Chapter 2 - The Care Agreement
The deputy who arrived was young enough to be Mara’s student when she taught evening classes at the community college. He asked June whether Caleb had struck her. June stared at the floor.“He grabbed my arm,” Mara said. “He shoved her into the counter.”“Did he threaten you?”“He said she wouldn’t be in the house for long.”The deputy wrote it down, but his expression remained cautious. Caleb had already called the nonemergency line from somewhere nearby. He told the dispatcher that Mara was unstable, that June had dementia, and that the red shoes had been destroyed during a “confused episode.”“I don’t have dementia,” June said.The deputy glanced at Mara.“She doesn’t,” Mara said. “She has arthritis and high blood pressure.”“I’m not making a medical determination,” he replied. “I’m asking because your son says you’ve been forgetting things.”June folded her arms over her chest. “My son says many things.”The deputy photographed the bruise and wrote down Caleb’s address, though it was the same as June’s. He suggested that June stay with Mara for the night.“I can’t,” June said.“Why not?”Her eyes flicked toward the cabinet in the laundry room. “Because I have an appointment tomorrow.”Mara knew a lie when she heard one. She also knew her mother’s fear had roots deeper than Caleb’s temper.After the deputy left, Mara packed a small bag. June refused to move.“He’ll come back,” Mara said.“He always comes back.”“That is not a reason to stay.”June sat at the kitchen table. “If I leave, he will say I’m incapable of making decisions. He already has papers.”“What papers?”June pulled a folder from the drawer. Inside was a document titled Family Care and Management Agreement. It gave Caleb authority over June’s finances, medical appointments, property taxes, and “residential decisions.” At the bottom was June’s signature.“I signed it last spring,” she said.“Why?”“He told me it was temporary.”“Did anyone explain it to you?”“Caleb said the lawyer was your father’s old friend.”Mara read the name: Nolan Pike.She remembered Pike. He had handled their father’s estate, spoken at the funeral, and told Mara she was being emotional when she questioned a missing account.“Did you have your own attorney?”June shook her head.“Mom.”“I know.”Mara placed the key on the table between them. “What is this?”June covered it with her hand. “It belonged to my mother.”“Your mother died before I was born.”“That is what I told you.”Mara stared at her.June seemed to shrink beneath the kitchen light. “There is a place in town. A place I used before I met your father. The key opens a box there.”“What kind of box?”“One that should have been emptied thirty years ago.”“But it wasn’t.”“No.”“What’s inside?”June’s fingers tightened around the brass. “Evidence that Caleb is not the first person in this family to mistake control for love.”The back door rattled.Mara turned. Caleb stood outside the glass, his face pale with cold and fury.“You called the police,” he said through the door.Mara stepped in front of June. “You need to leave.”“Mom, come outside.”June did not move.Caleb lifted the damaged red shoe. “You have until morning to decide who you believe.”He dropped it on the porch and walked away.Mara waited until his truck disappeared. Then she slid the key into her coat pocket.“We’re going to find the box tonight,” she said.June looked at the dark window.“No,” she said. “We’re going before he learns there is one.”
