“Mo is a good man. A good mayor. He’s sincere in his efforts to make Salvation a better place for all of us. But sometimes, his attempt to bring progress hurts traditions, which is something we value. Such as family farms.” She reached out and rubbed my back. “Fortunately, I have none of that. I’ve organized a group that provides support to family farmers. You’ll have my support, and I know others in City Hall—”
“I don’t need everyone knowing my father’s financial woes,” I said, horrified by the idea we’d become gossip and a charity case.
She sighed. “Okay. I won’t say anything, but if you want to oppose Stark, it’s going to take money and opposition. He’s got a lot of the former and some of the latter, but the fact that he’s still skulking around tells me he’s not going anywhere. It might take more than you and your dad, and whate
ver Mo has in mind, to stop him. Also, you know Mo. He’ll help personally, but it’s not likely he’ll step in as mayor. He’s very aware of what’s appropriate and what’s not.”
I nodded my understanding.
“So, if you change your mind and want more help, you let me know. I and Wyatt and others in the area will do what we can.”
“Thank you, Sinclair. I appreciate that.” Because I felt so grateful to have a new friend, I hugged her.
“No problem.” She smiled and patted my back. “Us Salvation families need to stick together against Simon Stark.”
I felt better after talking to Sinclair, although the reality of the situation was still the same. If Mo wasn’t able to come up with a plan to block or stop Stark, my childhood home and my father’s family’s history would be sold to a man who wouldn’t appreciate it.
7
Maurice
I walked into the Schmidt law office to see my lawyer. Mr. Schmidt had been my father’s lawyer, but since his retirement, I worked with his daughter, Jeannette Schmidt. She was a few years younger than me, but she was no-nonsense and knew her job, so I had no reason to take my business elsewhere.
“Mr. Mayor,” she said when she greeted me. “I pulled the trust information you asked for.”
“Thank you for seeing me on such short notice,” I said, taking a seat. “I was hoping you could go over the terms of the trust with me again. I have a situation in which I may need that money, after all.”
Her brow arched. “After all? You didn’t plan to take it?”
I shrugged. “I didn’t need it.”
My Aunt Adele had been a favorite aunt of mine. She was a lively, outgoing woman who was shrewd in business and with her money. She and my father ran the ranch together for a long time until they had one too many disagreements. At that point, she sold her share of the ranch to him. She invested well and lived modestly, so when she died, she had a small fortune. She’d lived and loved, but never married or had children, so she left all her money to me. With that said, she wasn’t satisfied with simply passing the money on. She put it in a trust that held certain conditions, one of which was that I had to be married.
I was hoping that since I had been married at one time before, perhaps I could get past the loophole, although I wasn’t too hopeful. Aunt Adele died after my divorce, so she knew I’d been married, and she’d been so happy when Shelley left me that she threw a party.
“She didn’t deserve you, Maurice,” Aunt Adele had said. “Good riddance. Now go find a good woman who’ll love you right.”
“The terms of the trust are straightforward. You get half when you get married, and the second half when you’ve been married a year or have a child, whichever of those two comes first.” Jeanette looked up from the folder on her desk. “Are you getting married?”
I shook my head. “I was married once. It didn’t go so well. Any chance there is verbiage in there that would count my marriage.”
She sat back and smiled. “Your aunt was too smart for that. This note here actually adds an additional term that you can’t marry Shelley again. I don’t think your aunt liked her.”
“I know she didn’t.” I sat back, wondering how I could get my hands on my trust or other money to help Frank.
“She was concerned you’d end up like her. Alone without a family.”
I frowned. “She wasn’t alone. She and my dad butted heads, but we were family.”
“I think she meant her own family, you know, husband and children.”
“Do you think that’s the only way a person can be happy?” When I asked the question, I knew Jeannette’s answer already. She was married with kids, so of course, she’d think that was important in a happy life.
“People are social beings. I think we need people in our lives. We need to love and be loved. Does that have to be from marriage and children? Not necessarily, but clearly, your aunt thought so.” She cocked her head. “You don’t ever want to marry again and have children?”
I ran my hand through my hair. The truth was, I’d wanted all that. I thought I’d have it with Shelley. When she left, I filled my life with the ranch and getting involved in city politics. I might lose an election, but that would pale to having my wife tell me I was a disappointment as a husband.
“I’m not ruling it out, but I don’t have any prospects at the moment.”