Chapter 6
Cullen remembered the conversation immediately.
Tove had approached him after dinner two months earlier.
Margaret had supposedly forgotten a preschool pickup time.
She had misplaced Mireya’s inhaler.
She had accused one of the gardeners of using the wrong treatment in the conservatory.
Tove said none of it harshly.
That was why Cullen listened.
She sounded concerned.
“Maybe your mom is doing too much.”
Cullen had agreed.
He even suggested Margaret undergo a routine cognitive screening at her next physical.
Margaret had been furious.
He thought pride explained it.
Now he called her and apologized.
Margaret did not make it easy.
“You didn’t trust me.”
“I know.”
“You trusted a woman you’d known a year over your own mother.”
“I know.”
“And because you’re Cullen Ravello, everyone else decided that meant she was right.”
He had no defense.
Margaret’s voice softened slightly.
“I can forgive being questioned.”
She paused.
“I don’t know if I can forgive you making it unsafe for me to question her.”
That was the real damage.
Cullen had not ordered anyone to ignore Margaret.
He had simply made disbelief the easiest option.
At dinner, Mireya asked where Grandma was.
“Her apartment.”
“Coming back?”
Cullen hesitated.
“Not tonight.”
Mireya pushed peas around her plate.
“Tove says Grandma forgets.”
Cullen stopped.
“Did she say that to you?”
Mireya nodded.
“Grandma old.”
Cullen put his fork down.
“Tove told you Grandma forgets things because she’s old?”
Another nod.
Then Mireya added:
“Chase says Daddy knows.”
Cullen stared at his daughter.
The campaign had not stayed among adults.
They had been teaching a three-year-old not to trust the person most likely to protect her.
Cullen stood from the table.
His first impulse was to call Chase.
Instead he called his attorney.
That decision marked the first time in years Cullen chose documentation before confrontation.
His attorney asked one question.
“What exactly do you think Tove and Chase were trying to accomplish?”
May you like
Cullen did not know.
But for the first time, he no longer believed this was simply about Tove wanting Margaret out of the house.
