Chapter 15 - An Offer With Numbers
The contractor's insurer inspected our yard, spoke with the crew, and requested Dana's reports. The association's insurer also reviewed the claim. It took weeks, during which the crack widened slightly and I stopped inviting anyone onto the back porch.
When the settlement discussion finally happened, it wasn't in a courtroom. We sat around Pilar's office table with bottled water, printed estimates, an association representative, and the contractor's claims adjuster on a video call.
The proposed agreement would cover the unsafe-limb work, removal if Dana recommended it, replacement landscaping, and part of the documented loss of the mature tree. The two insurers and contractors were still sorting their respective contributions. The proposal required releases for the covered property damage; it would not restore the tree or change the board's rules.
I read the number twice. It was enough to handle safety work and start a replacement. Not enough to buy back eighteen years.
“Can I take this home?” I asked.
“Absolutely,” the adjuster said. “Have someone review it if you'd like.”
Cynthia looked relieved that money had appeared on a page. Ben looked wary. Pilar looked at the clock because her next appointment was already waiting.
At home Ellie read the offer. “Are you going to say no because Dad planted it?”
“I don't know.”
She spread her college brochures on the table between us. One campus tour we'd missed could be rescheduled; another couldn't. “Mom, if it comes down, can we keep a piece? Not all of it. Just the part with the marks.”
“We can ask.”
“Ask me first before you spend anything else trying to make it perfect.”
Her voice cracked on perfect. I set the papers aside.
May you like
That night I called Dana to ask for an honest assessment before deciding whether to accept the offer. She promised to come the following morning. At dawn a gust shook the crown, and I watched the open seam flex from the kitchen window.
Dana arrived just after eight. She stood beneath the tree for less than a minute before asking everyone to stay back. “Nora,” she said, “we can't keep this as it is.”
