PART 3 : THE WOMAN SITTING AT MY PLACE
For several seconds, I couldn’t speak.
“What do you mean, somebody who wasn’t supposed to know I existed?”
Leah breathed heavily into the phone.
“Her name is Patricia. Dad’s older sister.”
I frowned.
“Aunt Patricia? Dad told me she moved overseas twenty years ago.”
“She came back last month.”
I remembered Patricia vaguely. She had attended my eighth birthday, brought me a beautiful silver bracelet, and disappeared from our lives shortly afterward.
Whenever I asked about her, Dad changed the subject.
“Why would her being there matter?”
Leah hesitated.
“Because she came back with questions about Grandpa’s estate.”
My grandfather had died when I was seventeen.
Dad told us there had been almost nothing left after medical expenses.
A small savings account.
Some old furniture.
A few sentimental belongings.
Nothing worth arguing about.
Or so I had believed.
“Leah, what does Grandpa’s estate have to do with Christmas?”
“Patricia said Grandpa left something specifically for you.”
I went completely still.
“What?”
“I don’t know all the details. She came to Christmas dinner with a folder. Dad got upset when she mentioned your name.”
My heart began pounding.
“Why would Dad hide something like that?”
“Because Patricia said she’d been trying to contact you for years.”
The room suddenly felt smaller.
I stood and walked toward the kitchen window.
“Did she ask why I wasn’t there?”
“Yes.”
“And what did they tell her?”
Leah’s answer came so quietly I almost missed it.
“They told her you wanted nothing to do with the family.”
I felt the words settle inside me.
My parents had deliberately kept me away from Christmas because they didn’t want me speaking to someone who might know something important about my grandfather.
And all this time, I had thought the problem was simply that Dad didn’t like being corrected.
“Do you have Patricia’s number?” I asked.
“I can send it.”
“Please.”
A minute later, a contact appeared on my screen.
I called immediately.
An older woman answered after three rings.
“Hello?”
“Aunt Patricia? This is your niece.”
Silence.
Then I heard a sharp intake of breath.
“Oh, sweetheart.”
Something in her voice nearly broke me.
“I’ve been trying to find you.”
I sat down.
“Why?”
She didn’t answer immediately.
Instead, she asked, “Did your father tell you what happened after your grandfather died?”
I explained what I knew.
Medical bills.
Little money.
No inheritance.
Patricia made a sound of disbelief.
“Your grandfather owned three rental properties when he died.”
My mouth went dry.
“What?”
“And he left instructions concerning one of them specifically for you.”
I could barely breathe.
“Dad said there was nothing.”
“Your grandfather was very clear about what he wanted. But the estate became complicated, and I couldn’t get reliable answers from your father.”
She paused.
“I’ve spent years trying to obtain the complete records.”
I rubbed my forehead.
“Are you saying Dad stole my inheritance?”
“I’m saying I found documents that raise questions he needs to answer. I don’t want to accuse anyone until a lawyer reviews everything.”
That careful answer frightened me more than an accusation would have.
Patricia continued.
“When I contacted your parents last month, your father said you didn’t want to discuss the past. He promised you’d meet me at Christmas.”
My stomach dropped.
“He promised that?”
“Yes. Then yesterday, he claimed you’d refused to come.”
I looked at the little Christmas tree glowing in my living room.
Everything suddenly made a terrible kind of sense.
They hadn’t excluded me because I was difficult.
They had excluded me because someone might have told me something they wanted hidden.
“Patricia,” I whispered, “can we meet?”
“Of course.”
She gave me the address of her hotel.
Then she said, “There’s something I need you to know before we speak.”
I waited.
“Last week, I found a letter your grandfather wrote shortly before he died.”
My throat tightened.
“A letter?”
“Yes. It has your name on it.”
I pressed my hand against my chest.
“What does it say?”
Her voice trembled.
“He knew your father might try to keep something from you. And he left instructions about exactly what you should do if that happened.”
