Chapter 2 - Gareth Knew
Gareth did not deny knowing.
That helped.
Barely.
We left the club within an hour.
Not because Maude won.
Because Elspeth wanted to go.
She had stopped crying, but every time someone passed our cabana she straightened.
Watching.
Waiting.
I was not going to make her remain there to prove she belonged.
That would only turn staying into another adult test.
At home, after she showered and fell asleep on the couch, I sat across from Gareth.
“Start.”
He rubbed his face.
“My father transferred the cabana before he died.”
“To Elspeth.”
“To a trust for her.”
“When?”
“Three years ago.”
I stared.
“Three years.”
“Yes.”
“And you never told me.”
“I thought you knew she inherited a beach interest.”
“I thought Edmund left her a small club account.”
Gareth closed his eyes.
“That’s my fault.”
“Why hide it?”
“I wasn’t hiding it.”
I waited.
He corrected himself.
“I avoided explaining it.”
“Why?”
“Mom.”
Of course.
Edmund Rowan had died of a heart attack at sixty-eight.
No long cognitive decline.
No deathbed mystery.
He had owned a forty-year transferable leasehold license to Cabana Fourteen through the private club.
Technically the club owned the underlying structures and land rights.
Members held long-duration transferable occupancy licenses paired with membership interests.
Quillan’s phrase “left this cabana” was ordinary shorthand.
Legally, Edmund had transferred the remaining license term to a trust for Elspeth.
Maude received three full summer seasons of reserved personal use after his death.
Not ownership.
Use.
That period had ended three days earlier.
I asked:
“Did your mother know?”
“Yes.”
“From the beginning?”
“Yes.”
“Then why did she say it was hers?”
Gareth looked away.
“Because she believes it should be.”
“Why?”
“It was where they spent summers.”
“That explains attachment.”
“Yes.”
“Not ownership.”
“No.”
Then:
“Why Elspeth?”
Gareth’s eyes filled.
“Dad loved her.”
I waited.
“There’s more.”
Of course.
“What?”
“He and Mom fought about the adoption.”
My chest tightened.
“Before he died?”
“Yes.”
“Did you know?”
“Yes.”
“And you didn’t tell me.”
“I told you Mom was struggling.”
“You told me she needed time.”
“She did.”
“No, Gareth. ‘Needs time’ is forgetting to put Elspeth on a Christmas card. Your mother just told a six-year-old she isn’t family.”
He said nothing.
Then I asked:
“What did your father do?”
“He changed the cabana transfer.”
My skin went cold.
“Changed from what?”
“Mom.”
There.
Originally, Cabana Fourteen was supposed to pass to Maude outright after Edmund’s death.
Then after Gareth finalized Elspeth’s adoption, Edmund amended the arrangement.
Maude still got three summers.
After that, the remaining term went to Elspeth’s trust.
I sat back.
“He took it away from her.”
“Legally, it was his interest.”
“I know.”
“But emotionally…”
“Yes.”
There.
That was the wound.
Maude did not just think Elspeth received something.
She thought Elspeth replaced her.
Then Gareth said:
“Dad told Mom he wanted the cabana to belong to the youngest Rowan who still loved the beach.”
“Cute.”
“He also said he wanted Elspeth to know nobody could call her a guest.”
That hit.
I looked toward the couch.
My daughter slept with one hand under her cheek.
“And Maude knew those words?”
“Yes.”
“Then what she did today was deliberate.”
“Yes.”
He swallowed.
“I think so.”
Then my anger found him.
“How long have you known she was excluding Elspeth from pictures?”
His face changed.
There.
“Gareth.”
“Since spring.”
I stood.
“Spring?”
“She complained about the club legacy album.”
“What album?”
North Shoal was preparing a centennial exhibit.
Old family photographs.
Member lineages.
Cabana histories.
Maude had been asked to provide Rowan family pictures.
She repeatedly sent versions without Elspeth.
Gareth noticed.
He confronted her once.
She said the exhibit was “historical Rowan bloodline.”
He told her:
“Include Elspeth.”
Did she?
He did not check.
There.
A pattern.
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“I thought if I kept you out of it, Mom wouldn’t get what she wanted.”
“What did she want?”
“Conflict.”
I almost laughed.
“She got it without my help.”
Gareth looked down.
“She also wanted me to sign something.”
My stomach tightened.
“What?”
“A family settlement agreement.”
There.
Not yet full.
“What settlement?”
He looked at me.
May you like
“Giving the cabana back to her.”
The beach incident had just become a legal fight.
