“Activate the protocol,” I told Daniel.
He paused for half a second. “Did Eric change the locks?”
“Yes. And Rachel’s parents are moving into the master bedroom.”
“I’m on my way,” he said.
I had saved Daniel Brooks’s number after Eric first suggested that the lakehouse was “too much” for me. He was the attorney who had helped David and me put our affairs in order. When Eric began talking about the empty bedrooms as though they were his to offer, Daniel had advised me to call him if anyone tried to take possession of the house without my permission.
Twenty minutes later, Daniel’s car pulled up behind mine. He stepped out carrying a slim folder. I walked with him to the porch, where Eric was thanking the movers for their work.
“Mom?” Eric’s smile faltered. “Who’s this?”
“You’ve met Daniel,” I said. “He helped your father and me with the house.”
Rachel appeared in the doorway. Behind her, Susan was placing the brass lamp on my hallway table.
Daniel opened his folder. “Joan is the owner of this property. She has not agreed to anyone moving in or changing the locks.”
Thomas set down the empty box in his hands. “Eric told us Joan invited us.”
No one spoke.
“We spoke about it,” Eric said quickly.
“You spoke,” I replied. “I said I would think about ways to help. I never offered my home.”
Susan looked from Eric to Rachel. Her face slowly lost its color. “Rachel, you said she wanted us here.”
Rachel folded her arms, but she could not meet her mother’s eyes. “We thought once she saw you settled, she’d understand.”
“You changed my locks first,” I said.
Thomas took a step toward me. “Joan, I’m sorry. We would never have brought our things inside if we’d known.”
I believed him. That made the afternoon sadder, not easier.
Daniel turned to the movers. “The owners of these belongings would like them returned to the truck. Can you give them a price for the additional work?”
Eric stared at him. “You’re making them leave?”
“They’re choosing to,” Thomas answered before I could. He looked at his daughter. “Help us pack.”
The next hour felt much longer than the first twenty minutes. Susan carried out the fern. Thomas helped the movers with the dresser. Eric stood beside the truck, watching each box he had checked off come back down the ramp.
When the house was empty, a locksmith arrived. Eric handed over every copy of the new key, and I watched the old brass key slide into a new lock chosen for my door.
Before they left, I gave Thomas and Susan the number of a nearby furnished rental I had asked Daniel to find. “I can help with the deposit,” I told them. “I meant it when I said I’d think about helping.”
Susan’s eyes filled. “That is more than we deserve today.”
“You didn’t know,” I said. “I’m sorry you were put in this position.”
Eric waited until their car had gone. “Mom, I thought you’d say yes eventually.”
“Then you should have waited to hear me say it.”
He looked toward the house. “I’m sorry.”
I nodded, but I didn’t invite him inside. An apology could begin a conversation. It could not undo the afternoon in one sentence.
After everyone left, I stood alone in the kitchen. David’s pencil marks were still on the doorframe, showing how tall Eric had grown each summer. I touched the highest one, then put my brass key in my pocket.
By evening, I had the lakehouse to myself again. I hoped one day Eric would come back as my guest, and wait at the door for me to welcome him in.