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“OK.”
I sensed there was something she wanted to add to that but didn’t. So, we sat, and I told her everything, from how low I had gotten when we were teens and why I had run away to the current situation with the loan on the property. I told her about my fears and how I had done nothing but work, thinking money would make everything better, but it hadn’t, because now I had plenty of it, and life was still falling far short of happiness without her. She listened quietly, letting me finish.
“Do you remember the night you turned up here after you’d been out drinking?”
“Honestly, not really. I only remember waking up horrified that I’d somehow ended up here, and then I saw your note and knew I had really fucked up. I can’t remember anything past leaving the bar and starting to walk toward your house,” I admitted, embarrassed.
“I was so angry with you for losing control like that. I know you’ve always said you don’t have a drinking problem and having a few beers or a couple of glasses of wine doesn’t make you want to use again, but you were so oblivious that I can see how overindulging like that might make you less able to make good decisions. It really scared me, and I acted accordingly. When I found out you were gone again though, I was devastated. I went to your father’s house, and he didn’t know where you were either. He never mentioned the cabin. I wonder why he didn’t tell me about it?”
“He doesn’t know about it. I’ve never told anyone I own the cabin. It was a part of my deal with your grandmother, that I just let people continue to believe it was a part of her property and unlivable.”
“Why?”
“I’m not sure. In all honesty, given the situation between you and I, she maybe just didn’t want you to find out about it.”
“That sounds right. Grandma always did like her secrets, and she was never one for conflict of any sort if she could avoid it,” I said, pondering that for a moment before continuing. “Anyway, you told me you were sorry, over and over. You never said what you were sorry for, just that you were sorry.”
“I don’t know what I was sorry for. Maybe just everything. Or maybe just about showing up on your doorstep in that condition. It wasn’t exactly my proudest moment.”
“Maybe. I looked everywhere for you. I never even thought about that cabin. I went to the tractor pull with Becky in hopes you would turn up there, which you did,” she laughed.
“Yeah. I’m sorry about that. I lost my mind when I saw him manhandling you like that. I know who he was, now, but I don’t know why he was there.”
“He just showed up looking for me because I had called him a few days earlier to tell him I wanted to sell my half of the clinic. Things got heated, and he grabbed me and was shaking me. Then, he was flying backward, and you were on top of him hitting him. I started toward you, but someone beside me, the football coach, Alton Downs, I think, pulled me back, and I lost my balance, stepping in a hole and my other foot slipping out from under me. It all happened so fast.”
“I hate that I acted like that, but I can’t say he didn’t have it coming.”
“He did. He was going to file charges against you but elected not to do so if I didn’t file charges against him. There were plenty of witnesses that saw him grab me, and they were all willing to testify that you were trying to protect me. I got him to skip any further action and give me what I wanted for my half of the clinic, though I just found out that he’s going to go through with that part of the deal yesterday.”
“Will that be enough for you to take care of the lien?”
“Barely, but yes. It’s a huge load off my mind.”
“I still feel like I should help you. That lien wouldn’t have been there if not for me.”
“No. You paid Grandma back. It’s not your fault she didn’t follow through to make sure that lien was taken care of. I can only surmise that it was Aunt Bertha’s backup plan. She was hoping I wouldn’t discover it in time, and she could lay claim to the property after it was too late for me to do anything about it.”
“I would have never imagined she could be so conniving.”
“Me either, but at least I’m clear of her financially. Beyond that, I’m broke and in debt, but I’ll work it out.”
“No place to go but up, then. So, listen, are we good here, then? Because there’s something I really want to ask you,” I said, feeling like a huge bundle of nerves.
