She would have hung up on her mother, but that would get her hurt.Just as she was sputtering about family and the normal way they do things, she decided that she was going to block her number and be done with her.These calls were something that she didn’t look forward to, and she didn’t much care for either of them.
Her parents were going to prison if she didn’t miss her bet, and she was going to be happy that they were gone.They’d been nothing but trouble since she had been born, and she didn’t want to deal with them anymore.Perhaps that was harsh, she told herself, but they’d been nothing but trouble for her for too long.She just wanted normal, as her mother wanted them to be.
With another threat of hurting her, her mother finally got off the phone.There were threats made of her sending her people after her, but she knew that her mother had no idea where she lived.She’d kept that out of the calls for so long that sometimes she had to remember that herself.Mother wasn’t going to play fair, and she knew that.Her dad wouldn’t either, but he hadn’t called her yet, complaining about what was going on with him.He would, of this she had no doubt, but not right now.Answering Erickson, she decided that since he used her first name, she’d do the same to him.Now if she could only remember what it was.
Messaging that she was finally off the phone, he called her right away.He must have put her number in his phone because he had no trouble calling her back in seconds.When he started laughing, she wanted to hang up.But he made her laugh at herself, and she was willing to put up with most anything to feel as good as she had last night with him.
“ I looked up your family.Your parents are in a great deal of trouble.”She said that she knew that and asked him if he’d done a background check on her.“ I did.Only because your name came up so few times in the articles about them, I wondered if you’d given me your name or not.”
“ I don’t lie.I don’t even like to bend the truth a little.Mother is leaving Dad again over being embarrassed about her credit card being cut up in front of her.I wish I could have been there.It would have had me laughing for decades.What did you want?”He told her that he wanted to see her again.“ Wasn’t last night enough for you?I mean, you already pointed out that I’m not in awe of you.”
“ I find that I don’t care if you’re in awe with me or not.You’re fun to be around, and I enjoyed myself last night.I hope that you had a good time too.”She told him that despite it being him she was out with, she had a good time.That, of course, made him laugh.“ You should see some improvements on your bushes out front today or tomorrow.I had no idea that I owned that building until I went over my records.I didn’t know things like that had been ignored.”
“ They were working on them when I got home.”She looked out the window and could still see the truck out front.“ Had I known you owned the building, I would have told you of other things that need fixing up.Did you know that the entire building is in code violation, with the fire escapes not working?Not to mention, I think you should know that I think the landlord is jacking up the rent on people that he wants out.I’ve been here longer than him, and he doesn’t mess with me.”
“ I’m making notes now.”Rolling her eyes again, she wondered how long it would be beforehe got around to fixing even the simplest of things.But he did get the bushes trimmed back.She wondered too if he had any idea that most of the apartments were empty right now and figured that it was none of her concern.“ Since I’ll be able to see you, how about if I pick you up for dinner tonight.We can have some steaks and whatever you want.”
“ I like steaks.I can’t afford them, but I like them all right.”She sat down again in her kitchen chair.“ What is it about me that has you wanting to go out with me again?I’m not all that pretty.I have red hair and blue eyes.Nothing much is going on with my body either.So what is it?”He thought about her.
“ I think that you’re beautiful.As for your red hair, I think that it shines in the daylight and simmers at night.It’s comparable to the sunsetting for me.Your body is well-toned from what I can see.You don’t seem to have any tattoos, but if you have any, I’d love to see them and know why you got them.You don’t wear makeup for whatever reason, and I think that makes you refreshing and lovely.I could go on, but I think you understand that’s not the reason that I’ve asked you out again.”She said she didn’t know.“ You’re smart, witty, and funny.I love that you make fun of yourself and me while you’re at it.You seem to have a good sense of humor.I’ve noticed that you use it on me, too.I think dating you is going to be fun.It’ll never be dull around you because you bring your own kind of humor to the date.”
“ You’re certifiable.”He laughed.She wondered if he had very little to laugh about in his life and asked him that.“ You have to have a dull life if you think that my bashing you is funny.However, you must know that with my parents, the way that they are, that dating a lawyer isn’t going to bode well for either of us.They’ll think I’m out to get them.They usually do anyway.”
“ We’re two consenting adults, one of whom just so happens to be an attorney.I won’t hold what you are against you, you shouldn’t me.”She told him it wasn’t her that he should be worried about.“ I’m not afraid of your parents.I’m an attorney of good standing, and whatever they have against my kind is up to them.I’ve done nothing wrong.”
“ No, but you see, they dislike me a great deal, and if you and I see each other, then it’s going to bring you down to my level, according to them.I don’t want you hurt or your practice.I’m sure that you can understand that.”He said he’d be just fine.“ If you say so.But don’t say that I didn’t warn you.They’re not the nicest people in the world, and they don’t play fairly.In fact, the reason they’re in so much trouble now is that they think that they can throw money at something and it’ll go away.The problem now is they don’t have the funds to toss at anything.Even the staff have left them for paying gigs.”
“ As I said, I can handle them.I’d love to see you tonight if that’s all right with you.And we’ll have a nice dinner, and I’ll walk you to the door.It’s cost me a lot to be able to do that.”She grinned, knowing that he couldn’t see her.“ What do you say, Olivia?Dinner with me at a nice steak house?”
