“Good, find out if you can. I’ll email you tomorrow with my accountant’s name and number. Once you find out if we can put the money back, then call him and work it out.” I knew if Merit ever found out she’d be pissed, but I couldn’t stand the thought of her giving up her savings like that. Not when I could easily help her.
“Dirk, what if she finds out it was you? She won’t be happy.”
“Make it so she doesn’t find out, Phil. I’ll pay you double if you can make that happen.”
“Consider it done, and I don’t want extra money.”
“I’m going to try and get an hour or two of sleep. I’ll talk to you soon.”
“Sounds good, Dirk. Talk soon.”
I hit End and made my way to the shower. After a few minutes in the hot water, I washed up, stumbled to the bed, and fell asleep. It didn’t take long for me to drift off into another dream.
Another dream about Merit.
Chapter Two
MERIT
Hamilton, Montana
My eyes burned as I stared at the computer screen, trying to figure out how to magically make money appear. My family’s farm had almost been taken away from us last winter, but my mother had called me just in time to save it. I’d withdrawn every dime I could get my hands on to pay off a loan my father had taken out against the ranch. It didn’t help that my brother had tried to gamble to win money for the farm and lost. More than once.
“Shit,” I mumbled as I dropped the pencil onto the table and forced myself not to cry.
“Merit?”
The sound of my mother’s voice made me sit up straighter. “Hey, Mom.”
She sat down next to me and placed her hand over mine. “Why don’t you go out tonight?”
With a humorless laugh, I asked, “You want me to go out by myself?”
She looked away and then back to me. “You still have friends here, Merit. But, I know it’s not New York.”
I sighed internally. It was hard enough for my mother to deal with things without me adding to her guilt of asking me to come home. “I don’t miss New York, Mom. Not at all. I hadn’t really realized how much I missed home until I moved back. I don’t regret coming home. I love the farm.”
Her eyes met mine. “And Chris?”
I rolled my eyes. “God, Chris and I were nothing. He was fun, and that’s all. We were never serious. Besides, he told me he’s engaged now. Some model he met on New Year’s Eve.”
She nodded. “What about Timberlynn Holden?”
With a frown, I asked, “What about her?”
“She’s new-ish in town. Maybe she’d like to go out with you. She probably needs some more friends, too.”
I laughed again. “Please don’t even start thinking about setting me up with friends. I’m fine. If I wanted to meet up with people, I would.”
Mom frowned, but luckily she let the subject go. “How do the books look?”
Ugh. I was going to kill my brother when I saw him. I didn’t tell my mom the truth. No sense in two of us worrying about this.
“Better. A lot better,” I said. “We’re caught up on everything now. Michael needs to be removed from the checking accounts, though.”
That made my mother’s eyes go wide. “What? Why in the world would you say that?”
“Because he withdrew money yesterday and then took off for…I’m sure you can guess.”
She brought her hand up to her mouth. “Vegas?”
I nodded. “I thought he had stopped after I paid the loan off, but I guess not. Until we address it with him, he’s not going to stop, and we’ll be in the same situation within a few months at this rate.”
My mother stood and paced across the small room. “We need to tell him how the loan was paid down. If he knew you used all your money, he wouldn’t be doing this.”
I didn’t want to tell my brother that I’d withdrawn every cent in my savings account and took an early withdrawal on my retirement to pay down the loan my father had taken out against the farm a few years back. I didn’t want to hear him talk shit about me coming in and saving the day, so I’d never said a word. But now that he was back to pulling money out and spending it, I needed to say something. I wasn’t positive he went to Vegas, but I knew he’d left town for two days and was due back any moment.
With a frustrated sigh, I looked out the window. “How’s Dad?”
Mom forced a smile. “He’s good. His color is back and his eyes look white for the first time in months.”
I smiled and turned back to face her as I leaned against the window. “Is he still angry with me?”