yours to carry.”
He looked toward Eric.
“My daughter made choices I don't understand.”
Eric answered quietly.
“So did I.”
That evening, Eric asked if he could stay.
I considered it.
Then said, “On the couch.”
He almost smiled.
“I deserve worse.”
“Yes.”
That night, the three of us ate leftover sandwiches and the peach cobbler I'd brought.
Mason found vanilla ice cream in the freezer.
For a few hours, the cabin felt almost normal.
Then, at nine-fifteen, headlights swept across the porch.
A car door slammed.
Jessica entered without knocking.
She carried a thick envelope.
Howard stood.
“Jessica.”
She ignored him.
Her eyes were on me.
“You think you won?”
I set down my fork.
“This isn't a game.”
“You humiliated me.”
“No. You made decisions. People discovered them.”
She threw the envelope onto the table.
“You want everything? Fine.”
Papers spilled out.
Bank statements.
Emails.
Contracts.
Rebecca's preservation warning must have frightened her.
“I didn't forge your signature,” she said.
I stared at her.
“Then who did?”
She looked toward Eric.
His face went blank.
“Don't,” he said.
Jessica laughed.
“You wanted the cabin too.”
“I never signed her name.”
“No. You did something easier.”
She pulled out a sheet.
“You gave me this.”
Eric stared.
It was an old birthday card.
From me.
Signed:
Love always, Mom. Linda Dawson.
Jessica had scanned the signature.
Eric's face collapsed.
“I gave you that because you said you were making a family scrapbook.”
“I did make one.”
“You copied Mom's signature?”
“I didn't put it on the authorization.”
“Who did?”
Jessica looked toward the envelope.
“There was a document service.”
Rebecca, whom I'd called the moment Jessica arrived, was listening through speakerphone.
“Name them,” she said.
Jessica did.
The truth was becoming clearer.
Maybe Jessica hadn't personally placed the signature on the page.
But she had provided the sample.
She had provided the property documents.
She had created the LLC.
She had negotiated the deal.
And Eric had supplied access while choosing not to ask enough questions.
Then Jessica said something none of us expected.
“I didn't come here to fight.”
I looked at her.
“Why did you come?”
Her expression changed.
For the first time, she looked less angry than frightened.
May you like
“Because Amanda disappeared with the deposit.”
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