“Who was he?” I asked.
Phil laughed. “Chris Warren. An actor, if you can believe that.”
That caught my attention. “Merit was dating an actor?”
“He’s British and more popular over in the UK than here in the States. That might account for the on-again and off-again part of their relationship. When I asked Merit’s old receptionist, who was more than eager to answer my questions, she stated she thought it was more of a friends-with-benefits type of relationship, but she wasn’t certain. Merit wasn’t in the habit of talking about her personal life much at all. She told me she got the feeling Merit might have had feelings for someone else, and that’s why things with the actor didn’t work out.”
I nodded and turned on the shower. I’d think about that last bit of information later. “And the farm?”
“Yeah, I’m thinking I might have found the reason she headed back home. It’s near foreclosed on, Dirk. Or, at least, it was.”
My heart dropped. That farm meant the world to the Edens. It had been in the family for generations. How in the hell had it been losing money?
“They were behind on the equity loan her father, Roger, took out a few years back when he purchased some new farm equipment. I also found out Michael’s been taking trips to Vegas…and lady luck has not been on his side. One of his good friends let it slip to me that he’s made a few trips there over the last year. He hasn’t been back since the New Year, though.”
I ran my hand over my unshaven face. Merit’s brother Michael was not the type of guy to gamble.
“There’s something else. Merit’s dad is hitting the bottle hard and has been since last year. He was admitted into an addiction recovery place in Missoula earlier this year. Michael maybe turned to gambling to try and bring in some extra cash to get the bills caught up. At least that’s what I’m guessing. Once the loan was brought up to date, he stopped going to Vegas.”
“Roger’s in rehab? Michael’s gambling? They aren’t the type of men to do anything like that,” I stated.
“Yeah, well, it’s been a while since you’ve actually been home long enough to notice anything about them both. People change, Dirk. Hard times make people do crazy shit.”
“I guess so,” I mumbled as I sat down on the edge of the bed, completely naked now. “Let me see if I’ve got this straight. The farm is in financial trouble, and most likely Lori asked Merit to come back.”
“Appears so. Merit’s got a smart head on her shoulders, and like I said, since she’s been back, the equity loan has gone down and they’re caught up on payments.”
“She probably dumped her own money into it, if I know Merit. She couldn’t possibly make that much as a civil engineer. Not enough to live in New York City and put that sort of money away in savings.”
He remained silent.
“Phil? What do you know?”
“Dude, it just feels weird investigating Merit. She’s a friend of ours. I like her, and I don’t want her business getting out for the gossips to hear.”
A feeling of jealousy ripped through me. I’d known in high school that Phil had a thing for Merit, but he’d been too afraid she’d turn him down. Or too afraid I’d kick his ass if he ever tried anything with her.
I tried to keep the edge of anger out of my voice as I asked, “You really think I’m going to gossip about Merit?”
“You two didn’t exactly leave high school on good terms,” he stated matter-of-factly.
“There wasn’t…isn’t…anything I wouldn’t do to protect her. She was like a sis—”
I abruptly stopped talking. Phil knew what had happened that night. Hell, everyone did, even though we had both pretended like nothing happened. Once it got out, the rumor mill took it and ran with it. I could only guess who had been the person to say something. Merit’s father, since he had stumbled on us that day. Since everyone knew, I couldn’t really describe Merit as being like a sister when I’d had sex with her in the loft of her family’s barn.
“Just tell me how she paid the fucking loan down, Phil.”
He sighed. “She took an early withdrawal on her retirement and emptied out her savings.”
Nausea hit me, and I slowly shook my head. “How much?”
“She withdrew the max amount she could from her retirement, and thirty thousand from her savings.”
I brought my hand to the back of my neck to rub away the instant ache. The line remained silent for a few moments while I thought. “Is there a way for us to put what she withdrew into her savings account at the bank here in town without her knowing who put it there?”
More silence.
“Phil?”
“Um, I’m sure I can find someone to do that for you and keep it under wraps.”