Chapter 4
I dialed Dana on my own phone and put her on speaker while my grandfather's phone remained open to my father. I heard Dana's voice come on, brisk and professional, and I heard my grandfather tell her that he was at my house, that he was well, and that he would appreciate it if she could arrange for a second set of signed copies of the revised will to be sent to an address he would provide separately, and that he wanted the written statement about the account withdrawals formally entered into the meeting record before the afternoon appointment.
He also told her, with the matter-of-fact precision of a man who has been building to this sentence for six months, that he would like to discuss the formal documentation of his intent to require repayment of the two amounts incorrectly characterized as gifts, and that he had the original paperwork, and that he had retained a second attorney in February to review his options.
Dana said she would have everything ready.
My grandfather thanked her and ended the call.
Then he picked up the phone with my father still on the other end of it and he said, in a voice I had never heard him use, the specific voice of a man who has been patient and fair and careful for a very long time and is now done being any of those things in this particular direction: "I will be at Dana's office at two o'clock this afternoon. You will not be there. If you have questions about the will, your attorney can contact Dana after the documents are filed. I do not want to discuss this further today."
He ended the call.
He set the phone down on the table beside the envelope.
May you like
He picked up his coffee cup, found it empty, and held it out toward me without looking up.
I refilled it.
