Chapter 2 — The Signature I Never Gave

Ashley placed a folder beside the muffins on my kitchen table.

“Nothing complicated,” she said.

Then she opened it and slid several pages toward me.

My son Bradley, who had been staring out at the lake, finally turned around.

“Mom, Ashley put a lot of work into this.”

That sentence should have warned me.

People usually emphasize how much work someone has done right before asking you to agree to something you never wanted.

I sat down and looked at the first page.

**Whitcomb Lake Cottage Family Use Agreement.**

The word *family* appeared everywhere.

Guests were supposed to clean before leaving.

Bradley and Ashley would oversee maintenance.

No extra visitors without approval.

The upstairs bedroom would be reserved for “primary family use.”

Any scheduling disagreements would be handled by the “summer coordinators.”

I looked up.

“Who exactly are the summer coordinators?”

Ashley smiled.

“Bradley and me.”

Of course.

I kept reading.

Then I reached one sentence that changed everything.

**Owner occupancy should be scheduled in advance so it does not interfere with confirmed guest reservations.**

Owner occupancy.

Apparently I was no longer Marianne Whitcomb.

I was simply “the owner.”

Ashley tapped the page.

“That’s just to avoid surprises.”

“In my own house?”

She gave me a patient smile.

“Your cottage, yes. But everyone uses it.”

“No.”

The word came out quietly.

Bradley sighed.

“Mom.”

“No. Everyone does not use this cottage. Everyone I invite uses it.”

Ashley crossed her arms.

“You’ve always said you wanted people to enjoy it.”

“I also want people to enjoy my china. That doesn’t mean the neighbors can walk into my kitchen and take a plate.”

Bradley set down his father’s old sailboat mug a little harder than necessary.

“Why are you making this ugly?”

I stared at him.