"She mentioned you."
Mr. Charleston cleared his throat, but Marcus wasn't finished.
"I'll be contesting everything," he said. "The marriage, the will, all of it. My lawyer's already drafting the paperwork. You took advantage of a vulnerable elderly woman, and I'm not going to let it stand."
My hands tightened around the bag. "I didn't take anything from her."
"Then you won't mind handing that back."
"I'll be contesting everything."
I looked at the lawyer. He gave the slightest shake of his head.
"I need to think," I said, and walked away.
"Daniel, wait. Let me finish," Mr. Charleston called after me, but I was already down the street, too shaken to turn around.
***
By Monday, the whispers at the nursing home had already started.
"I need to think."
I felt them before I heard them.
The pause when I walked into the break room.
The way two nurses stopped talking when I passed in the hallway.
Even the residents I'd known for over a year looked at me differently.
Sarah found me in the supply closet restocking towels.
"Daniel." She closed the door behind her. "Management wants to see you on Wednesday. It's a formal inquiry."
"I figured."
I felt them before I heard them.
"You need a plan," my friend said.
"I'm going to give it back," I said. "All of it. Whatever's in the bag, whatever she left. Gloria's nephew, Marcus, can have it. I don't want people thinking I did this for money."
Sarah stared at me. "Daniel, that's exactly what Marcus wants."
"Maybe he deserves it. He's her blood."
"So? You were her family. I saw you with her every day."
I didn't answer. I just kept folding the towels.
"You need a plan."
