“Hello.”
The voice on the other end sounded cheerful and professional.
“Good morning. Is this Mr. Jason Carter?”
“Yeah.”
“My name is Melissa Grant. I’m calling from Hamilton Property Investments. We recently acquired partial ownership of a property at 118 Oakidge Lane.”
Jason looked around the empty house again.
“That was fast,” he muttered.
My father leaned closer, trying to listen.
“Yes,” Jason said into the phone. “That’s the house.”
“Wonderful,” the woman replied. “We’d like to discuss the next steps in resolving the shared ownership situation.”
Jason forced a laugh.
“Sure, that shouldn’t be a problem.”
“Well,” she said pleasantly, “there are two options available under Ohio property law.”
Jason waited.
“First, you may purchase our share of the property. Our valuation department has estimated that half ownership is worth approximately $160,000.”
Jason nearly dropped the phone.
“How much?”
“Alternatively,” she continued calmly, “if a buyout isn’t possible, we can initiate a partition sale. That means the property would be sold on the open market and the proceeds divided.”
Jason stared at my father.
“Dad.”
My father’s jaw tightened. Jason spoke into the phone again.
“Yeah, we might need a little time to think about that.”
“Of course,” the woman said. “We’ll send the paperwork this afternoon.”
The call ended. Jason slowly lowered the phone.
“$160,000,” he whispered.
My father paced across the room.
“That girl planned this,” he said.
My mother shook her head weakly.
“No. Emily wouldn’t do something like that.”
Jason laughed bitterly.
“Well, she just did.”
Meanwhile, Daniel and I were already three hours south of Columbus. The highway stretched ahead of us in long gray lines, disappearing into the Kentucky hills. I sat quietly in the passenger seat, watching farmland roll past. For the first hour, neither of us spoke. Then Daniel glanced over.
“You okay?”
I thought about that for a moment. And surprisingly, I was.
“I think so,” I said.
He nodded.
“Good.”
We drove another few miles before he spoke again.
“You know, they’re probably losing their minds right now.”
I let out a small laugh.
“Jason definitely is.”
Daniel grinned.
“Your brother always did expect the easy road.”
I watched the highway signs slide by. Cincinnati, Lexington, Nashville. Places I had only ever passed through before.
“Do you feel guilty?” Daniel asked gently.
I considered that question carefully. For most of my life, the answer would have been yes. But something had shifted.
“No,” I said finally.
He nodded again.
“That’s healthy.”
We drove in comfortable silence for a while. Then Daniel asked the question that mattered most.
“So, where do you want to land?”
I looked out the window at the green hills rising in the distance.
“Your hometown?” I said. “There.”