Lowell was at his desk looking over the day’s trades when Sarah buzzed.
The door opened and Gloria entered. She seemed to walk a little taller and straighter.
Lowell stood. “Please sit down.”
Her hands were still fidgety as she sat in the client’s chair, but not as shaky. “I want to thank you for everything you did for me and my boys. It was a godsend that my husband found you.”
“I’m very glad I could help. How is Edward?”
“He’s doing okay. The doctors think he’ll accept the new heart and be able to live a fairly normal life.”
“What about you?”
“My nursing job ended. The old man died. And anyway, I have to find a job in my own name. It’ll be difficult to explain the fifteen-year gap in my employment record. Right now I’m working at a local grocery store. The pay isn’t much, and there are no benefits, but we’ll get by.” She stopped for a moment. “I don’t know what I’m going to do about Edward’s medicine. It’s so expensive.” A tear rode down her face. She brushed it away with a finger.
“Did you get health insurance?”
“Not yet. I’ll try to get some kind of policy.”
“I understand.” He tugged on his ponytail. “Gloria, I have something for you.”
She put a hand up. “I won’t accept charity.”
Lowell nodded and sat back in his chair. His admiration for this woman continued to grow. “I wouldn’t offer it. Your husband gave me something to hold for you in case something unexpected happened.”
She looked shocked. “He did?”
“It was actually for Edward, but now it’s for your entire family.”
“What could he have given you?”
“Well, you do know that he was a narcissist, what an astrologer would call a person with 1st house issues, who thought of his offspring as the living extension of himself.”
She nodded. “I took courses in psychology in nursing school.”
He bent down and picked up the brown leather briefcase Williamson had given him weeks before and placed it on the desk in front of her. “Your husband probably assumed there could be some difficulty in his scheme, although I doubt that he expected the results to be what they were. Still, he must have had some trepidation, because he had a contingency plan and left this with me when we first met.”
She held the briefcase. “What is it?”
“Open it.”
She clicked open the latches and sat staring at the crisp hundred-dollar bills. “Oh my God! How much money is this?”
“One million dollars.”
She sat silently for a few moments still staring down at the money. Then she looked at Lowell. “I can’t take this.”
“You must. It’s yours. There are several cases of fraud and theft being brought against your husband’s estate. The justice department has frozen all of his assets and it will take years before anything will be accessible, if it ever is. He may very well have felt that discovery was imminent and put this aside to protect his son. This is the only legacy you are probably going to get from him, and you simply must accept it and use it to help raise your boys. You must think of them first. Edward’s health bills will be enormous, even with insurance.”
“But a million dollars! My God, what am I going to do with so much cash?”
“I suggest you get a safe deposit box and put most of it there. When you need money you’ll go and get it. Some should be invested in an interest-bearing fund, but not enough to trigger an audit.”
“You must take some.”
Lowell waved his hand. “I’ve been handsomely rewarded in this case and I seek nothing more.”
“I don’t know what to say.”
“I’m just glad it all worked out in the end. Do you have a bank account?”
She shook her head. “I was always too afraid he could track me so I never got one.”
“I understand.” He took out a card and handed it to her. “I want you to go see this man at the Chase branch over on Fifty-Third Street. The address is on the card. He’s a friend of mine who will open an account for you and see to it that you have a safe deposit box set up immediately. It’s all been arranged.” He looked at his clock. “He’s expecting you in about thirty minutes.”
“I guess I’d better go grab a bus.”
Lowell chuckled. “Under the circumstances I think it would be prudent to have my driver take you. He’s waiting for you downstairs. I wouldn’t want you to run around the city with a million dollars in cash. He’ll also drive you back to Hartford when you’re done.”
She stood up and came around the desk and hugged Lowell. “I’ll never forget you.”
“Just keep in touch and let me know how the boys are doing.”
“I will. You’re a dear, sweet man and I can never repay you for what you have done for my family.”
She took out a faded Polaroid picture of her holding Kevin and Edward. They couldn’t have been more than a few days old. “I’d like you to have this, if you would. I only have a few pictures of our early life before…” she stopped.
Lowell took the snapshot. “This is incredibly generous, Gloria. I’ll cherish it.”
She smiled and left.