For nine years, everything I owned had fit inside that one room, and now the walls seemed to close in.

“Mr. Hayes?”

“I’m here.”

“There’s also the matter of her estate. Eleanor named you as her sole beneficiary.”

For a moment I thought grief had distorted what I heard. “I’m sorry?”

“She left you Birchwood,” Caroline continued. “The eleven-acre property on Lake Marlin, including the main house, the dock, two boats, and the bait-and-tackle business she ran on the south shore.”