Chapter 3
Caroline had to look twice to make sure that it was her daughter with a man on her arm.
Getting up out of her seat, she made her way toward where she’d seen her and lost them in the crowd.
She’d better not be dating that man. If she had it right, his name was Knox Erickson, and he had been hired as her attorney.
Caroline couldn’t find them anywhere. Hubert asked her what she was doing.
“ I thought that I saw Olivia with that Erickson man. The one that you said would make us a great attorney. He turned us down, didn’t he?” He said that he couldn’t afford him. “ Same thing. And who said that we couldn’t afford him? Did he say that to you?”
“ He works for his family and nothing more. He told me that his contract was with the family, and if we were to want him to break that, it would cost us the price of his contract with them. He’s the best there is.
If Olivia is dating him, then you can be assured that she’s into something about us with him.
For all I know, he’s on the other side of the desk from us when we go to court.
” Caroline said that he’d better not be.
“ I don’t know. Just leave them alone. I’ll get to the bottom of it tomorrow.
My sister is taking us out to eat, so let’s not talk about court hearings or unpaid taxes.
I just want to have a good meal on her dime. ”
“ She should be bailing us out, is what she should be doing.” Hubert said that she didn’t have that kind of money.
“ She should give us what she has so we can leave the country then. I’ve had it with taxes and the like.
And now they’re saying that you’ve been doing some money laundering for the mob.
I never heard the likes of that before.”
“ Look. There she is. Let’s just have a nice dinner and be done with it.
Mae said that the only way she was going to dine with us was if we didn’t mention our woes.
Remember that when you decide to bring up the stuff with the house.
” Caroline huffed and told her husband that she would bring up what she wanted.
“ Then we’ll be stuck with the bill, and I know for a fact that we don’t have any charging power left on any of our credit cards.
Do you want to wash dishes here tonight to pay for our meal?
I certainly don’t. And Mae will leave us high and dry.
You know she won’t take any shit from either of us. ”
“ I wish every day that I had not married you. You’ve been nothing but trouble since we got back from our honeymoon.
” He told her that he felt the same way, but they were in too deep right now to care about things that happened over fifty years ago.
“ I just want it out there that I would divorce you had I the forethought to do it before now. Now, as you said, we’re stuck together.
Hello Mae. It’s nice of you to invite us to dinner tonight. ”
“ Hello, Caroline. Still bringing up the past like you can change it, are you? Well, I won’t have my birthday dinner ruined because you two don’t have any idea how to live within your means.
I don’t want to hear about it.” They were seated, and she had a thought that they’d not gotten her anything for her birthday.
Not that it mattered, she wouldn’t like anything that they got for her anyway.
“ How long are you in town for? And where are you staying? Not with us, I presume.” Caroline took her seat and was pleased when a young man pushed her chair in for her.
“ I’ve missed being taken care of when we go out, Hubert.
We need to get things back on track so that we can have this kind of perks. ”
“ You have that right. That house is falling down around your ears. Why you still live in it is beyond comprehension. You should get yourself something smaller, like I did. I have two bedrooms and a kitchen, and I find that’s all I need.
Cuts down on the heating bill too.” Hubert said that they could only afford the house that they were in.
“ Oh yes. Money troubles. I try not to remember that. You should have paid your taxes, and that’s all I’m going to say about that. ”
Caroline had always hated Mae Simpleton.
Even before her husband died, she’d always thought of her as a simpleton.
She could never say that to his face, as he was a mean man and would take advantage of any situation that they were in.
Like ten years ago, when he’d realized that they weren’t paying their taxes back then, he’d reported them to the IRS.
It had taken everything they owned to get out of that mess, and now he’d done it again.
Or at least she thought he had. It would have been something that he would have done to them if he hadn’t been dead for the last five years or so.
“ Where is Olivia? I thought I had made it clear that I wanted her here with us, too. She’s the only one of the three of you who makes me laugh.
You two are always into something that is on the wrong side of the law, and that depresses me.
” Hubert said that she could help them out if she wished.
“ I don’t wish it. I have a full life in front of me, and I don’t want to give you all my hard-earned money so that in another five years or so you can be right where you are.
Besides, it’s not like you have any intentions of paying me back. Do you?”
“ We don’t have a pot to piss in. Is that what you wanted to hear?
And once the IRS gets finished with us this time, we won’t even have the house anymore.
I don’t know what they expect us to do without any place to live.
Go live with Olivia, I suppose.” She shuddered to think about that and looked at her husband.
“ I don’t even know where she lives nowadays, do you?
She just goes about her business like she has nothing to do with us.
I think that she should be in as much trouble as we are, but not to hear her talk about it.
She thinks she’s distanced herself enough from us that she doesn’t need us. ”
“ She doesn’t need you. Last I heard, she was a full-grown woman who has a job and pays her taxes.
She’s even got enough money each month to put some away.
Not a lot, but some money that she’s been saving for a house.
” She’d not known that and was wondering how she could get it from Olivia.
Whatever it was, it would be something more than they had now.
While she was trying to calculate how much there might be and what she could use it for, damned if she didn’t show up at their table.
“ Look, she at least remembered my birthday, other than expecting me to pay for her meal with some man. Look how beautiful she looks right now.”
“ Aunt Mae. Father, Mother. I thought that I saw you three when we got here. Everyone, this is Zander. Zander, this is my parents and my Aunt Mae on my father’s side.
It’s her birthday today.” He shook Hubert’s hand, and she just stared at it when he put it to her.
“ Mother, don’t be a bitch. He was just saying hello to you.
There is no reason for you to act like this with him. ”
“ I know you. You turned us down as our attorney.” He said that he’d not, he’d remember that if that had happened. “ Then you have a brother or something that’s an attorney. He said that we couldn’t afford him.”
“ That may well be true. If he were to work outside the family, then he’d have to break his contract.
That would be costly and no reason for him to do that.
” She huffed at him and looked at her husband while he continued.
“ I’m an attorney as well. My brother and I work on cases together, but sometimes he has to field calls that would take us away from the family. I hope you understand.”
“ I don’t. If someone wants to hire you, then you should be hired.” That made more sense in her head, but it pissed her off that she’d messed up. “ I don’t care for anyone telling me no. And that would include my daughter. I told her not to date, and here she is flaunting it right in my face.”
“ You told me not to date men who were related to your friends. Since I know for a fact that you don’t have any friends, that leaves the field wide open for me.
Mother, your temper is showing, and I know how much Aunt Mae hates that.
” Olivia looked at her aunt. “ I just wanted to say happy birthday, Aunt Mae. And I hope to see you around while you’re visiting. How long do you plan to stay?”
“ I’m leaving on Friday, a week from today.
I have things that I must see to before I can go on that cruise that I’ve been thinking about.
I’m going to see Europe. Won’t that be fun?
You should come with me. Bring your young man with you.
” She kissed her on the cheek and told her that it wasn’t possible.
Caroline wondered why she never invited her on any of her trips and realized it was because they didn’t like each other.
“ We’ll have to plan something soon, my dear child.
Something that we can all enjoy while your parents are wallowing in their woes. ”
“ For someone who didn’t want to bring up our woes, as you call them, you sure are bringing them up a great deal.
What’s that all about?” Mae said that it was her birthday and she was able to pick the topics that she wished.
“ So long as they’re about us and what’s happening with your only brother. Is that right?”