Jake pulled her to the porch swing where they shared more passionate kisses until Ben drove down the lane. He was bringing the paperwork for the sale of her father’s company for Emily to sign.
They greeted Ben and led him into the house. Jake planned on leaving them to their business, but she held his hand and pulled him to the table.
Thinking she needed moral support, he sat beside her.
Ben opened a file folder and one by one spread documents in front of Emily. “This is your brother’s life insurance, his investments, and the sum of his accounts.”
Jake noted the amounts on the checks Ben placed in front of Emily. If she wanted to, Emily could live comfortably on the money from her brother. But Jake knew money wasn’t important to her.
Emily slid the checks to the side without a word. Her face remained impassive while Ben explained about the sale of Andertech Solutions and Denise and Jeffrey Garrison’s insistence that all the money Maxwell had embezzled be returned to Emily, along with her portion of the sale of her father’s company.
Jake sucked in a sharp breath when he saw the amount of the check Ben slid across the table. Then he coughed uncontrollably from the saliva he’d inhaled into his lungs.
Ben gave him a wry smile.
Jake was a successful rancher. He both wrote and received checks on a regular basis with four and five zeros, but the check in front of Emily had double the zeros of any check he’d ever seen.
As Jake recovered, his eyes met Ben’s again. Ben’s brow furrowed, and he tilted his head toward Emily.
She had her head buried in her hands. Her shoulders shook, and a soft sob escaped her.
Jake shot Ben a give-us-a-minute look.
Understanding, Ben left the room.
Jake scooted his chair closer to Emily’s and pulled her into his arms.
“Oh, Jake.” Emily laid her forehead against his chest.
“What’s the matter?” He stroked her hair.
“It’s so much money. It should make me happy, but it doesn’t. I feel repulsed and burdened by it. I would give it all away and that much more again to have my father and brother back.”
“So, do it.”
Emily pulled away and looked at Jake’s face. “What?”
“Give it away. It won’t bring them back, but you can honor your father and brother while giving it away.”
“You mean like a scholarship fund or something?”
“That’s exactly what I mean. You’ve got enough money you could put many students through college and give large amounts to your favorite charities.”
Emily’s eyes lit up. “I could set one up in my mom’s name too.”
“You can do a lot of good with the money, Emily. And you don’t have to decide right away. You can let it sit while you decide what to do with it.”
“You’re right,” she said, wiping her eyes. “Ben!”
When Ben rejoined them, Emily pointed at his legal pad. “Write.” Pushing all the checks Ben’s direction, she said, “Set up an account, or multiple accounts if necessary, in a bank somewhere other than Providence. I want anonymous donations of one million dollars each given to the city of Providence, the Medical Center, the Sheriff’s Office, and... the School District.”
Ben’s eyes widened, and he wrote quickly, trying to keep up with her.
“I want to establish the Anderson Scholarship Foundation. It will give away multiple scholarships each year to various students throughout the state. We’ll discuss the particulars of that later, but the scholarships are the only thing I want my family’s name linked to. Everything else must be done anonymously.” She paused to take a breath as though contemplating who else she could give money to.
“Finally, someone who can give Widow Wheeler a run for her money,” Ben mumbled under his breath as he wrote.
Emily’s eyes narrowed. “What did you say?”
