Lorraine shot me a smug, triumphant glance. Then, in the very next breath, she turned to Elmer with a timid, trembling voice.
"But Mr. Farley... the person who died is still Margaret's mother. What if she comes after me?"
Elmer gazed at her, his eyes brimming with tenderness.
"Don't worry. As long as I'm here, no one will ever hurt you."
With that, he had someone draft a liability waiver on the spot and thrust it in front of me.
"Margaret, your mother was in the wrong first. Her death is her own bad luck—it has nothing to do with Lorraine."
"Out of respect for the fact that we were once husband and wife, I won't pursue your mother for trespassing on my property and dying here, disrupting my mother's homecoming banquet."
"But you will sign this waiver. You will guarantee that this matter ends here. And you will not make trouble for Lorraine."
Vanessa crossed her arms, looking down her nose at me.
"Margaret, your mother got herself killed. Don't you dare try to pin this on Lorraine. Be smart about it and sign the settlement agreement."
The two of them stood there like royalty, waiting for me to put my name on the paper.
But I slid the agreement across the table toward them and said calmly, "If anyone's signing this, it's you two. I'm not the one with standing."
Elmer thought I was refusing. His voice dropped to something dangerous. "Margaret, don't push your luck."
"Your mother was a nobody—unemployed, no value to anyone. Lorraine is young. She has her whole life ahead of her. You'd really destroy her future over a dead woman?"
Vanessa wrinkled her nose in agreement. "Exactly. Your mother was a waste of resources while she was alive. Lorraine practically did the world a favor."
"You should be thanking her, not trying to shake her down."
I kept my tone even. "You've got it wrong. What I'm saying is—the woman who died is your mother. This settlement agreement? Only you can sign it."
Vanessa's composure cracked instantly. "Have you lost your mind, Margaret? You're standing at my mother's welcome-home banquet, cursing her with talk of death?"
Elmer's face went white with fury. "Margaret, I've been far too lenient with you over the years. That's clearly why you've become so brazen—you don't even know the meaning of basic respect."
"My mother is the most important person in my life. I will not tolerate a single word of disrespect toward her—not even from my own wife."