Chapter 15
15
H anna sat next to her father at the conference table in Attorney Grant Park's office. The room was stifling. It wasn't that anything was bad here. The room was very clean, and pristine. The plethora of oak shelves were lined with law books. Some of them looked to be old and unused.
The paint on the walls was a light blue. The hanging pictures were what you'd expect to see in any attorney's office. George Washington, historical figures, a picture of Abraham Lincoln, and a picture of the Lincoln Law Library. But the last time she'd been in this office, she was getting divorced. And it made her feel like a failure. She felt like that again. She'd failed her sweet, nice, wonderful parents by bringing a dishonest, lying sack of crap to their doorstep. And she continued to bring that sad use of skin to their doorstep time and time again. It just made her feel sad. Her stomach twisted, and she slowly rested her hand against her belly to stop it from quelling.
She swallowed as Grant listened to her father's recount of all the miserable things Isaac had done, and the things he was doing now. Again.
Every so often, Grant's eyes would float to hers and she saw the look of pity on his face. She hated his pity. She hated everyone's pity. He probably thought she was stupid and how in the world did these nice people end up with a daughter who was dumb as a rock? She'd put up with Isaac's bullshit so many times.
Sitting here now, listening to her father recount it all, she couldn't believe she'd tolerated so much. And now, the new crimes. Stealing money from her bank account. Catfishing women. How did one even think of all of this shit? Why did she ever, ever, ever let herself get in this position?
But Grant listened, and then he took a deep breath and addressed her. "Hanna, did these women give you any identifying information other than their names? Do you know how we can reach them?"
"No. One of them said she was going to work really hard to find an attorney who was going to find me at fault and then she'd be in touch." Hannah sighed, then sat up straighter. She pulled her phone from her little purse. “I have their numbers on my phone.”
Grant nodded. She showed him the numbers, and he wrote them down. At least she could help that much.
Grant continued, "Well, what we can do right now is put together a plan of action. If anyone else calls you, have them call me immediately. Give them my name and my phone number. We'll get the information we need from them. We'll let them tell their stories, which, honestly, is really what they want. They want someone to talk to about this and, of course, they'd like their money back. But, mostly, they want someone to tell them Isaac is a terrible person and how did someone as smart as them get wrapped up with a loser like him? They want to know they aren't alone, and in these two cases, they are not. But so many others over time have been in similar situations. And they want to know they aren't stupid. He is just that good of a liar.
“Hopefully, they're the only two, but time will tell. I guess, as is often the case in these situations, these women start looking for each other and finding each other, and then they'll band together. But my office can make sure you're not bothered and you don't have to listen to any of them bad mouth you or ridicule you or threaten you. All you need to do is say, call my attorney. His name is Grant Park. Here's his phone number. Then hang up."
She swallowed the knot in her throat. "Okay." She tried really hard not to let her shoulders sink. Inhaling deeply, she picked her shoulders back up.
She was not to blame for this. She might be a little stupid, but she was not to blame for this. This was all Isaac's doing. And once again, he was trying to drag her down some deep dark hole, but she wasn't going to let him.
"Okay. Is there anything else?"
Her father nodded. "The bank is making her whole. However, as of this morning, it wasn't completed yet. I'm now on her account and will watch it daily. I also set up a text communication with the bank. Anytime money is spent from her account, I'll get a text and I can immediately deal with any of Isaac's scams."
Grant wrote this information down and shook his head. "This guy, huh? Hanna, I'm so glad you got away from him."
She nodded. "Me, too. "
She was happy. What more could she say?
"Okay. I'll be in touch with the president of the bank too, to make sure that happens. Have they deposited some of the money?"
Her dad nodded. "They've made a couple of deposits, but not in full. Apparently, they are putting the money back into the account in the order it had been withdrawn as the bank is doing their forensic accounting. They just wanted to make sure her account had money in it for now."
"Okay. Well, keep your eye on that. They’re also afraid you’ll sue them for their employee’s deception. After all, as a depository, they have a fiduciary duty to protect their customers’ money. Make sure they make her whole and let me know if anything stalls on that front. I can contact the bank myself then. What about the business account?"
