Chapter Twenty-Three #3
It wasn’t a drive to be helpful that goaded her on now, though; she was motivated by a healthy dash of spite. She marched right up to the office door, full of bravado and resolve. She wavered for just a moment as her hand reached for the latch.
No, she told herself, you’ve waited long enough for answers. With that, she screwed her courage to the sticking place and pushed the door inward.
Sorting through the papers was no easy task, but she had a quick eye and separated what mattered from what didn’t: A pedigree for a horse from 1838 was not relevant; a stack of bills from various merchants in town most certainly was.
A picture was forming: The ranch had been making a good, reliable income before Brendan had died.
Aidan had contracted with builders to expand the operation, all of it hinging on his new stud he’d imported from back east. Then Brendan died, and the bills came flooding in, outpacing the ranch’s earnings.
There was another ledger, this one buried under a stack of yellowing papers. Alexandra reached for it and pulled it out. This one had a different story written in its margins and columns, and not a very nice one.
Most shocking of all, it seemed that he’d taken out a sizeable loan from someone and was in serious arrears in repaying it. The payments stopped just before his death and resumed shortly after Alexandra arrived at the ranch.
Alexandra tapped the top of the column with the loan figures. The initials “KB” were written there. She frowned, trying to put the pieces together. It suddenly dawned on her: Kevin Black.
Brendan borrowed money from Kevin Black, she realized with a feeling like cold water being poured down her spine.
Aidan had been paying him back in little sums, but the repayments had stopped in the past couple of weeks.
The idea of owing that oily, odious man any amount of money made Alexandra shiver.
He’s… he’s been trying to set things right for months. Alexandra plopped heavily in the desk chair at that thought.
She thought of him on the porch, reaching into his vest pocket and asking whether the doctor might wait until morning.
She had called him careless with her aunt’s life.
He had been counting what he had. She thought of the mustard plaster and the raisins, bought with money that was owed elsewhere, and of him arguing with Dr. Bruin over a bill he had no way of paying.
Every word, every action of his seemed a different color now. She wasn’t ready to absolve him, not yet, but she did feel that she understood him a bit better now.
The sound of the front door made her jump, upsetting a stack of papers. She haphazardly scooped them up and put them on the desk. She clutched the ledger to her chest and marched out of the office as Aidan called her name, trying to locate her.
“I’m here,” she responded. She rounded the corner from the kitchen to the living room.
“The children are with Antony,” Aidan said tiredly, running his fingers through his hair, which desperately needed trimming.
“He promised to take them on a ride in the wagon, and—” He stopped short, his eyes landing on the ledger.
“What do you think you’re doing?” he asked, his voice low and warning.
“Getting answers,” Alexandra shot back without regret. “How could you keep something like this from me?”
“Because it wasn’t your concern,” he retorted, reaching for the ledger. Alexandra twisted back, keeping it out of his reach.
“How is it not my concern?” she demanded. “I’m a part of this family now, too, whether you like it or not.”
“I’m taking care of it,” he insisted tiredly. “I know it’s a dirty, uncouth business, but—”
Alexandra shook her head vehemently. “No, you foolish man,” she interrupted. “I’m not upset about you paying back the debt—that shows great character to take on your brother’s troubles.”
“Then what—” he began.
“You don’t include me,” she said. “You want to keep all of this to yourself, but has it occurred to you that you don’t have to carry it alone?” She opened the cover, flipping through the pages. “Why did you stop paying him back?”
“Well, first of all, he’s a scoundrel, and it was never going to be enough.
” Aidan sat heavily in the armchair. “He kept coming up with more ways to charge interest or what have you, and I found myself further underwater the more I paid.” Second reason is that I had more important things to be spending money on.
” He glanced up at Alexandra and then away quickly.
“Wait,” she said, catching on quickly, “you’ve been paying for our upkeep instead of paying this off?”
“You all needed things to get the house back into shape, and with Lisa’s illness…” He trailed off, and then shrugged. “Seemed like a better trade.”
Alexandra stared at him, floored. “You can’t… you can’t just decide that,” she said finally.
“I already did,” he answered flatly. He stood and brushed past her, retreating to his office. Alexandra followed, but he closed the door. She could hear the tell-tale click of the lock falling into place, shutting her and the rest of the world out.
“We’re not done with this,” she shouted through the door. She walked away when there was no response.