There were follow-up questions about removing himself from the contract, leaving the remaining obligations with me, and separate billing or other payment arrangements.

The written inquiry preceded the Saturday when he said the boys could stay without conditions.

I checked the date again.

“So while I was asking whether he accepted them, he was asking what it cost to leave.”

“That is the sequence we have,” Marjorie said.

“An inquiry isn’t a cancellation.

It isn’t proof he had made an irreversible decision.

It is information he sought and did not explain to you while asking you to trust a changed position.”