The Day I Divorced Him, I Became His Landlord novel · Chapter 23 of 24
Chapter 23: The Pool House
The harvest feast ran on the terrace for the first time without a single Ashbury at the head of the table.
The crew had hauled the long tables out under the white lights, and their children ran between the chairs with paper plates.
My mother had brought two coolers of tamales and a pot of rice, and she had put herself in charge of the kitchen.
My father sat beside Joaquin, eating, and for once he looked at ease.
Wyatt stood at the end of the terrace, pouring the first Larkin Cabernet into plastic cups for the crew.
The last bin of fruit had come in on Thursday.
Lillian had been charged on Tuesday, and she was out on bail in a rented room in St. Helena, with a monitor on her ankle.
For the first time in five years the house behind me was quiet.
At eight o'clock a black car came up the drive and stopped beside the pool house.
Conrad got out of the back seat in his overcoat.
Two strangers stepped out after him, a man and a woman in good wool, the new money he had promised.
They stood on the gravel looking up at the manor, pricing it.
The terrace went quiet one table at a time.
"Marisol," Conrad said, and he crossed the lawn with his arms open. "I thought we could be civilized. These are my partners. They would like to see the family home."
"I know who they are," I said. "They were at the auction."
"My wife and I are still married, as far as California is concerned." He smiled at the woman, with his tie straight. "This house is marital property. We're here to talk about a fair division."
The woman looked at me and then at the long tables full of crew.
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