“Sign this, take your mother’s check, and we put an end to this legal fight today.”

I looked at the gold nib of the pen, then at Evelyn’s tight, hopeful smile.

“Let’s finish this outside on the veranda,” I said.

I went back down the hall and out through the glass door onto the brick porch.

The pale blue check for two hundred thousand dollars still lay on the glass table where Evelyn had left it.

Richard and Evelyn came out after me and stood side by side near the wooden porch railing.