I almost called him again on the drive but I didn’t. I just kept going. The whole way down I kept thinking about how Tom had offered to handle the paperwork after Mama passed. Said it would be easier on me. I let him do it.

Now the papers were sitting on the kitchen table with that note on top.

I pulled out one of the chairs and sat down. The note was short. Just those two sentences. I read it a third time anyway.

Outside a car door slammed. I didn’t get up. I just folded my hands on the table next to the folder and waited to see who was coming through the door.

The door opened and Sarah walked in carrying a grocery bag. She had the light blue scarf around her neck. She stopped right inside the doorway when she saw me at the table.

“I didn’t know you were here,” she said.

The bag made noise when she set it down on the counter. I could smell fresh bread coming from it.

I kept my hands folded on the table next to the folder. The note was still on top where I had left it.

Sarah looked at the note. “Tom left that for you.”

“The trust closes tomorrow,” I said.

She pulled the scarf from her neck and laid it on the back of the chair. It was the same one from the couch.

“Tom handled the papers after your mother passed,” she said. “He thought it would be less trouble for you.”

I looked at the cabinet. The dishes were still there, the blue and white ones with the flowers. Mama had used them every summer we came down. Tom had been with us the day she bought them.

He carried the box inside and set it on this same table.

“You’ve been staying here,” I told her.

“Just the last few nights. To get things set up.”

Her voice was soft. Not angry or anything. I didn’t come to fight. I just wanted to see the place one more time.

The refrigerator clicked and started humming again. Outside the window I could hear the waves on the beach.

Sarah opened the bag and took out a carton of milk. She put it in the fridge.

“He didn’t want you to find out like this,” she said. “He was going to tell you tonight.”

The note was between us. The words about the cottage being ready for her.

I touched the edge of the folder. The paper felt cool.

“The cottage is in the Farris Family Trust now,” I said.

Sarah nodded. “That’s what he wanted. So it would go smooth.”

My chest felt tight. I thought about Mama standing at the sink with those dishes. She always hummed when she washed them.

She sat down across from me. The chair made a soft sound on the floor.

“If you want the dishes, take them,” she said. “Tom said they were yours.”