With a quick grin, I reached to the side and grabbed a bell pepper. “I cleaned Muriel’s house today, she offered me four of these bad boys from her garden because she says Ludwig won’t stop producing.”
Cat wandered to the edge of the counter, where I was working. “Um, I’m confused. Who’s Ludwig?”
I chuckled. “The name of her pepper plant. She names any plant that actually gives her something edible.”
She picked up one of the smaller peppers. “I should let this go, but what does Ludwig have to do with peppers?”
I smiled. “Ludwig producesbellpeppers, so he’s named after Ludwig Beethoven because in Muriel’s opinion ‘Ode to Joy’ is best played on handbells. I’ve learned not to argue about music with her.”
After she put the pepper down on the counter, Cat shook her head. “Yeah. I wouldn’t argue with her either. Do we have hoagie rolls?”
“Yep. I stopped on the way home.” I recalled wanting her to get in on cooking more. “If you don’t mind, you can get the oven preheated and we’ll have tater tots.”
She gave me a sheepish grin. “Sure. Let me put my backpack away.”
While I sautéed onions, peppers, and beef, Cat hauled herself up on the countertop. “I hate to bring this up, but how are we gonna pay this loan? Isn’t a payment due soon? Are you like using Venmo or something?”
My body jerked with a silent laugh. “I wish he took Venmo or something that would give me a record of payments made.”
“What do you mean?”
I took a deep breath. “He called me the other day—”
“What? Savannah! You should have told me—”
I took the skillet off the burner. “It was in the middle of the day, and it slipped my mind when you got home from school. I’m sorry. But he wants the payment in cash.”
Catalina tipped her head back. “Of course he does,” she said to the ceiling.
“Yeah,” I sighed.
The oven beeped once it was preheated. Cat hopped down from the counter, grabbed the tray of tots and popped them in the oven.
“What are you paying him?”
“Two grand.”
“How much will we owe after that?”
“Thirty-three thousand,” I said, though it came out sounding like a question because I did not trust Frank at all.
Cat’s eyes slid to the side, then bugged out before they came back to me. “It’s gonna take almost a year and a half to pay that off!”
I grimaced. “I’ll take your word for it, smarty.”
Cat gave me two short nods. “No really. Sixteen and a half months if we’re paying two grand per month…but that isn’t taking interest into account. Savannah…you gotta—”
I reached out and grabbed her bicep. “Cat. Trust me. I’ve got something else in the works, and in the morning, I’m calling about Mom’s life insurance policy. If I’m not mistaken, thepayout should have hit the escrow account. After the hospital and any other creditors have been paid, if there’s anything left over, it’ll get split between you and me. That will help us.”
Catalina closed her eyes and let out a big breath. When my sister opened her hazel eyes, she looked like she’d aged five years. “I thought we needed that money to pay down the mortgage though.”
I sighed. “Getting rid of Frank’s skeevy ass and keeping him from sending his other customers our way is the top priority, Cat.”
Out of nowhere, Cat flung herself at me and wrapped her arms around me. “Thanks for everything you’re doing, Savannah. If things were different, I’d have been forced to be with Dad…who knows what would have happened then.”
I put my arms around her and squeezed. “Don’t even think about that.”
As quick as it started, Cat stepped back. “Right. Let’s get on the sandwiches. The tots only have ten more minutes to go.”
