Chapter 7 - LORRAINE’S SECRET APPOINTMENTMargaret Sloan agreed to meet Everett and Lorraine together.
It was Lorraine’s suggestion.
“I don’t want anything else hidden,” she said.
Everett did not answer.
They met in a small office overlooking downtown Lexington.
Margaret was in her late fifties, measured and direct.
She waited until both were seated.
“Mrs. Holloway has authorized me to discuss our prior consultation.”
Everett nodded.
Margaret folded her hands.
“Your wife came to me because your son had raised concerns about your ability to manage the company and your finances.”
“Specific concerns?”
“Forgetting appointments. Repetition. Irritability. Refusal to delegate.”
Everett almost laughed.
“Irritability.”
Margaret remained neutral.
“I told Mrs. Holloway those facts, even if true, did not establish incapacity.”
Lorraine stared at her hands.
“Did Preston attend?”
“Once.”
Everett looked at his wife.
“You didn’t tell me that.”
“I’m telling you now.”
Margaret continued.
“Your son wanted to know what legal mechanisms existed if a family member became unable to manage financial affairs.”
“That sounds reasonable.”
“In isolation, yes.”
“But?”
“He was unusually focused on speed.”
Everett’s gaze sharpened.
“What do you mean?”
“He asked whether temporary authority could be established before a full evaluation.”
“Could it?”
“In extreme emergency circumstances, courts can issue temporary orders. But that requires evidence.”
“What evidence did he offer?”
“None that I found persuasive.”
Lorraine whispered, “Margaret told us to stop.”
Everett looked at her.
“She told you to stop?”
Margaret corrected gently.
“I told them that if there was a genuine concern, Mr. Holloway should see his own physician and attorney.”
“And what did Preston say?”
Margaret hesitated.
“He asked whether family members could sign statements about behavioral changes.”
Everett’s jaw tightened.
“Did Celia ever attend?”
“No.”
“Did Preston mention her?”
“Yes.”
“In what context?”
“He said she had observed changes as well.”
Everett looked at Lorraine.
His wife’s face had gone pale.
Margaret continued.
“One thing concerned me enough that I documented it.”
“What?”
“Your son asked what would happen if you signed documents voluntarily and later claimed you had not understood them.”
Everett stared.
Margaret’s expression remained calm.
“I ended the meeting shortly afterward.”
Lorraine covered her mouth.
She had clearly forgotten or repressed the significance of that question.
Everett did not.
He leaned forward.
“Did he ask that before or after discussing my competence?”
“After.”
Everett stood.
“We’re done.”
Outside, Lorraine followed him into the parking garage.
“Everett.”
He kept walking.
“Please.”
He stopped beside the car.
She looked at him.
“I should have told you.”
“Yes.”
“I was afraid Preston was right.”
That hurt more than anything else.
Everett stared at the concrete wall.
“Do you know what scares me?”
Lorraine waited.
“That you were willing to believe I might be losing my mind because our son told you I was difficult.”
Her eyes filled.
“I saw things too.”
“What things?”
“You forgetting a dinner reservation.”
“I was working.”
“You asked me the same question twice one morning.”
“I was distracted.”
“You left your keys in the refrigerator.”
Everett turned.
“What?”
“You did.”
“When?”
“Three weeks ago.”
“I have never left my keys in the refrigerator.”
“I found them there.”
Everett went still.
“Who was in the house?”
Lorraine frowned.
“What?”
“That morning.”
“I don’t know.”
“Think.”
She closed her eyes.
“Celia had stayed over.”
Everett’s pulse accelerated.
“Why?”
“She and Preston had argued. She slept in the guest room.”
Everett said nothing.
Lorraine’s voice dropped.
“You think she put them there.”
“I think I no longer assume anything.”
When they returned home, Everett went straight to the kitchen.
Onyx was visible through the open archway near the staircase.
The parrot was preening one wing.
Everett looked at the counter where his morning medication organizer usually sat.
It was gone.
He called the housekeeper.
“Mrs. Keene.”
She appeared.
“Where is my pill box?”
She frowned.
“Your weekly organizer?”
“Yes.”
“I thought it was upstairs.”
“No.”
Mrs. Keene looked uneasy.
“Mrs. Holloway usually fills it.”
Lorraine came in behind him.
“I do.”
“Where is it?”
She opened a drawer.
Empty.
Another.
Then another.
“It was here yesterday.”
Everett’s stomach tightened.
They searched the cabinet.
Finally Celia entered from the hallway carrying her handbag.
“What’s happening?”
Everett looked at her.
“My medication is missing.”
Celia’s face changed.
Not much.
But enough.
“Why would I know?”
Everett stared.
“I didn’t say you would.”
Silence.
Celia recovered.
“I just mean everyone keeps looking at me.”
Lorraine glanced at Everett.
Then at Celia.
Everett said nothing.
He had learned something useful.
People often revealed more when defending themselves from accusations that had not yet been made.
May you like
That night, he locked his bedroom door.
For the first time in forty-seven years of marriage.
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