At 11:17, my phone rang.
Theo.
“Mom.”
No greeting.
“What is this?”
“A legal notice.”
“I know it’s a legal notice. I’m holding it.”
“Then why did you ask?”
“Mom.”
His voice was different.
The easy confidence was gone.
I sat at my kitchen table.
“What does Farah think it is?”
“She thinks you’re threatening us.”
“I asked you Tuesday to remove the listing.”
“We were working on it.”
“It’s Saturday.”
“There are cancellation rules.”
“The rules of a vacation-rental platform do not give you permission to use my property.”
Silence.
Then he said, “There’s something in here about a conservation easement.”
“Yes.”
“What conservation easement?”
I looked out the window above my sink.
A squirrel was hanging upside down from the bird feeder.
“The one your father and I placed on thirty-one acres in 2011.”
“You never told me about that.”
“You never needed to know.”
“Apparently I did.”
“No, Theo. You needed to know whether you had permission to rent my cabin. You already had that answer.”
He didn’t speak.
“The easement permanently restricts certain uses,” I said. “Commercial transient rental on that portion of the property is prohibited.”
“Farah didn’t know.”
“No.”
“How was she supposed to know?”
I paused.
“She could have asked the owner.”
Another silence.
Finally Theo said, “The platform suspended the listing.”
“Good.”
“They suspended Farah’s host account while they review everything.”
“That is between Farah and the platform.”
“The Greenville reservation got canceled automatically.”
“And the refund?”
That was when he went quiet.
“The deposit had already gone through.”
“And?”
“Farah moved part of the money.”
“Where?”
“To the credit card.”
I closed my eyes.
“How much?”
“Enough that we have to move money around before the refund finishes processing.”
“The renters get every dollar back.”
“They will.”
“Good.”
His voice changed.
“Mom, we’re in a bad spot.”
For the first time since Tuesday, he sounded less defensive than frightened.
“How bad?”
Theo hesitated.
“Farah’s car needs a transmission. My commission was terrible for two quarters. We used the card more than we should have. Then the water heater went.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Because every time something goes wrong, I call my mother.”
There was embarrassment in his voice.
“You’re forty-one,” I said. “You’re allowed to have a bad year.”
“I know.”
“But you don’t get to solve it with somebody else’s property.”
“I know.”
This time he didn’t argue.
I softened my voice.
“Theo, I am not interested in destroying your marriage or watching you lose your house. But this wasn’t a misunderstanding. Farah listed my property. You knew she was doing it. Someone removed my lockbox. Money changed hands. When I confronted you, the listing stayed up.”
“I know.”
“Then deal with it.”
I looked at the calendar hanging beside the refrigerator.
“I want you to come to dinner this week.”