A Family For Andi. Eileen Berger
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“I don’t want you hurt like your grandmother was.”
“Well, someone’s got to find out about themat least how they handle what money they have now and what they’d likely do with a windfall, that sort of thing.”
“You think they won’t be on their best behavior with you there?” His heavy brows came almost together in that way that used to make her fidget before she learned to recognize the difference between frowns of concentration and those of disapproval.
“They’ll have no reason to be suspicious.”
He sat there shaking his head. “You’ve always liked fantasies, romances, and other not-for-real stuff. I’m afraid, my dear, that what you’re proposing falls into one of those categories. You expect to invade the town of Sylvan Falls, observe our relatives, win their confidence, and determine within a few days if giving them a large sum of money is a sound idea?”
When put like that, it did sound like an ambitious undertaking. “I don’t expect to accomplish it in a couple of days.” That had been months after the death of JonJonathan William Bascomb IIIand she was still on crutches, emotionally as well as physically. They’d grown up together and had been in the same grade from preschool through ninthuntil his grandparents had enrolled him at Madison Academy to prepare for an Ivy League education.
Andi stayed in public schools, but they remained good friends. Even while he was at Yale and she at Michigan State, they had long conversations on the phone and were often together during holiday and summer breaks.
But then, on his twenty-first birthday, he came into that inheritance from his paternal grandmotherand things were never the same. “Jon would be alive today if it weren’t for all that money!” Andi had cried out as she sat with Dad in his den. “He had no conception of what to do with itwhat he should do with it.”
“You must admit that most of his folks’ decisions have been good ones, Andi. The academy. Yale…”
“But he’d never handled moneymuch money. Whatever he wanted, he boughtthe sailboat, the sports car, everything. And he was so generous and loving, always doing for others…”
Tears filled her eyes, remembering the plane he’d chartered to take twenty-seven friends to Paris last fall, to help celebrate his twenty-seventh birthday. And the diamond necklace he had insisted that she accept last Christmas. “And that led to disaster when his new ‘friends’ proved only too eager to help spend his wealth.”
Her father leaned back, raising the footrest of his cordovan leather recliner. His glance circled the big room, with its thousands of books, and all those snapshots of Andi, showing her eyes, fair coloring and regular features to be much like his own, though more feminine. “You’re convinced twenty-one’s too young for that much responsibility?”
“If a person hasn’t had experience with money, any age may be ‘too young.’ I appreciate your insisting that I learn about finance and investingbut Jon’s inability to handle it makes me concerned about our Pennsylvania cousins. I don’t want others destroyed by receiving large amounts.”
She leaned forward to look into his clear dark blue eyes. “I know we’ve discussed giving a sizable amount up front, with the rest in trust funds, but if they should be mean-spirited people whose love of money hurts them or others, even that’s no favor.”
She knew her father was a soft touch, and some found it easy to take advantage of his generosity. She almost reminded him about Mother’s only cousin, Lynne. They’d helped her out of two major jamsif they hadn’t, she’d have been in jail for years. But they made it clear that second time that there’d be no more money from them, ever.
Jon’s being killed was almost too painful to think about. Andi had known the inevitability of Mother’s death from cancer while she was a junior in collegebut not Jon!
Dad had not been thrilled at the possibility of having Jon as a son-in-law, but he grieved withor forher. She noticed he’d made changes in his own life since thenlosing that extra twenty pounds, cutting out smoking, watching what he ate, and exercising regularly.
She understood his urgency when speaking of updating his will, of making all those changes. “I’m glad you’re setting up the Barker Foundation, Dad,” she assured him, “and I’m all for the endowments to our alma maters and gifts to other schools and charities. But I’m concerned about your leaving so much to The Cousins.” She’d never thought of them as individuals, with personalities. “What effect might sudden wealth have on them?”
He pursed his lips. “Would you feel better if I hired a private detective? There’s a good one I’ve used.”
“I hope you didn’t have him checking on my friends.” It was a statement, not a question, and he neither denied nor confirmed it. Actually, she’d prefer not knowing if he’d investigated Jon. Or others. “Perhaps he could get basic information, since all we know is names.”
“I do know more than that, though nothing about what makes them tick, or how they handle finances.” He rubbed his square jaw with his palm. “We don’t have many to check, since my family wasn’t very prolific. Including us.”
She reached from her high-backed chair to place a hand on his forearm. “At least you had me.”
“Impossible to forget we were blessed with the best.” Smiling, he covered her hand with his. “As you know, I’m Katherine’s only child, and MaryJean is the only cousin in my generationthough she’s about fifteen years older.
“Her father, Michael, and my mother were brother and sister, but had no real relationshipnot even letters back and forth, or phone calls. I never met him nor his daughter, but did learn that Mary Jean’s husband, Philip McHenry, died some years ago, leaving his wife and three grown children, who’d be your second cousins.
“They all live in or near Sylvan Falls…”
As they were finishing dinner a week later, Dad handed her a thick folder. Pushing aside her half-eaten strawberry sherbet, she riffled through the annotated sheets containing information on the McHenrys. “You’ve read all this?”
“Just skimmed. It arrived just before this morning’s staff meeting, and I had appointments all day.”
Until recently she’d been unaware of how demanding his schedule was, and how thoroughly he knew the workings of each department in the electronics company he’d founded. Now that she was here, learning the business, she had a new appreciation of both his leadership ability and acumen.
She’d agreed that she must become familiar with the work and staff of each section, but the experience was challenging. As “the boss’s kid,” she’d found herself pampered, ignored or fawned overall of which she detested.
“Dad, I want to leave for a while.…”
“That’s not a good idea, Andi. Neither for the de-partment’s sake nor for yours.”
“I’ll be back soon.”
The right corner of his mouth quirked upward. “You could find you enjoy freedom more than on-the-job training.”
“I do enjoy what I’m doing, and know how necessary it is if I’m to become your assistant.” And I think you’re at least partly teasing, she thought. “You certainly guessed this wouldn’t satisfy my curiosity. Actually, it whets my desire for personal contact.” She tapped one sheet with a forefinger. “It says here that Mary Jean runs a bed-and-breakfast. If I’m lucky, perhaps I can stay there.”
“Nobody there probably knows I exist,” she said after they’d discussed a number of things that would have to be arranged, “but, just in case, I’ll need an assumed name, address and other identification.”
He looked at her over his glasses. “You’ve given this appreciable thought.”
“Yes.