A Man to Call My Own

Chapter 45

MARIAN WAS NOW THE one leaning her head back with her eyes closed. There was a sick feeling in the pit of her stomach from going so quickly from being a rich heiress to a pauper. With no warning whatsoever. And there had been none. Her father had acted no different than usual, before he left on that last trip. Surely there would have been some sign that he had lost all his wealth.

"Sweetie, don't let this get you down. Things really are different out here. The men who'll be wanting you for a wife, will be wanting you, not any money you might have brought to the marriage."

"I understand that, Aunt Katlleen. I just don't understand how my father could have lost all his money. He was rich according to his will, owned many businesses, many more income properties, much more than Amanda and I ever realized, and he had a very large bank account as well."

"I know, and all of that was undoubtedly true when he made his will. He was extremely prosperous at that time. But apparently in the last couple of years he greatly overextended himself. One too many improvements on his current properties without waiting for them to pay off. Too many new purchases that he was sure he'd make a profit on when they were sold, but they didn't sell. It sounds like his intent was a period of expansion, but he just didn't spread it out over enough time. So he started selling at huge losses just to cover costs, and when his investments still didn't start paying off normally, he started borrowing as well."

"But he never told us."

"Of course he wouldn't. He still probably thought he could recover, which could be why he never updated his will to reflect so many changes. That last business trip he made was actually to borrow more money."

"Then his estate can still be salvaged?" Marian asked hopefully.

Kathleen sighed. "Unfortunately, no. There's nothing left to salvage. When he died, everything had to be sold to pay off the debtors."

Marian was still having trouble digesting this news. It was just too much of a surprise. In the weeks before he'd died her father had gone about his business as usual, with no worried looks, no frustration or anger that things weren't going well for him.

She remembered one expansion, when he'd built a new shoe store, and she and Amanda had gone to the grand opening. He'd crowed for weeks that business was booming. She didn't recall his mentioning any other improvements.

"Wouldn't Albert Bridges have had some inkling of this?" Marian asked. "Why didn't he warn us?"

"Oh, he knew," Kathleen said in disgust. "The bastard didn't have the guts to tell you before you left Haverhill. Well, he mentions not wanting to deal with Amanda's histrionics, so I suppose that's understandable. It's all here in his letter, sweetie. He was hoping you'd be well settled in with me before he had to break the news to you."

"The money he gave us for the trip?"

"Was his. A small price to pay for his cowardice. Those are his words. Go ahead and read it."

Marian did. The letter actually wasn't that long. The bulk had come from the accounting that was included, of all the properties that were sold, all the debts that were settled. Their home had been the last thing to go, auctioned off at a ridiculously low price just to satisfy the last few remaining creditors.

"I'll have to cancel that order I just placed with the seamstress," Marian realized.

But Kathleen rolled her eyes. "Don't be silly. A few dresses aren't going to break us. And Chad has turned my own finances around, with the help he's given me. He's lined up quite a few small beef contracts in nearby counties as well, that won't require major cattle drives to fulfill. Financially, I'm pretty much back to where we were before Frank died, and the situation will be even better off soon thanks to Chad."

Marian said nothing to that, not caring to hear any more about how nice Chad Kinkaid was. She already knew how wonderful he was. Her emotions wouldn't have gotten so tied up in knots over him if he wasn't. She just didn't want to hear it.

"And its not as if you lack spending money," Kathleen continued pragmatically. "Or even a means to make money for that matter."

"You mean get a job? Yes, I suppose I could, though then I'd have to stay in—"

"No, no." Kathleen chuckled. "I mean you can sell some of your paintings if you were so inclined. Believe it or not, this town craves such things. The few that Orvil at the general store manages to get shipped in sell pretty much before they're even unloaded. It's why he stocks painting supplies. He's hoping someone in town here will take up the hobby and create something worth selling."

"So that's why he was so pleased to show me to where he had those supplies tucked away." Marian grinned.

"No doubt. Feeling a little better now?"

Actually, she was. It wasn't as if she'd depended on her inheritance for anything in particular. It was just that she was used to coming from wealth and had never expected to be without it, she supposed. She would have to start thinking along the lines of not being able to afford everything she might need, but she could deal with that as it occurred.

"I'm adjusting," she said. "But I really doubt Amanda will."

Kathleen groaned with the reminder since she hadn't thought that far ahead herself. "No, she's placed too much significance on her inheritance," she agreed. "Though Lord knows why."

"Because she was counting on its buying her a husband who would treat her just like Papa did."

"You mean let her do whatever she pleases?"

"Yes."

"But she's already married," Kathleen thought it prudent to point out.

"Not if she doesn't consider herself married," Marian returned. "She could already be thinking of a divorce for all we know."

"You haven't seen her since that night at dinner?" Kathleen asked.

"No, I made a point of avoiding her."

Kathleen frowned. "But Spencer would have to agree to a divorce."

"Believe me, Amanda would know how to make him think of nothing but. But that's what she may have been planning. Now, she'll have to reconsider. She won't like that. She won't like that she has no other options, that she'll have to make do with what she already has."

"Well, at least she's already setded, and Spencer isn't exactly poor. He's not exactly hard on the eyes either. She's better off than she thinks."

"She won't see it that way," Marian warned.

"I know." Kathleen groaned again. "I think I'll just have this letter delivered to her after you and I leave town tomorrow. There's no reason why we have to listen to her theatrics when she finds out about this."