I waited.
“I know it was more than I gave. I have always known that. I just—” He stopped. “It was easier to tell myself a story about it.”
“I know,” I said.
“I should have been there more.”
“Yes.”
We sat with that for a moment, and then Patricia moved us back to the practical items, because there were practical items to resolve and the moment for things that couldn’t be resolved was going to come later, or not at all, and the paperwork still needed signatures.
By the end of the meeting, we had the framework of a written agreement. Patricia would draft it. Both of us would review it with our respective advisors before signing. The basic terms: Daniel’s invoice was withdrawn. The $22,000 roof advance, supported by the invoices and Ruth’s note, would be treated as an advance from the estate proceeds, to be repaid to Claire before the remainder was divided equally. The remainder would be split fifty-fifty as the will specified.
The house would be listed once the estate paperwork was complete and I had a reasonable amount of time to sort belongings and make arrangements for where I was going to live.
Patricia said she’d have a draft within a week. I thanked her. Daniel thanked her. We walked out of her office together and stood on the sidewalk in the October light for an awkward moment.
“You want to grab lunch?” Daniel asked.
I thought about it. “Not today,” I said. “But ask me again.”