Chapter 10 #3
“That was a huge eye-opening revelation, you know, realizing who my mother really was,” she stated.
“And, honestly, I’m sure she’ll put up a fight over the property, but she’s long on drama and short on follow-through.
Therefore, I would think you’ll prevail, though you’ll most certainly have to waste time and endure her nonsense, accusations, and lies.
What I’m far more worried about is that boyfriend of hers.
He won’t just let go and walk away from a free roof over his head.
” She winced and added, “And, if my flat tires are anything to go by, he’s dangerous. ”
“Right, and that’s a good thing to remember,” Sterling said, as he stared off in the distance. “We’ll have something to say about that of course, but first I need to see my grandfather and try to find out why the hell he didn’t do anything to help me either.”
“What would you have expected him to do?”
“I don’t know,” he admitted. “I guess find me. However, your mom probably told him that I was dead, just like your mom told the foster home that my granddad was dead. So, one of the first things I have to do is take a step back and breathe. I was pretty bitter over all that, and I guess a part of me still is,” he admitted.
“When the people in your world suddenly disappear and seemingly don’t want anything to do with you, it’s pretty ugly. ”
Chelsea looked down at her watch and frowned. “It’s probably dinnertime at the retirement home, if you want to go now.”
“I definitely want to go.” He turned to Lindsey. “Do you want to come?”
She rewarded him with a beaming smile. “Are you kidding? I would absolutely love to. I need to hear what happens at the end of this too.”
“I doubt there will be an end right now,” he pointed out, “and I don’t see much hope for a happy ending in many ways for any of us. I don’t know what my aunt may have done on the property, but—”
“But you have lawyers available,” Lindsey pointed out. “I heard Timber say so.”
“I know, but that doesn’t mean they’ll help us over this long-term.”
“Yes, they will. You are a veteran who served your country and who made sacrifices most people can’t even imagine. All the while your property was being stolen, and your service prevented you from even finding out what was happening. So, yes, there will absolutely be help for you.”
He looked at Lindsey and smiled. “But you are one of those Pollyanna types who sees everything in a positive and happy light.”
Chelsea looked over at her new friend with a curious glance, hesitated, then spoke up. “Did you ever find anything to support that sunny attitude? Because it seems to me as if it’s a dog-eat-dog world out there, and nothing is good about it.”
“I know,” Lindsey replied. “I understand. I get that, for you guys, this is a pretty ugly scenario,” Lindsey stated, “and I’m really hoping that we get a decent answer out of it for all of you, your grandfather included.
As for your mother, Chelsea, I’m sorry, but considering that she dumped Sterling into foster care and what she did to you too, I’m not really feeling very sorry for her at all. ”
“No, and I’m not either at this point,” Chelsea replied, shaking her head. She threw back her coffee, looked at Sterling, and said, “I’ll give you the address, and I suggest we go together and see if we can get in to see him. We shouldn’t have any resistance as long as my mother is not there.”
“Is she likely to be there?” Sterling asked.
“Only if she’s haranguing him into giving her more money.
” She shook her head. “Now I see the reason for all the fights between them because she never really worked to speak of, or even made things workable, and he was the one who ended up pitching in money. He’s also the only one with money left, so I know that’s a huge part of why she’s trying to get a power of attorney over him.
The question would be whether we can beat it or not.
I don’t want to see my grandfather fall victim to her as well. ”
“Hasn’t he already?” Sterling asked.
“Yes, and possibly no,” she replied. “I get, from your perspective, you’re still struggling with everything about him because you’ve dealt with so much mystery and confusion.
I’m coming from the very different perspective of having had him in my life all these years, and I didn’t have a problem with him at all.
Only when the boyfriend came along did things go south. ”
“What’s the boyfriend’s name?”
“Charlie. They call him Chuck, but I think it’s Charlie.
When the name he tells me is different than the name anybody else might know him by, it seems shady.
He is into crooked deals, but I don’t know how crooked.
I don’t really know anything about it, and I’ve done my best to avoid everything I can and stay away from him. ”
“Which is the best answer. If you can’t stay safe from him,” he noted, “you need to stay as far away as you can.”
“And I thought that strategy was working, until the whole tire thing happened.”
