“That was a long time ago, Mom,” I stated matter-of-factly.
Merit’s lavender eyes jerked over to meet my gaze. Then she looked back at my mother and smiled. “I’m afraid I’m going to be getting everything ready for the closing tomorrow, so I don’t have time to go out.”
“Closing?” I asked.
Merit gave me a polite nod. “Yes, I’m purchasing a house.”
“A house? Wow, so you’re not heading back to New York City?” Brock asked.
Merit shook her head and avoided looking at me. “No, I’m here to stay for good.”
“Lincoln, Kaylee, and Timberlynn will be glad to hear that,” Brock said.
A wide smile erupted across Merit’s face, and I felt a weird sensation in my chest.
I stared at her for a bit too long, and she must have sensed it because her eyes met mine before she quickly looked back at my mother.
“That makes me so happy. I cannot wait to see all the wonderful things you do with the farm, Merit!” my mother gushed.
“Thank you, Kimberley, I’m excited, as well. But I need to get going. Thank you for the pie. Tell Brad I said hello. Brock, Dirk, it was good seeing you both.”
“You, too,” Brock said as he lifted his hand and waved goodbye.
Merit gave Brock a smile, but when she looked at me, it faded ever so slightly. I hated that she didn’t smile at me like she used to.
Brock turned to me. “You ready to go?”
“Yeah, I need a drink…or six.”
Chapter Six
MERIT
My hands shook as I stared down at the paper I had printed out. It had to be some sort of mistake. A huge error on the bank’s side.
“Merit, sweetheart, what’s the matter?” my mother asked. “You’re white as a ghost.”
I lifted my eyes from the paper and looked at my mother. “I think there’s a mistake in my savings account at the bank, that’s all.”
“Oh no…will it affect the closing?”
“I’m not sure, they haven’t mentioned it yet.” I pulled out my phone and dialed Libby’s number.
“Hey, what’s going on?” Libby said on the other end of the line.
I walked out onto the back porch and down the steps, away from my mother’s ears. I knew Libby’s husband was the bank manager, so if anyone could help me out, it would be her. “Libby, I need to ask you to do me a huge favor.”
“If I’m able to, I will.”
Libby was on a bit of a guilt trip ever since I’d told her Timberlynn had slipped and told me on New Year’s Eve that she had filled them in on my past with Dirk.
“I think the bank made some sort of error. I’ve had a large amount of money deposited into my savings.”
The line was silent…too silent.
Then, it suddenly hit me. It was the same amount of money I had withdrawn from my retirement and my savings. It wasn’t a mistake—someone put it there!
“Oh my God, it wasn’t a mistake. Someone put it in there. You know, don’t you?”
She grumbled something under her breath before she said, “I don’t know who it was, but I do know that Doug knows, and I doubt he’ll tell you.”
“Of course, he does, he’s the bank manager. Why wouldn’t he tell me, though?”
She sighed, and I heard a door creak open and then click shut. “I had to come outside, because if he heard me talking to you about this, he’d be pissed.”
“I won’t say a word about how I found out.”
“Do you swear?”
I made a cross over my heart, even though she couldn’t see it. “I so swear.”
“Okay, well, I went to have lunch with him the other day and I…well, I was hiding in his office.”
“Why were you hiding in his office?”
“Oh Lord, this is so embarrassing. I was there for a little afternoon delight.”
I felt my lip curl. “I didn’t need that visual.”
“You asked why I was hiding!”
I shook the mental image out of my head. “Sorry, get back to the story.”
“Fine. I was in his office, and he walked in, but his receptionist had followed him, so I had to hide in his private bathroom. The door was open slightly, so I could hear everything. She said he had a call and that it was important. I heard her leave, but he got on the call at the same time.”
“Okay, so do you know who he was talking to?”
“Yep. Phil Wilcox.”
I thought for a moment. “We went to high school with him. He lived in New York City for a while and was a cop there.”
“Yes, but he moved back to Montana and works for the state now, or the Feds. No one really knows. From what I gathered, he was hired to find out information about…um…well, anyway, that part doesn’t matter. He was hired to put money into your account and make sure you couldn’t find out who’d deposited the money. I was only getting one side of the story. Doug said Phil’s name then yours. He then went on and asked why Phil wanted to deposit money into your account, and how in the hell he was supposed to explain to you that he didn’t know who put it there.”