Family Money(20)

Taylor’s words trailed off. I remembered that feeling well. Of not wanting to acknowledge reality in the immediate aftermath of my own father’s death. It felt too damn hard to say out loud that he was gone. Taylor paused for only a moment, took a breath, and continued to slice strawberries.

“How’s your mom doing today?” I asked.

“Okay, I guess. She’s still not talking much about it. She actually snapped at me earlier when I mentioned something about Dad to the girls.”

“Give her time. She’ll come around.”

“I hope so. Thanks again for getting Lizzie. I did see a brief smile on my mom’s face this morning when she came out of her bedroom and Lizzie raced over to her. And, of course, the girls were overjoyed.”

“Maybe we should consider getting them a dog now,” I suggested. Now, of course, meaning to fill the sudden void in our lives. Taylor had resisted getting a dog because she knew she would have to do most of the work of dealing with a pet at home on top of everything else on her plate. So I hadn’t pushed.

“Maybe,” she replied but didn’t take it any further. “My mom wants to have Dad’s service as soon as possible. I called over to the church. We can do it this Saturday afternoon. Pastor Larsen is available. He sends his regards.”

“Saturday is quick.”

“My mom thinks it’s better for everyone, so the healing can begin. Anyway, Joslin at the church said they’d handle everything and get the word out. She asked me if we wanted to put together some kind of video presentation with pictures of my dad, but I’m not sure I have it in me right now to go through all of our family photos.”

“I’ll do it,” I offered.

“Thank you.” She walked to the fridge and pulled it open. “Can you please tell the girls to get dried off for lunch?”

“Sure.”

I walked out onto the patio and called for the girls to get out of the pool. They ignored me and kept on playing. It always took me four or five tries before they’d finally listen. So I sat in a patio chair next to my mother-in-law.

“Lizzie seems happy,” I said.

I smiled at the dog. I had stopped by the neighbor’s house earlier this morning to pay the teenage dog sitter and ask her about the house alarm. She said she’d made sure to set it every night when she left. If that was true—and who knows for sure with teenagers—that meant the intruder from last night had somehow disarmed it. And disarming complex alarm systems was not the mark of a common criminal.

“Thank you for bringing her over, Alex. I hope it’s not too much trouble having Lizzie around here.”

“No trouble at all. We love her. Did you get any rest last night?”

“Some.”

“Good. Carol, can I ask you a question about your financials?”

“Of course.”

“I went to see Craig Kinney this morning.”

“Craig is a sweet man. So is his wife, Marcy.”

“He sends his condolences. We went over your finances. I just wanted to get a jump start to make sure you’re in good shape. Everything looks very solid, by the way. You should have no concerns. But Craig didn’t seem to know where Joe got the money that he invested in my company. It wasn’t part of your financial portfolio. Do you have any idea why Joe would’ve kept that money separate from his other finances?”

“No, but I’m sure Joe had a good reason. He was always very particular when it came to our money.”

“Did Joe ever mention anything about an account in the Cayman Islands?”

Carol shook her head. “Joe never wanted me to be too involved or concerned with our money. He always said it was his role to carry that burden. So I let him all these years. I’m sorry that’s not much help to you now.”

“It’s okay. What about the name Ethan Tucker?”

“Doesn’t sound familiar.”

“Do you remember anything about the lawsuit settlement where Joe got the money he put into my company?”

“What lawsuit settlement?”

“Joe told me he got the money from a client case a long time ago.”

“Oh, I didn’t know that. But if you want to know about a particular case, you should probably talk to Steve Edmonds.”

Steve Edmonds had been Joe’s law partner for nearly twenty years before they shut down their firm a few years ago when Joe wanted to retire.

“Where is Steve these days?”

“He joined one of those big firms. I can’t remember the name of it. Joe called it a meat market. Do you want me to call his wife, Cindy, and find out?”

“No, that’s okay. I’ll find him.”

After rallying the girls inside for lunch, I shut the pocket doors to my home office, circled my desk, and sat in the high-dollar executive chair my in-laws had purchased for me as a gift this past Christmas. It was one of those fancy ergonomic numbers that perfectly supported all areas of my back. Joe had bought one for himself. After commenting how much I liked it, I found one waiting for me by the Christmas tree with a big red bow on it. That’s just how my father-in-law always worked. He’d pull his shirt right off the moment I needed it. He’d drop everything to come help me fix a water leak. He’d spend his whole weekend assisting me with installing new landscape lighting. I could always count on Joe.