Brielle laughed. “Sure I’m sure. Mom and I already talked to the lawyer. The house, the land, the orchard—all Whitlock blood assets. You were never adopted, June. You’re not even a real Whitlock.” The room went quiet. Camille, my stepmother, didn’t correct her. She just sipped her wine and studied the crown molding. I nodded once. Then I walked to the bookshelf beside the fireplace, pulled down the leather Bible Dad kept his important papers in, and slid out a cream-colored envelope. “Funny you mention the lawyer,” I said. “Mr. Pellman called me on Tuesday. Dad updated everything six weeks before he passed.” I handed the envelope to Aunt Margaret, who read it aloud because her hands were steadier than mine. The farmhouse, the orchard, the seventeen acres, and the Whitlock family trust had been placed entirely in a revocable living trust—with me as the sole trustee and beneficiary. Camille’s life-estate clause? Voided the moment she filed for legal separation last spring, the one she thought no one knew about. Brielle’s champagne flute hit the rug. “That’s a lie. I’m his stepdaughter—” “And I’m his daughter,” I said. “He adopted me when I was four, Brielle. The paperwork is in the safety deposit box. Dad just never bragged about it because he didn’t think love needed a receipt.” Camille finally looked up, her face the color of the ash in the fireplace. I turned to her gently. “You have until Sunday to collect your things. Brielle, the guest cottage key is on the hook—you can stay one night, out of respect for Dad.” Brielle opened her mouth, but Mrs. Avery, sweet seventy-year-old Mrs. Avery, picked up the casserole and pressed it into Brielle’s arms. “Be a dear,” she said, “and carry this to the kitchen on your way out.” The mourners parted like a curtain. I walked to the porch, sat in Dad’s old rocker, and finally let myself cry—not because I’d won, but because he’d believed in me loud enough to echo after he was gone.
