Page 8 of Bastain

The first house was all right, but it didn’t have any yard. And the neighbors were kind of nosy. When they pulled up in front of the house, they came out on their porch and watched them. That would drive him crazy. Even his mom, who was very social, didn’t much care for that. They were onto the second house before they even looked around that much.

The second house had potential. There were about ten acres of land, and it had a garden already established in the backyard. The only thing that he didn’t care for was that there were no trees in the yard. Not a single one, but a bush that was so small he nearly tripped over it when he was going up to the house, for some reason that bothered him a great deal.

“I don’t like trees.” He didn’t ask the man about it, but he seemed like he needed to explain it to him. “They drop their branches all over the place, and I got no one to pick them up. You can’t get kids to do a darned thing nowadays.”

“Don’t you miss the leaves falling down in the fall?” He said that he didn’t like raking them up either. Trees were a pain in the ass all the way around. “Okay then. I guess we’ll keep looking.”

“There is one more house that I was saving for last. It’s in a really nice neighborhood where the houses are far apart.” He asked about the crime in the area. “I didn’t think to ask about that, but they have a locked-in gate that keeps people from just roaming around.” He asked if it was a gated community. “Yes, that’s what it’s called. Do you have something against that?”

“They usually have rules that everyone has to follow. What do you know about it?” He said nothing much other than the security drives around all the time. “I bet there are dues too. Just the kind of place that Debra would have loved.”

“Now don’t go there, son. We’ll have a look around and see what they have to offer. I’m betting you’re right, however. They’ll have rules about having myself a little garden, and I’d really like one.” He said they’d look but to not hold out too much hope. “I won’t. I agree with you in this kind of community. I don’t want to be caught up in rules all the time when I might just want to sunbathe in my back yard.”

They were still laughing when they got to the security gates. Since Dayton had all the information for them to get in, he let him do the talking. As soon as they were allowed past the gates, he knew that this was the perfect place his ex-wife had wanted to live. That soured him on everything else about the place.

He kept his mouth shut as they were being shown around the house and lawns. There were rules about the lawns that the woman showing them around told them about. There were also rules about what color cars they could have in their garage. They didn’t want things to clash too much, so they wanted everyone to have blue or black cars. His was beige, and he loved his car.

Chapter 4

Trin watched for the mailman all morning. She knew what date her mother’s checks came in, and she didn’t want to miss him. She was going straight to the bank with it, and then she had an appointment with the Social Security office tomorrow. She’d make sure that they knew where the checks were and that she wasn’t cashing them. She saw Abbott coming up the sidewalk just as the mailman was coming from the house next door.

“Hello.” She smiled at him when he handed her the mail. “You don’t have a lot today, Ms. Layton.”

The check was right there, and she put it on top of the things that she’d gotten. Smiling at the man, she wondered why she didn’t have a postal box for this kind of stuff and decided to get herself one. That way, her aunt couldn’t come along and try to get it from her until she went to the post office, where there would be witnesses. Abbott asked her if she was ready to go.

“I am. Just let me get my purse.” She wanted the check out of the house and in the bank. All this stress over this business was making her dizzy. As soon as she had her purse, she got into the car with Abbott. “I appreciate you taking me to the bank today. I was nervous about no one coming with me.”

“Mom told me what you were doing, and I think it’s brilliant of you to keep them out of the house. There is no telling what kind of person will come along and try to get them from you.” She agreed with him. “Right now, I don’t have anything going on tomorrow either, so I’m going to take you to the Social Security office in the morning. I guess you have an appointment?”

“I do. I make one when I’m leaving so that I can get right in. They have not been helping me out for the past eight months. I’m afraid of what they’ll do when they finally figure out that I’m still getting her checks.” They were nearly to the bank when she saw her aunt driving in the opposite direction. “I wonder if she’s going to my house right now. I hope not. I just don’t want to deal with her today.”

“I have you. I have nothing going on at work, so I can stay with you. If something comes up, I’ll call one of my brothers. We’ve all been made aware of what’s going on with you, and we’ll help you. Mom said you were sort of caught in the middle of all this.” She said that she’d like to have it finished, but no one seemed to care that she was trying to get them to stop sending the money. “I understand. They probably will eventually, but for now, we all agree that you’re doing the right thing.”

She was in and out of the bank in only twenty minutes. She made sure to get a copy of all the checks so that she could give them to the office if they asked where they were. They’d never asked her before, but this time might be the right one. As she was getting in the car, Abbott asked her if she wanted to get lunch, since he’d skipped breakfast this morning.

“I’d love that.” She felt better once the check was out of her possession. He took her to the little diner that everyone seemed to know about, and they started to sit down. She was surprised to see two of his brothers there when they arrived, and they decided to all sit together. She knew Callen from school but didn’t know Dayton at all. He was older than her a couple of years, and since he was a jock in school, she didn’t hang out with his crowd.

All the Smith boys had been jocks in school, and she rarely had classes with any of them. She’d hear about their playing on the football field as well as track, but she never had the occasion to hang out with them until now.

Bastain is going to join us. I hope you don’t mind.” She said that it was up to him if he minded or not. “Good. He knows what you’re doing with the checks, and he has a little bit of advice for you about them.”

“I’ll take all the advice I can get.” She thought that she’d take it from even him if it kept her out of prison when they realized their mistake about the checks. “When is he coming?”

“He should be here any second. He’s also looking into things at the hospital. Someone called him before I left him to see about hiring Bastain.” She nodded, having no idea what he did for a living. “He’s an attorney. I thought you were told that.”

“I might have been. If it was in the hospital, then it’s small wonder I forgot. There was a lot going on there.” Dayton agreed with her, and so did Abbott. She liked these men and the fact that they could make fun of themselves when they were together. She also noticed that they were good about teasing one another, too, and not getting mad. She thought that she and her aunt had never had a conversation without one of them being mad at the other.

Just as their drinks were being brought to them, Bastain showed up. He was larger than his brothers. Not just taller than but also bigger in the chest and arms. He was wearing a suit today, and it looked good on him. She’d bet that he had to have all his suits tailored when he wore one because he was so large.

She knew what Abbott did for a living and now Bastain, but she had no idea what the other men did for a living. Asking Dayton what he did, she was surprised to learn that he was an attorney as well. He told her what the others did, and she was equally surprised about them as well.

“Oneal is an investment banker. He’s the one who keeps us in money. All of us know how to invest, but he does it full-time. Mom used to do it with him, but she said she’d rather not mess with it. Mom loves her gardens and her social clubs. I think she has one that she goes to daily.” She said that she’d been to visit her again since she’d been home. “She told us about your aunt, too. I’m sorry to hear that you’re having so much trouble with her.”

“Me too.” She looked around the table before asking what Callen did. She got her answer about Zavier, too. “So they buy up homes and flip them. That must be fun. I’ve seen those kinds of shows on television while I was in the hospital. There seems to be a lot of drama about them.”

“They have drama, it’s just that no one knows about it. Again, Mom helps them out. She loves to go to auctions and pick up things that they can use in the houses, like things to decorate with when they’re finished. It’s cheaper for them, and they can sell them when they’re finished. It works out for all of them.” She wondered what they’d do to her place. It needed some major work done to it, but with the fact that she didn’t have the money for anything like that, she was just going to have to live with it. “They buy up cheap places and then redo them. It’s fun to watch what they have in mind when they get started.”

“So you all work.” He said that they had even before they realized that they had money. “I don’t have anything left after mom passed away. I was only working part-time to be with her, and it took a lot of my own money to get her the things that she needed. Mom had insurance, but it didn’t cover as much as we had hoped it would. But I’m back to working full time now, and I like it.”