Lakehouse Mistletoe (Laurel Cove #5)

Chapter 1

“I’m sorry, ma’am, but your card has been declined.” The waiter held out the piece of plastic and gave her a sympathetic look.

Helen Dunn shook her head and chuckled uncomfortably. “It must be some kind of mistake. Try running it again.”

The waiter shifted his weight uncomfortably. “We ran it three times, Ms. Dunn. Each time it was declined.”

Cybil Lattimore waved her hand in the air. “Let me pay, Helen. You can get the check next time.”

Helen felt her face go red. “No, Cybil. I can pay. This must be some kind of mistake.” She’d never had this kind of thing happen to her. Sure, she’d seen it in movies all the time, but never in real life.

Cybil nodded. “You’re right. I bet your card has been hacked. It happens all the time.” She smiled and held out her gold American Express card to the waiter. He looked relieved and hurried away.

Helen frowned. “Hacked. That’s exactly what has happened. I need to go by the bank and get this mess straightened out right now. This has me worried.”

Cybil nodded and brushed a strand of silver hair behind her ear. “Go ahead and go. You need to take care of this as soon as possible. I’ll talk to you tomorrow.”

Helen gave her friend a quick hug. “You’re the best, Cybil. I’ll let you know what happens.”

Helen hitched her purse over her shoulder and hurried out of the restaurant.

Once she got into her Volvo, she started the engine and turned her car in the direction of the bank. On her way, she tried calling her husband, Carl, to let him know about her card.

She sighed when her call went straight to voice mail. “Ugh. His voice mail is full again.” She would have to remind him to delete his old messages.

She smiled when she spotted an empty parking spot right at the front entrance. It was too stifling in Arkansas to walk across the hot pavement. It was the only thing she didn’t like about living in the south. The heat.

Helen hurried into the bank, dabbing at the bead of sweat running down her forehead.

The cool blast of the air conditioning had her sighing in relief.

Helen made eye contact with Joy Dean, one of the bank officers who smiled brightly from behind her desk when she spotted her. Joy made her way over to Helen.

“Helen, I’ve been meaning to call you.” She gave her a quick hug. “I’m hosting a dinner party in a couple of weeks and would love for you and Carl to come.”

Helen nodded. “Of course we’ll come. You always throw the best parties.” She reached for Joy’s arm. “I came in because I’m having an issue. Do you think you can help me? I’ve tried to call Carl but of course he isn’t answering and his voice mail is full.”

Joy chuckled. “If I didn’t constantly remind Ralph to delete his old voicemails I would never be able to reach him.” She grew serious. “I’m happy to help. Now tell me what you need.”

Helen pulled out her debit card and handed it to Joy. “I tried paying for lunch, and it said my card was declined. I’m afraid my account has been hacked.”

Joy patted her arm. “Let’s take a look. It’s good you came in. The quicker the bank knows, the quicker we can shut down fraudulent activity. Let’s go over to my desk.”

Helen relaxed as she slid into the oversized chair in front of Joy’s desk. She glanced at the framed vacation picture of her and Ralph in Greece.

Joy’s fingertips flew over the keyboard. “How is Carl? I’ve made several appointments for Ralph to get his crown fixed. But he keeps canceling them.” She glanced up at Helen and rolled her eyes. “You know how Ralph is about seeing the dentist.”

Helen smiled. “I’ll have Carl talk to him. With all the medications they give nowadays, there’s no need to be nervous.”

Joy’s brow creased and her smile slipped. “I think I’ve found the problem. Looks like your account is in overdraft.” She glanced at Helen.

Helen shook her head. “No, that can’t be. We’ve never been in overdraft. Carl keeps at least twenty thousand in our checking account. Can you tell me what the last few large purchases were?”

Joy clicked a few more keys. “Let’s see.” Her face sobered. She looked up at Helen from under her eyelashes.

Helen’s stomach dropped. “What? What is it?”

Joy held her gaze. There was something sad in the way she was staring at her. “It looks like he used his debit card at the casino last night.”

Helen shook her head. “No, that’s impossible. Carl has been working late hours. He has had no time to go to the casino. Besides, he’s not a gambler.”

Joy typed in a few more things. Her printer started spitting out paper. She gathered the sheets and held them out for Helen. “I think you should go home and talk to Carl, Helen.”

Helen glanced at the papers in her hand. Not only was the checking account overdrawn, but the savings had a balance of zero dollars.

“Helen, will you be okay? Can I get you anything?” Joy asked quietly.

Helen couldn’t believe what she was looking at. No, this couldn’t be right.

Numbly, she got up, thanking Joy, and made her way to the car. She didn’t remember driving home or pulling into the driveway. She didn’t remember sitting on the couch waiting for Carl to come home after work.

The moment she heard the front door open, she snapped back to reality. Grasping the bank statements with trembling hands, she walked to the foyer.

“Hey, honey. I saw where you called. I’ve been slammed at work all day and didn’t get a chance to call you back.

I had two crowns, a chipped tooth that needed bonding, and the rest of the day was full of regular appointments.

” He bent, kissed her cheek, and tossed his keys in the milk glass bowl on the foyer table.

“What’s for dinner?” He walked past her into the kitchen.

Helen followed. “I didn’t cook dinner.”

He brightened slightly. “Let’s go out. There’s a new steak house that just opened. Everyone is talking about how good the filet is.” He opened the refrigerator and grabbed a bottle of water. Unscrewing the top, he took a long drink.

“We can’t go out to eat,” she said, a quiver in her voice.

“DoorDash it is then!” He smiled and pulled his phone out to pull up the app.

“Carl, we can’t use DoorDash either.” She held out the papers. “My debit card was declined at lunch today. And when I went to the bank I found out why. We are overdrawn. Carl. We have no money.”

The smile slid off Carl’s face.

She expected him to tell her she was wrong. That it was a mistake. But he didn’t.

“It’s not what you think.” He held his hands up defensively.

She shot daggers at him. “What I think is that you’ve gambled away our money.”

He shook his head. “I just had a bad run of luck. I can fix this. I can. I just need some luck.”

Helen crumbled into the chair as his words of “It’s not as bad as you think” and “We can recover from this” rushed over her like white noise between her ears.

“Carl, you don’t gamble. I’ve never so much as seen you play bingo. How long have you been going to the casino? When were you going to tell me that we are broke? When were you going to tell me you had a gambling addiction?”

He shook his head. “I am not an addict. You just don’t understand.” He ran his hand through his hair. “I was hoping to fix it before you found out. But don’t worry. I can handle this. I just had a bad blackjack streak.”

She looked at him like he was crazy. “Carl, you can’t handle this. You are the reason we are in this mess.”

The doorbell rang. Carl, grateful for the interruption, headed to the foyer. He opened the door and Jeff Minton, their neighbor, was standing there looking quite concerned.

“Jeff, what can I do for you?” Carl asked.

Jeff pointed over his shoulder. “Carl, there’s a guy out here stealing your Mercedes. I already called the police.”

Helen shoved past Carl and looked out in the driveway.

She looked at her husband and glared. “He’s not stealing the Mercedes. He’s repossessing it.”