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A frown puckers Camden’s face and I’m sure he’s confused. He knows damn well what Mitch made as a professional athlete. “What do you mean?”
“We had our wills done and life insurance in place. All that was taken care of, but nobody ever talks to you about the practical aftermath of death. Let’s just say, I was woefully unprepared to survive without him.”
Camden doesn’t say anything but merely watches me with open curiosity laced with concern.
“We obviously had money. You know as well as anyone the salary that Mitch commanded. But we didn’t make the smartest choices in our young marriage with what we did with that money. There were far too many bills when he died—all of our extravagances—and with no income, there was no way for me to keep that same lifestyle that you’ve so aptly noticed is missing.”
His jaw tightens slightly. “You sold the house in Edgeworth because you couldn’t afford it?”
“If it was only the Edgeworth house, things would’ve been easier, but we had the beach house down in North Carolina and the condo in Lake Tahoe. Mitch had his flashy cars and he bought me way too much expensive jewelry. So I sold all of it.”
“The cars too?” he asks. He’s well aware that Mitch had a five-car garage that held an Aston Martin Vulcan, a Lamborghini Urus and a ’67 Ford Mustang Shelby. Those were his fun cars. Day to day, he drove a Range Rover and I drove an Escalade.
“The car payments and insurance alone would eat up my current salary. Add on three homes and there was no way to survive.”
Camden nods, a slow one of affirmation. “Then it was good you did that.”
I look under the corner of the frying bread and deem it ready to flip. With my gaze focused on the task before me, I find it easier to talk. “I could have continued to live off the life insurance proceeds for a few years, but I was looking long term and I knew I wouldn’t be able to maintain. I had to boil it down to the most important thing and that was keeping Travis in a good school and starting a college fund.” I glance over at Camden, my mouth twisted into a wry smile. “I mean… we didn’t even have a college fund for him because we assumed we’d always have enough money we could write a check for wherever he wanted to go.”
His return smile is one of understanding. “Hindsight is twenty-twenty, right?”
“Yeah,” I reply softly, turning back to the French toast. “I thought we were doing the right things. We put a lot of money into retirement, but that can’t be touched without penalty. And we had some liquid savings, but most of our money was in the houses, which didn’t have much equity, and those cars were financed and had almost no equity. It’s so silly to say it now, but… it just never seemed harmful for us to enjoy all that money.”
“I’m curious,” he asks, glancing briefly at the coffee pot to see it’s still brewing. “Did you ever consider returning home to Massachusetts? I’ve met your family and Mitch’s. I know they would have loved to have you back there. Would have helped take care of you until you got on your feet.”
I nod, a soft smile playing on my lips. “I thought long and hard about going back. Hell, I still think about it. My parents and my sister Reba would’ve loved for me to come home. But we put down roots here in Pittsburgh. Travis loves his school and Harrington is so top notch. I did some math, which I was always very strong at in school and I figured out what I needed to do to make it here. So I sold the houses, the cars, the jewelry and banked the money right along with the life insurance.”
The thumb on my left hand absently rubs at my ring finger, the engagement ring and wedding band packed away with the only other piece of jewelry I kept… a locket Mitch gave me for my eighteenth birthday.
“I think you’ve made some admirable adjustments to accomplish your goals.” Camden pushes off the counter and moves to stand beside me. I glance up, finding comfort in his gaze. “I wish I’d known. I feel horrible I didn’t know and that’s on me. I could have helped. Icanhelp if you need it.”
Without any volition of my own, my hand reaches out and seeks his. I curl my fingers and squeeze. “You’re very sweet but I would never let you. If it makes you feel better, Brienne helped me navigate everything right from the start. She gave me so much advice on how I could get myself in a strong financial position to be comfortable with my decision to stay here.”
“She’s an amazing woman,” Camden agrees, pulling his hand free. “She’s done a lot for this entire organization.”
“That she has,” I say, admiration dripping off my words.
Camden rummages in a cabinet for mugs as I plate the French toast. I quickly dip another batch of bread into the egg mixture and drop them on the griddle.
“I’ll get Travis,” I say as I set the spatula down.
“How do you want your coffee?” Camden asks.
“Lots of cream and sugar.”
“That’s not very specific.”
I grin at him. “Let’s put it this way… you can’t put enough in for me.”
Camden grimaces. “Got it.”
I hurry up the stairs, taking them two at a time. I give a sharp knock and enter Travis’s room. Surprisingly, he’s on the bed reading a book. My heart does a little flip because Travis doesn’t particularly like reading.
His head turns my way. “Lunch ready?”
“Yup. And we have a surprise guest.”
“Who?” Travis asks, rolling off the bed.
