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At last he turned and looked at her. His eyes were dark and hard. “You're going to have to declare bankruptcy.”
His mother gasped. “Dexter, there must be something you can do to help.”
He shook his head even before Laura asked, “What about the money I gave you? If you give it back—”
“I can't.”
She froze, feeling a dreadful chill overwhelm her. “What do you mean, you can't?”
“The money is locked in for a year. Dammit, Laura, I explained all this to you. The funds have been invested in a non-redeemable certificate in order to get the best possible return in the shortest period of time. You won’t be able to touch that money until its maturity, which we agreed that twelve months would suffice before you needed to withdraw from it.”
She listened listlessly as she felt the life being sucked slowly from her. Adell was speaking, but her words were inaudible to Laura's frenzied mind. Instead, she found herself slowly turning around and walking out of his office. She needed, desperately, to get as far away from him as possible. Behind her, someone called her name, but she wasn't sure whom.
She walked in a daze from the building and out into the cool September wind. Its chilling breeze struck her cold face and lifted the dark strands of hair from her shoulders, arousing her numb conscious momentarily.
Focusing on the speeding cars whizzing by with their occupants rushing to return to a home, a family, and a life, Laura felt a staggering pity for the woman she had become. A feeling of hopelessness filled her heart, along with a sense of grief, for she despairingly mourned the girl she could never be.
“Laura, don't!” Dexter appeared out of nowhere, seizing her arm in a fierce grip and wrenching her off the road's curb. “Are you insane? Nothing is worth that.”
Bewildered, she stared up at him. What was he talking about? And what was he so angry about, now? He wasn’t the one who had lost everything and was now in financial ruin.
He stared down into her wide vulnerable eyes, and clenched his jaw. An intense fierceness blurred his vision and had him wanting to reach out and shake her soundly. The wild emotions coursing his blood had an overpowering effect on his equilibrium. Instead he glowered angrily down at her and roughly ordered, “Go home, Laura. I'll see you shortly. We need to talk.”
She continued to stare at his troubled profile even as he turned and called for his mother, who waited anxiously by the building entrance. She didn't think she could handle yet another “talk” with Dexter. Their talks always seemed to end in a heated confrontation. Something Laura's unsound mind was able to handle. For some bizarre reason, she was in the habit of unwittingly drawing an angry reaction from the man. If she had the answer to this, possibly she could divert his opinion of her.
“Mother, take Laura home. Watch her closely and I'll be there as soon as I can.” He turned back to La
ura and added suddenly a notch softer, “Everything's going to be okay.”
As she watched him walk away, she wondered why then did she feel her world was crumbling and she was drowning a slow painful death? With Dexter O’Reilly's likeness standing at the helm.
“Come, Laura, let's get you home. A nice cup of tea will help ease your nerves.” Adell put a consoling arm about her shoulders and led her in the direction of the parking lot.
They left together, passing the time in the vehicle in silence, Laura deep in thought, until they reached Adell's doorstep. It was then that Laura turned and advised the woman of her plans.
“I thank you for your hospitality, Adell, but I'm going to take my leave now.”
The woman looked alarmed. “What do you mean? Where will you go?”
“I don't know yet. But I must leave, for my own sanity.”
“You can't leave, now. Dexter will fix this, wait and see.” She reached out and touched the girl.
Laura looked down at the loving, motherly hand and closed her eyes. “I'll leave with only the clothes on my back. The rest you should be able to get refunded. I thank you again, Adell, for all the help you've been to me.”
Adell searched her eyes. “You're serious, aren't you?”
Laura nodded. “I still have my father's annuity. It should tie me over for a little while.”
“Let me help you one last time.”
“No I can't—”
“Please. Let me. Where are you going with so little money? You need help Laura and I want to give it.”
Laura probed the older woman's determined face. “How?”
“I have a cottage, along the coast of Lake Nipissing, we only use it during the summer. You can stay there until then. The scenery is breathtaking and the open air is exhilarating. Nothing could be better to help clear your mind.”
