Chapter 18 - ANNA’S NOTES
I finally read all of Anna’s Everwood notes when Josephine was twelve.
Not before.
I was afraid they would become another obsession.
Anna had not solved the scheme.
She noticed patterns.
Asked questions.
Visited the archive.
Found Arthur’s letter.
Copied several ledgers.
Then cancer interrupted everything.
One note:
Bennett refuses to believe his father can make money conditional because admitting it means every “gift” from childhood changes meaning.
She knew me.
Another:
Don’t dump this on him during treatment. If I’m okay, we handle it together.
She was not okay.
That sentence wrecked me.
Josephine read parts years later.
She asked:
“Did Mom know Grandpa was cheating the trust?”
“She suspected unfair accounting.”
“Why didn’t she tell you?”
“She planned to.”
“Then got sick?”
“Yes.”
Josephine looked down.
“Grandpa made even Mom’s notes about him.”
“What?”
“Her last year should’ve been about us.”
She was right.
May you like
We put the box away.
Anna was more than evidence.
