The next morning, I found Garrett outside the bunkhouse.
He was standing beside the trailer.
Several boxes remained on the ground.
Tiffany was sitting inside with her phone.
I walked toward them.
"Morning."
Garrett turned.
"Morning, Dad."
His voice sounded tired.
I looked at the trailer.
"Are you packing?"
He hesitated.
"We're trying to work out what to do."
I nodded.
The forty-eight-hour period was approaching its end.
I wasn't going to change the agreement.
Garrett rubbed his hands together.
"We're in a difficult situation."
I waited.
He looked toward the main lodge.
"The house back home wasn't working out."
"I gathered that."
He lowered his eyes.
"We fell behind."
I remembered the pink document.
"Was that a foreclosure notice?"
He looked at me.
Then he nodded.
"Yes."
Tiffany appeared at the bunkhouse doorway.
She looked uncomfortable.
Garrett continued.
"We had some financial problems. Things got worse than we expected."
I didn't ask for every detail.
I already knew enough to understand why they had come.
"What happened to the money from selling your belongings?"
He looked away.
"Some of it went toward debts."
"And the rest?"
"Expenses."
I nodded slowly.
The expensive SUV, the missing diamond ring, and the damaged furniture had all seemed strange when they arrived.
Now the pieces were beginning to fit.
Garrett leaned against the trailer.
"We thought we could start again here."
I looked at him.
"Why didn't you call me?"
He gave a small shrug.
"I didn't know what to say."
"Eleven years is a long time not to know what to say."
He looked down.
Tiffany came outside.
She held her phone in one hand.
"We were embarrassed."
I looked at her.
"Embarrassment didn't stop you from bringing a moving truck."
She didn't answer.
Garrett stepped closer.
"Dad, I know we made mistakes."
I waited.
He continued.
"I should have called."
That was the first thing he had said that sounded like an actual acknowledgment.
I wanted to believe it.
But I had learned to be careful.
"Yes," I said. "You should have."
He looked toward the main house.
"Could we stay longer while we get things sorted?"
"No."
His face fell.
"Even after everything I've told you?"
"Yes."
Tiffany shook her head.
"I don't think you understand how difficult this is for us."
I looked at her.
"I understand that you're facing financial problems. I also understand that I didn't create them."
Garrett became quiet.
I returned to the main lodge.
A little later, he followed me inside.
He stood near the kitchen table.
"Dad, I need to ask you something."
I set down my coffee.
"What?"
He hesitated.
"If you don't want us living here, what are you going to do with the property?"
I looked at him.
"Live here."
He shook his head.
"I mean eventually."
I understood.
He wanted to know whether there was still a chance he would receive the estate.
I answered carefully.
"I have arrangements in place."
"What kind of arrangements?"
"Private ones."
He looked frustrated.
"Why won't you tell me?"
"Because I don't need to discuss every legal decision with you."
He stood silently.
Then he asked whether I had ever thought about giving him part of the property.
I looked toward the large windows.
The mountains were bright that morning.
I remembered the camper.
The frozen nights.
The first ranch owner who had trusted me.
The beams I had selected.
The walnut floors I had installed.
I remembered every part of building this place.
"Garrett, when I was sixty-five, I had almost nothing left except my truck and my savings."
He nodded.
"You know that."
"I had a place to go because I made one."
He looked at me.
"I worked for eleven years to build this life."
I paused.
"I didn't build it so someone could arrive at the end and claim it."
His shoulders dropped.
He sat down.
For a moment, he looked like the boy I remembered.
But I couldn't go back to those years.
Neither could he.
Click here to continue reading: PART 19: My Son Wanted Another Chance at My Property, but I Finally Asked Him the Question He Had Avoided for Eleven Years
My Son Had Not Spoken to Me in Eleven Years, Yet He Arrived at My Mountain Home Acting as Though He Already Owned It
Part 18 of 20
