PART 17 – Miles Finally Asked for a Conversation With All of Us Present, and I Knew the Questions About the Three Transfers Could No Longer Be Avoided

The call came on a weekday morning while I was feeding Maisie.

Miles asked whether I could attend a meeting with Grandma and the other family members involved in the arrangements.

He said he wanted to discuss the records he had reviewed and explain what still needed to be established.

I agreed.

After we hung up, I sat with Maisie in my arms and looked at the kitchen counter.

The bills were still there.

The folder containing Owen's insurance papers was beside them.

I had spent months trying to solve one problem at a time, never imagining that the money Grandma believed she had sent would become the center of a family dispute.

Now I had to face everyone again.

I wasn't looking forward to it.

But I wasn't going to avoid it either.

Grandma called later that afternoon.

"Miles has asked us to meet."

"He contacted me."

"Good. I want everyone to hear the same information."

I appreciated that.

I didn't want another round of conversations in which people remembered different things or repeated explanations that couldn't be checked.

"When is the meeting?" I asked.

"We're arranging it now."

I looked toward Maisie's crib.

"All right."

Grandma paused.

"Natalie, whatever the records show, I don't want you to feel responsible for the discomfort this causes."

I swallowed.

"I'll try."

"You told the truth about what happened to you. That's all you've done."

I held on to those words after the call ended.

For weeks, I had worried that asking questions would make me the reason the family fell apart.

But I hadn't sent the money anywhere.

I hadn't prepared the documents.

I hadn't told Grandma that I was receiving help.

I had only described the life I was actually living.

The meeting was arranged for the following week.

I asked Paige whether she could watch Maisie for part of the time, but she offered to come with me instead.

"I don't want you sitting there alone," she said.

I thanked her.

When the day arrived, I dressed Maisie in a clean outfit and packed her familiar blanket.

I wore the same gray sweatshirt I had worn at Thanksgiving.

For a moment, I considered changing.

Then I decided not to.

It was clean, comfortable, and mine.

I didn't need to dress differently to make the truth easier for anyone to hear.

Grandma was already seated when we arrived.

My mother sat beside her.

Vivian and Glenn were across the room.

Nobody appeared pleased to be there.

Miles had brought another folder.

He placed it on the table and asked everyone to sit.

I settled Maisie against my shoulder.

Her blanket brushed my wrist.

Miles began by explaining the purpose of the meeting.

He had reviewed the available records associated with the three transfers.

He had also examined the documents provided during the arrangements.

Some matters had been clarified.

Other details still required verification.

He was careful to distinguish what the records established from what they did not.

I listened closely.

I didn't want to misunderstand anything.

Grandma asked whether the payments had been made as she intended.

Miles confirmed that the three transfers had been processed for the amounts already discussed.

The total was one hundred eighty thousand dollars.

He explained that the records also contained instructions and supporting documents that had been represented as authorizing the arrangements.

I looked at Vivian.

She was staring at the table.

Miles continued.

"The important questions are whether those documents accurately represented Natalie's authorization and where the transferred funds ultimately went."

Grandma nodded.

"Then those are the questions we need answered."

Vivian shifted in her chair.

"Must we go through this all over again?"

Grandma looked at her.

"We have never had a complete explanation."

Vivian didn't respond.

Miles placed several papers on the table.

He said he would explain the available information, but he would not make a final accusation without the necessary verification.

I appreciated his caution.

I wanted an answer.

I did not want a guess presented as a fact.

My mother folded her hands in her lap.

Paige sat beside me, watching the documents.

For the first time, nobody tried to turn the conversation toward dinner, the holiday, or the discomfort of discussing family matters.

We were there because a substantial amount of money had been intended for me and had never reached me.

That was the fact we could not avoid.

Miles opened the folder.

"Let's begin with the transfer records."

I took a breath and waited.

Click here to continue reading: PART 18: The Documents Forced Us to Separate What We Knew From What We Had Assumed, and Even the Familiar Faces Around the Table Seemed Different