“ All right, but don’t say I didn’t warn you.”She had done all she could with him, and really, she did want to see him again.He was a lot of fun and seemed to have all his ducks in a row.“ I’ll see you around six.You know where I live.By the way, since this is our second date, what’s your first name?”
Chapter 3
Caroline had to look twice to make sure that it was her daughter with a man on her arm.Getting up out of her seat, she made her way toward where she’d seen her and lost them in the crowd.She’d better not be dating that man.If she had it right, his name was Knox Erickson, and he had been hired as her attorney.Caroline couldn’t find them anywhere.Hubert asked her what she was doing.
“ I thought that I saw Olivia with that Erickson man.The one that you said would make us a great attorney.He turned us down, didn’t he?”He said that he couldn’t afford him.“ Same thing.And who said that we couldn’t afford him?Did he say that to you?”
“ He works for his family and nothing more.He told me that his contract was with the family, and if we were to want him to break that, it would cost us the price of his contract with them.He’s the best there is.If Olivia is dating him, then you can be assured that she’s into something about us with him.For all I know, he’s on the other side of the desk from us when we go to court.”Caroline said that he’d better not be.“ I don’t know.Just leave them alone.I’ll get to the bottom of it tomorrow.My sister is taking us out to eat, so let’s not talk about court hearings or unpaid taxes.I just want to have a good meal on her dime.”
“ She should be bailing us out, is what she should be doing.”Hubert said that she didn’t have that kind of money.“ She should give us what she has so we can leave the country then.I’ve had it with taxes and the like.And now they’re saying that you’ve been doing some money laundering for the mob.I never heard the likes of that before.”
“ Look.There she is.Let’s just have a nice dinner and be done with it.Mae said that the only way she was going to dine with us was if we didn’t mention our woes.Remember that when you decide to bring up the stuff with the house.”Caroline huffed and told her husband that she would bring up what she wanted.“ Then we’ll be stuck with the bill, and I know for a fact that we don’t have any charging power left on any of our credit cards.Do you want to wash dishes here tonight to pay for our meal?I certainly don’t.And Mae will leave us high and dry.You know she won’t take any shit from either of us.”
“ I wish every day that I had not married you.You’ve been nothing but trouble since we got back from our honeymoon.”He told her that he felt the same way, but they were in too deep right now to care about things that happened over fifty years ago.“ I just want it out there that I would divorce you had I the forethought to do it before now.Now, as you said, we’re stuck together.Hello Mae.It’s nice of you to invite us to dinner tonight.”
“ Hello, Caroline.Still bringing up the past like you can change it, are you?Well, I won’t have my birthday dinner ruined because you two don’t have any idea how to live within your means.I don’t want to hear about it.”They were seated, and she had a thought that they’d not gotten her anything for her birthday.Not that it mattered, she wouldn’t like anything that they got for her anyway.
“ How long are you in town for?And where are you staying?Not with us, I presume.”Caroline took her seat and was pleased when a young man pushed her chair in for her.“ I’ve missed being taken care of when we go out, Hubert.We need to get things back on track so that we can have this kind of perks.”
“ You have that right.That house is falling down around your ears.Why you still live in it is beyond comprehension.You should get yourself something smaller, like I did.I have two bedrooms and a kitchen, and I find that’s all I need.Cuts down on the heating bill too.”Hubert said that they could only afford the house that they were in.“ Oh yes.Money troubles.I try not to remember that.You should have paid your taxes, and that’s all I’m going to say about that.”
Caroline had always hated Mae Simpleton.Even before her husband died, she’d always thoughtof her as a simpleton.She could never say that to his face, as he was a mean man and would take advantage of any situation that they were in.Like ten years ago, when he’d realized that they weren’t paying their taxes back then, he’d reported them to the IRS.It had taken everything they owned to get out of that mess, and now he’d done it again.Or at least she thought he had.It would have been something that he would have done to them if he hadn’t been dead for the last five years or so.
“ Where is Olivia?I thought I had made it clear that I wanted her here with us, too.She’s the only one of the three of you who makes me laugh.You two are always into something that is on the wrong side of the law, and that depresses me.”Hubert said that she could help them out if she wished.“ I don’t wish it.I have a full life in front of me, and I don’t want to give you all my hard-earned money so that in another five years or so you can be right where you are.Besides, it’s not like you have any intentions of paying me back.Do you?”
“ We don’t have a pot to piss in.Is that what you wanted to hear?And once the IRS gets finished with us this time, we won’t even have the house anymore.I don’t know what they expect us to do without any place to live.Go live with Olivia, I suppose.”She shuddered to think about that and looked at her husband.“ I don’t even know where she lives nowadays, do you?She just goes about her business like she has nothing to do with us.I think that she should be in as much trouble as we are, but not to hear her talk about it.She thinks she’s distanced herself enough from us that she doesn’t need us.”
“ She doesn’t need you.Last I heard, she was a full-grown woman who has a job and pays her taxes.She’s even got enough money each month to put some away.Not a lot, but some money that she’s been saving for a house.”She’d not known that and was wondering how she could get it from Olivia.Whatever it was, it would be something more than they had now.While she was trying to calculate how much there might be and what she could use it for, damned if she didn’t show up at their table.“ Look, she at least remembered my birthday, other than expecting me to pay for her meal with some man.Look how beautiful she looks right now.”
