Chapter 4
Trin watched for the mailman all morning.
She knew what date her mother’s checks came in, and she didn’t want to miss him.
She was going straight to the bank with it, and then she had an appointment with the Social Security office tomorrow.
She’d make sure that they knew where the checks were and that she wasn’t cashing them.
She saw Abbott coming up the sidewalk just as the mailman was coming from the house next door.
“Hello.” She smiled at him when he handed her the mail. “You don’t have a lot today, Ms. Layton.”
The check was right there, and she put it on top of the things that she’d gotten.
Smiling at the man, she wondered why she didn’t have a postal box for this kind of stuff and decided to get herself one.
That way, her aunt couldn’t come along and try to get it from her until she went to the post office, where there would be witnesses.
Abbott asked her if she was ready to go.
“I am. Just let me get my purse.” She wanted the check out of the house and in the bank.
All this stress over this business was making her dizzy.
As soon as she had her purse, she got into the car with Abbott.
“I appreciate you taking me to the bank today. I was nervous about no one coming with me.”
“Mom told me what you were doing, and I think it’s brilliant of you to keep them out of the house.
There is no telling what kind of person will come along and try to get them from you.
” She agreed with him. “Right now, I don’t have anything going on tomorrow either, so I’m going to take you to the Social Security office in the morning. I guess you have an appointment?”
“I do. I make one when I’m leaving so that I can get right in.
They have not been helping me out for the past eight months.
I’m afraid of what they’ll do when they finally figure out that I’m still getting her checks.
” They were nearly to the bank when she saw her aunt driving in the opposite direction.
“I wonder if she’s going to my house right now.
I hope not. I just don’t want to deal with her today. ”
“I have you. I have nothing going on at work, so I can stay with you. If something comes up, I’ll call one of my brothers.
We’ve all been made aware of what’s going on with you, and we’ll help you.
Mom said you were sort of caught in the middle of all this.
” She said that she’d like to have it finished, but no one seemed to care that she was trying to get them to stop sending the money.
“I understand. They probably will eventually, but for now, we all agree that you’re doing the right thing. ”
She was in and out of the bank in only twenty minutes.
She made sure to get a copy of all the checks so that she could give them to the office if they asked where they were.
They’d never asked her before, but this time might be the right one.
As she was getting in the car, Abbott asked her if she wanted to get lunch, since he’d skipped breakfast this morning.
“I’d love that.” She felt better once the check was out of her possession.
He took her to the little diner that everyone seemed to know about, and they started to sit down.
She was surprised to see two of his brothers there when they arrived, and they decided to all sit together.
She knew Callen from school but didn’t know Dayton at all.
He was older than her a couple of years, and since he was a jock in school, she didn’t hang out with his crowd.
All the Smith boys had been jocks in school, and she rarely had classes with any of them. She’d hear about their playing on the football field as well as track, but she never had the occasion to hang out with them until now.
Bastain is going to join us. I hope you don’t mind.” She said that it was up to him if he minded or not. “Good. He knows what you’re doing with the checks, and he has a little bit of advice for you about them.”
“I’ll take all the advice I can get.” She thought that she’d take it from even him if it kept her out of prison when they realized their mistake about the checks. “When is he coming?”
“He should be here any second. He’s also looking into things at the hospital. Someone called him before I left him to see about hiring Bastain.” She nodded, having no idea what he did for a living. “He’s an attorney. I thought you were told that.”
“I might have been. If it was in the hospital, then it’s small wonder I forgot.
There was a lot going on there.” Dayton agreed with her, and so did Abbott.
She liked these men and the fact that they could make fun of themselves when they were together.
She also noticed that they were good about teasing one another, too, and not getting mad.
She thought that she and her aunt had never had a conversation without one of them being mad at the other.
Just as their drinks were being brought to them, Bastain showed up.
He was larger than his brothers. Not just taller than but also bigger in the chest and arms. He was wearing a suit today, and it looked good on him.
She’d bet that he had to have all his suits tailored when he wore one because he was so large.
She knew what Abbott did for a living and now Bastain, but she had no idea what the other men did for a living. Asking Dayton what he did, she was surprised to learn that he was an attorney as well. He told her what the others did, and she was equally surprised about them as well.
“Oneal is an investment banker. He’s the one who keeps us in money.
All of us know how to invest, but he does it full-time.
Mom used to do it with him, but she said she’d rather not mess with it.
Mom loves her gardens and her social clubs.
I think she has one that she goes to daily.
” She said that she’d been to visit her again since she’d been home.
“She told us about your aunt, too. I’m sorry to hear that you’re having so much trouble with her. ”
“Me too.” She looked around the table before asking what Callen did. She got her answer about Zavier, too. “So they buy up homes and flip them. That must be fun. I’ve seen those kinds of shows on television while I was in the hospital. There seems to be a lot of drama about them.”
“They have drama, it’s just that no one knows about it.
Again, Mom helps them out. She loves to go to auctions and pick up things that they can use in the houses, like things to decorate with when they’re finished.
It’s cheaper for them, and they can sell them when they’re finished.
It works out for all of them.” She wondered what they’d do to her place.
It needed some major work done to it, but with the fact that she didn’t have the money for anything like that, she was just going to have to live with it.
“They buy up cheap places and then redo them. It’s fun to watch what they have in mind when they get started. ”
“So you all work.” He said that they had even before they realized that they had money.
“I don’t have anything left after mom passed away.
I was only working part-time to be with her, and it took a lot of my own money to get her the things that she needed.
Mom had insurance, but it didn’t cover as much as we had hoped it would.
But I’m back to working full time now, and I like it. ”
“Mom used to work full-time until our dad got sick. He would stay at home with us when she was gone, but when he got sick, we were too much for him. Mom stopped working outside the home five years before he died. It was hard on all of us when he passed.” She said it was for her mom, too, though she wasn’t suffering anymore.
“That’s a good way to look at it. I never thought of that.
Our dad did suffer quite a bit with his cancer, too. ”
They ate their lunch and talked about different things. Bastain told her to make sure she took notes on who she talked to, even if it was only on the phone. She’d been doing that but thought it was good advice. He said that having names and badge numbers can go a long way in a courtroom setting.
After lunch, they took her back to her house.
She invited them in, just so they could see her home, but they declined.
She had to get to working on her laundry anyway, and that was fine with her.
The only person who lingered was Bastain.
She just wished he’d go home. She still didn’t like him all that much.
“I’ll be going with you in the morning to the Social Security office.” She said that she thought that Abbott would take her. “He’s got a person coming in and has to deal with that.”
She didn’t ask. Thinking that she knew what it meant, she didn’t want to know that someone had died, and that was taking him away from helping her. Bastain was still talking when she realized that she had missed something.
“I said that I can talk to them about what’s going on as an attorney.
Maybe if they have to deal with me, then they’ll be more likely to take what’s going on seriously.
” She said that she was worried they were going to blame this all on her.
“I have no doubt about that, to a point. They’ll try and say that you cashed the checks or something like that to get you into trouble.
That’s why it’s so important to keep notes. ”
“I have been. Since the beginning. I don’t want to end up in prison simply because someone doubted my word on what I’ve been trying to tell them.
” He said it would be the only thing that kept her from getting into trouble with the government.
“I don’t want that either. I just want them to take the checks back so that my aunt can’t get to them. ”