“What would have been the motivation for his doing that?”
She groaned. “My mother was in a big meltdown,” she explained.
“She had a big legal issue coming up, and I needed to help her with money. I told her that I didn’t have anything to do with the place, that I didn’t have any money to give her, and that I certainly didn’t have any money to help with a legal issue that I didn’t know anything about.
She told me I was supposed to support her no matter what, since she had supported me all these years, and it was the least I could do to pay her back. ”
Sterling nodded. “A legal issue is coming up, and it will definitely be expensive. I would just as soon not have to spend all that money myself, but, if she’ll dig in and refuse to hand the property over to me, that’s what I’ll have to do.”
“After all these years, can you even kick her off? When she was ranting, she mentioned something about squatters’ rights.”
He nodded. “It’s one of the things that I’m working with the lawyers on, particularly since she deliberately and very specifically set up no contact when she signed me into foster care.
But somewhere along the line, the property had been put in my name and my mother’s, presumably by my mother.
I was a minor, and it was held in trust, and I don’t know what happened after that,” he admitted.
“My aunt shouldn’t have been able to take my name off the property. ”
Chelsea nodded. “I did ask her about selling it because we were so broke, after the business went belly up. She just shook her head and told me that she couldn’t. At the time, I took it to mean emotionally she couldn’t, but it sounds as if she couldn’t legally do it either.”
“Nope, not without coming up with a forged signature from me,” Sterling added, “which I’m surprised she didn’t try.
Yet she apparently tried something, but the lawyer she had at the time wouldn’t entertain it because he was a long-time local and knew about me, but that doesn’t mean your mother hasn’t found someone else with lower standards. ”
Chelsea nodded. “She did mention needing to do something fast, so maybe forgery to get your name off is on her list of things to do right now.”
“Maybe,” Sterling replied, “and that just means we need to get to Granddad sooner rather than later.” With that they got up, paid for their coffee, and headed out.
Sterling drove quietly. He didn’t say a word the whole way. Lindsey looked over at him several times but didn’t want to break the silence.
When they were nearly there, she sighed. “It’s been a pretty rough day for you, hasn’t it?”
“Yeah, and for Chelsea too,” he noted. “She’s had to deal with a lot of truths and things she had no idea about.”
“I hope you don’t hold any of it against her.”
“No, of course not,” he said, with a wave of his hand.
“It sounds as if she’s become a victim of her mother too.
Not quite to the same degree as you,” she clarified with a soft smile, “but that slimy boyfriend and his sexual advances are certainly devastating. But good for Chelsea that she is well on her way to getting her life sorted and apart from her mother and Chuck, so that is huge.”
“You’re right, it is.” Sterling pulled up in the parking lot, hopped out, and they waited until Chelsea showed up just a few minutes later.
Chelsea hopped out and said, “I phoned ahead to see how he was. He’s been fine today and would absolutely love some company.”
“I guess he probably doesn’t get many visitors, does he?”
“No, he doesn’t,” Chelsea said, with a wince. “I haven’t come as often as I should have. The more I fought with my mother, the more I stayed away from Grandpa too.”
“Any particular reason?”
“He’s always seemed to side with her. I don’t know whether that was on purpose, or she had something on him, or maybe it was just the way I viewed life back then.
And again I’m not sure exactly why. Plus, it was just easier to stay away.
Between nursing school and working as much as I could to get by, the more I could avoid all the drama that is my family, the easier it was to focus on what I needed to do. … I need to do better with Grandpa.”
Lindsey motioned them forward, adding, “Don’t be so hard on yourself. Let’s go see him.”
As they walked into the home, Chelsea spoke to the lady at the front desk, signed them in, and headed down the hallway.
“Did you put my name down?” Sterling asked.
She shook her head. “No, I just put down myself with two guests,” she replied in a low voice. “It’s better if my mother doesn’t find out just yet.”
He didn’t say anything, and they walked on. Chelsea made a turn, then knocked on a door and waited for a response.
When a creaky voice called out, she pushed open the door. Inside was an old man with a blanket over his legs, sitting in a wheelchair. He looked healthy enough, yet obviously the years hadn’t been the kindest.