The first box went back into the U-Haul shortly after nine thirty.
It was marked Kitchen.
I recognized Donna's handwriting.
One of Ray's friends picked it up and carried it toward the truck.
Then another box followed.
Nobody spoke much.
The cheerful mood from earlier had disappeared.
Donna stood near the porch steps.
She watched the men work.
Ray spoke with the deputy and my attorney.
Derek remained close to Megan.
I stayed out of their way.
I didn't want to supervise the removal of their belongings.
I wanted my house returned to the condition in which I had left it.
A man carried a small table toward the truck.
Another followed with a chair.
The moving straps were lying across the grass.
I noticed one of the gardenia branches had been bent.
I reached down and carefully lifted it.
It wasn't broken.
I hoped it would recover.
That small branch bothered me more than it should have.
Perhaps because I had planted it myself.
Perhaps because I had spent so many years caring for that property that even a damaged flower felt personal.
Tommy came over from the neighboring property.
He had been watching from a distance.
He stood beside me.
"Are you all right?"
I nodded.
"Yes."
He looked toward the truck.
"That's quite a morning."
I almost smiled.
"More than I expected."
He looked at the porch.
Then he looked at the swing.
"At least that one's still standing."
I followed his eyes.
The swing moved slightly in the breeze.
"Yes," I said. "It is."
Tommy had been there during the renovation.
He remembered the first porch.
He remembered how much work we had done to make the cottage safe.
He knew the house wasn't simply an investment.
It was something I had built after losing Arthur.
I was grateful he had stayed nearby.
A little later, my attorney approached me.
He said the immediate ownership documents had been reviewed.
He also reminded me that the issue involving Derek's loan application would need separate attention.
I nodded.
I knew that part was not going to disappear simply because the moving truck was leaving.
I asked whether he needed anything else from me.
He said the binders and supporting records were important.
I told him they were safe.
He reminded me to keep the original documents protected.
I agreed.
Meanwhile, Ray had begun asking Derek questions.
I couldn't hear every word.
But I heard enough.
"You told us the deed was done."
Derek answered quietly.
"I thought it was."
Ray shook his head.
"You don't get to tell people something like that without checking."
Donna stepped toward them.
"We gave notice."
Ray looked at her.
"I know."
She seemed close to tears.
I didn't blame her for being upset.
But I couldn't make her rental situation my responsibility.
Megan came over again.
She looked different now.
The confidence she had shown at my kitchen table was gone.
"Vivien, can we talk?"
I looked at her.
"About what?"
"About what happens next."
I waited.
She said her parents needed somewhere to stay.
She said they had already made arrangements.
She said nobody had expected the morning to turn out this way.
I listened.
Then I answered.
"I didn't expect my son to tell me I couldn't enter my own home either."
She looked down.
For a moment, neither of us spoke.
Then she asked whether I would consider letting her parents stay temporarily.
I shook my head.
"No."
She looked up.
I continued.
"I am not making that arrangement."
She didn't argue.
Perhaps she understood that I had already made my decision.
Perhaps she simply didn't know what else to say.
I returned to the porch.
I checked the front door.
The kitchen was still in place.
The reclaimed cypress cabinets were untouched.
The old paint cans were still in the garage.
I opened the door to the bedroom.
The coral walls looked exactly as they had before Donna measured the windows.
I stood there.
I had spent so much time choosing that color.
It seemed foolish to be grateful for something as ordinary as paint.
But I was.
I went back outside.
The boxes were nearly all back in the truck.
Ray's friends were tired.
The neighbors had begun returning to their homes.
The deputy continued speaking with my attorney.
Derek stood near the driver's side of the U-Haul.
He looked toward me once.
I didn't look away.
I wasn't trying to punish him.
I simply wasn't going to pretend the morning had been normal.
When the last large piece of furniture was loaded, Ray closed the rear doors.
The sound was heavy.
Final.
Donna stood beside him.
Megan walked toward their car.
Derek remained in the driveway.
For a moment, he looked as if he wanted to say something.
I waited.
But he didn't.
And I didn't chase him.
Click here to continue reading: PART 11: After the Neighbors Went Home, I Returned to My Kitchen and Realized the Hardest Part Had Nothing to Do With Property
The Afternoon My Son Told Me I Had Lost the Right to Enter the House I Had Spent Twenty Years Building
Part 10 of 24
