Chapter 15 - THE THING COLE ALWAYS RESENTEDCole called Jonah the next day.
Jonah answered on the fourth ring.
“Hey.”
Cole said nothing.
“You there?”
“Yes.”
“What’s wrong?”
Cole laughed bitterly.
“You won.”
A pause.
“What?”
“Mom made you power of attorney.”
Jonah went quiet.
“I know.”
Cole froze.
“She told you?”
“She asked me before she came home.”
“Of course.”
“Cole.”
“You always wanted this.”
“No.”
“Don’t.”
“What exactly do you think I wanted?”
“The house.”
Jonah laughed once.
Not cruelly.
Disbelieving.
“Rosehaven?”
“Yes.”
“I have a house.”
“You know what I mean.”
“No.”
Jonah’s voice sharpened.
“I don’t.”
Cole paced.
“You’re the good son.”
“This isn’t about me.”
“It always is.”
“Then stop making it about me.”
Cole went silent.
Jonah continued.
“You know why Mom asked me?”
“Because she trusts you.”
“Yes.”
“That’s my point.”
“No.”
Jonah’s voice softened.
“She trusts me because I didn’t ask what happens when she dies.”
Cole froze.
Jonah continued.
“She asked me to handle things if she ever can’t.”
“I know what power of attorney means.”
“Then understand the point.”
Cole’s throat tightened.
Jonah said:
“You keep talking like inheritance is proof of love.”
“It isn’t.”
“Then act like it.”
The call ended soon after.
Cole sat alone.
For the first time, no Sabrina.
No Dorothy.
No lawyer.
No excuse.
Just the truth.
May you like
He had been afraid of losing property he had never owned.
And that fear had cost him something far more valuable.
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