Chapter 8 - THE LETTERS FROM SUSAN
Susan Miller lived in North Carolina.
She was a physical therapist who specialized in pediatric rehabilitation and adaptive dance.
After Thomas died, she questioned the crash report because her brother hated driving at night and rarely allowed Denise to drive after drinking.
Eleanor told her the family needed space.
Denise blocked her number.
Robert threatened legal action if she approached Aubrey’s school.
Susan continued writing.
The letters contained ordinary things.
Stories about Thomas as a child.
Photographs of him dancing badly at Susan’s wedding.
Descriptions of wheelchair tennis, adaptive ballet, swimming, and travel.
None promised a cure.
Every letter treated Aubrey’s future as larger than her injury.
Eleanor had hidden them because Susan challenged the narrative that Aubrey’s life ended with conventional dance.
Maya arranged a protected video meeting.
Susan did not open with, “I’ve missed you.”
She said, “You can end this call whenever you choose.”
Aubrey studied her face.
“Did Dad like dancing?”
“He liked watching you dance. He personally moved like a refrigerator falling downstairs.”
Aubrey laughed before she could stop herself.
That laugh changed the room.
Susan became a possible kinship placement, but no one moved Aubrey immediately.
Background checks, home evaluation, school planning, and Aubrey’s preference mattered.
I told Maya that Caleb and I were willing to help but could not promise to become Aubrey’s full-time guardians while Lily was recovering.
The admission felt selfish.
Maya said, “Honest capacity is safer than heroic promises.”
Aubrey deserved a home chosen for her needs, not a replacement family built from guilt.
The federal trust review found that Susan had been named in Thomas’s will as alternate guardian.
I was named beside her.
Not alone.
Thomas wanted Susan to manage rehabilitation and daily care if necessary. He wanted me to oversee financial decisions because I had accounting experience and because, in his words, “Jenna is the only Hayes who asks where the numbers came from.”
The will had never been filed after his death.
Eleanor found it in Thomas’s desk and hid it.
Denise submitted an older version naming Robert and Eleanor.
That concealment strengthened the guardianship-fraud case.
Susan came to Virginia for an in-person visit.
Aubrey asked her to bring one thing.
“My dad’s music box.”
Susan had kept it after the funeral because Denise said Aubrey no longer wanted reminders of dance.
The wooden box played a waltz.
Aubrey placed her hand on the lid but did not open it.
“Mom said Dad blamed me for the crash because I asked to go to the competition.”
Susan’s expression changed.
“Thomas blamed Denise for driving. Never you.”
“Did he tell you?”
“He left me a message two days before the crash.”
Investigators had heard the message.
Aubrey had not.
Maya played it only after Aubrey agreed.
Thomas’s voice said:
Denise is drinking again. I’m taking the keys after Aubrey’s competition. If she fights me, I’m taking Aubrey to Susan’s and filing for custody Monday.
Thomas had planned to leave Denise.
The crash occurred Saturday night.
He never reached Monday.
Then Maya opened the final sealed attachment to Thomas’s will.
It contained a video recorded the morning of the competition.
May you like
Thomas looked directly into the camera.
“If something happens to me, do not trust the first story my wife or the Hayes family tells.”
