Chapter 2 - The Morning After And The Deed
I did not leave them without heat all night out of spite. I texted Jason the emergency number for the HVAC company and told him where the space heaters were stored. Then I stayed at Rachel’s apartment. At 8:15 the next morning, Mike called me because Jason had contacted him. Since I was the homeowner and the service agreement was in my name, Mike needed my authorization before doing the repair. I met him at the house at nine.
Carol opened the door wrapped in two sweaters and immediately started yelling. “You abandoned your family on New Year’s Eve!” I walked past her and let Mike downstairs. “I left because you ordered me out, and my husband decided not to stop you.” Jason followed me into the kitchen. “What did you mean about the deed last night?” I stared at him. “You know exactly what I meant. I bought this house two years before we married. My father helped with the down payment, and the deed has always been in my name.”
Carol laughed. “Jason told me this became marital property when you got married.” I turned toward him. He looked uncomfortable. “I said it was our home.” “No,” Carol snapped. “You told me you owned half.”
That was the moment the argument stopped being about a furnace. Jason admitted he had let his mother believe he was a co-owner because he was embarrassed that I had bought the house before meeting him. He said it made him feel “like a guest” whenever Carol mentioned how successful I had been before marriage. So instead of correcting her, he had allowed her to believe that he had equal legal ownership and equal authority to decide who lived there. I could hardly believe what I was hearing.
Mike finished replacing the control board and came upstairs. The heat clicked on within minutes. I paid him, thanked him, and waited until he left before speaking again. “Carol, I’m not putting you on the street today,” I said. “But this arrangement is over. You need to make plans to live somewhere else.”
She stared at me. “Jason lives here. I’m his mother.”
“And I’m his wife. Yet last night you threw me out of my own home while he watched.”
Jason stepped between us. “Emily, can we please calm down?”
I shook my head. “No. I’ve been calm for six months.”
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Then Carol turned to Jason and said, “Tell her I’m staying.” I looked at my husband. He opened his mouth, hesitated, and finally said, “Mom should stay until she’s ready.”
That answer made my next decision painfully easy.
