Marisol asked me to make a list of what I wanted before the first formal meeting.
I wrote down the house, the business, the retirement accounts, and the things in the storage room. I crossed out the house. I wrote it back in. I crossed it out again.
"Do you want to keep it?" she asked.
"I don't know."
"Do you want to keep the conservatory?"
"I know how to run it."
"That wasn't my question."
I looked at the list. "I want the chance to decide without being told the decision was already made."
Marisol leaned back. "That's not a settlement term."
"I know."
"Then we need to translate it."
We talked through buyout values and debt. Aster House was worth more than the loan, but not enough more for me to purchase Daniel's share without borrowing against the property. The bank might appro