"He's never had access to that. They were divorced already when Hanna came home to run the bakery. I've always managed the bakery account and still am."
Grant nodded and stood. "Good. Thank you both for coming in. I'm sorry we're once again dealing with Isaac, but please don't worry. My office will have this all covered."
He reached out and shook her dad's hand. He then reached forward and shook her hand. He wrapped his left hand around hers and shook her hand with both of his. He looked her in the eyes. His were kindly blue eyes, with light creases around them from years of laughter and probably irritation from some of his clients and some of the things he had to do. But he smiled genuinely, and he said, "We've got this, Hanna. We're going to protect you. And you call if you need anything at all, or if you have any questions. "
"Okay. Thank you, Grant. I really do appreciate it." She swallowed the knot that formed in her throat and took a deep breath to stem the flow of tears. "I appreciate your time on such short notice as well."
Grant nodded. "Anything for a couple of cinnamon rolls, I'll tell you that. My wife is hooked." He patted his stomach. "I guess I have to admit I am, too."
She chuckled, and it felt wonderful. She'd been tense the entire time they were here. Actually, she'd been tense for the past few days. It really was time to let somebody else handle some of this stuff.
She nodded her head. "Thank you. And please stop by. I've got a couple on the house for you for taking care of us so quickly."
Grant nodded. "I'm not going to turn that down. I'll be around later on today."
Her cheeks heated, and she smiled. "You do that."
He opened the door, and she stepped out first. Her father behind her.
The receptionist behind the desk, Ms. Jailisa Burns, was as professional as ever, an older lady who Hanna had known most of her life. "Thank you all for coming in."
Hanna smiled and waved. "Thank you, Ms. Burns. Nice seeing you."
Her father nodded to Jailisa, then rushed to the outside door to open it for her. Hanna stepped from the cool, serene air-conditioned law office to the sweltering heat of the Florida summer afternoon. It hit her like a brick. She moved along with her father to his car sitting at the curb. The law office was across the town square from her bakery, but her father wanted to drive. Likely due to the heat and humidity. She'd be drenched by the time she walked around the square, and she had a date tonight .
Her father opened the car door for her and said, "I told you he'd take care of everything for us."
Hanna nodded. "Yes, he's always been good to us, hasn't he, Daddy?"
"He sure has, sweetheart. We're not going to let Isaac do anything more to you. You made the hardest decision to leave him and divorcing him. That should have been the end of it, but we're going to make sure now it is."
She sat in the passenger seat, hooked her seat belt, and took a deep breath. After her dad had taken his seat, attached his seatbelt, and started the car, the air blowing from the vents was hot for a second, but cooled down quickly as he drove.
"Thank you so much, Dad. I'm so embarrassed. And feel like a fool. I feel so angry at all that Isaac has put me through. But I'm angrier at what he's put you and Mom through. I'm so sorry."
Her sweet father glanced briefly toward her, then back to the road. "You don't worry about a thing." He stopped at the stop sign and waited as a big blue pickup truck rumbled through. "Now, do you need to stop anywhere before we go back to the bakery?"
"No, thank you. I'm sure Mom needs a break right now and I have things to bake for tomorrow."
He chuckled. "Yes, she misses the bakery a lot, but she does like her naps in the afternoon."
Hanna smiled.
Her dad turned to the left and pulled up in front of the bakery. "Why don't you come on over for supper tonight? I'll grill us some steaks and we can sit and visit."
Her heartbeat sped up. She didn't want to lie to her parents about anything. Especially in light of all they were once again doing for her .
"I can't Dad. I have plans, and things to get ready for tomorrow. There's a fishing tournament in town and I have to bake additional buns and bread for the Sandbar. How about another night?"
"That sounds good, sweetheart."
Hanna glanced around the square at all the buildings. This had been home for so many years and while there was some comfort in being back, she kind of felt like a stranger once again.
So many new people here she didn't know, but she was going to remedy that. She was going to get to know people. She needed support around this town in case Isaac decided to come here.
And she had a date tonight. Time to get her head on straight and enjoy herself.