His voice was careful and sympathetic. He offered his condolences, asked how I was doing, then gradually shifted toward the estate. He said the process seemed straightforward and that he hoped we’d work through everything together.
Then he suggested we sell the house as quickly as possible.
“The market is good right now,” he said. “And honestly, splitting the proceeds three ways would be meaningful for all of us.”
“It would be meaningful for me too,” I replied. “But I want to take some time to think about it.”
“Of course,” he said. “Absolutely. No rush.”
The silence afterward suggested he believed there was.
Amber texted instead of calling, exactly as I’d expected. She said she was thinking of me, hoped we could discuss the next steps soon, added a heart emoji, then followed it with a message mentioning that she’d been looking at the housing market and that it seemed like a favorable time to sell.
