Page 4 of Weston

Major spent the rest of the afternoon and well into the evening going over books.They’d been right, or Archie had been in saying that this thing with Franklin had been an ongoing thing.As soon as he was ready to call it quits for the day, he’d found the account for Franklin that had several hundred thousand dollars in it, as well as the ledgers on where the money had come from.

Needing to have a good run, he decided that he was going to disband Franklin’s leap.There were only twenty-four people in the leap, six of which was Franklin’s family.Almost as soon as he made it known about the leap, he heard from four of the families asking to go to Archies.Giving them the permission to do so had him thinking that in the next few weeks, the same thing would be happening to the rest of the people.Good for them both was all he could think about.

Getting home that night, he told his mate what he’d found.He knew that she would not say anything to anyone about how he’d taken the advice of Archie but she did point out that Archie might well be better at his job than any other leader he had.She didn’t even cut him any slack when she said he’d be better than him about it as well.It hurt to his core, but she was right.There was a good chance that not only would Archie make a better king, but he’d be a better person for the job all the way around, too.

That night, when he went to bed, he felt the guilt of what had happened right under his nose.He should have paid more attention when people were complaining about Franklin and looked into it.Major knew that Archie would have.Looking out his window as he was closing his curtains, he decided that he was going to groom Archie for his position if it was the las thing he did.A better man needed to be in his place, and soon.

Getting up the next morning, Major was feeling better about his job.He’d not do the things that he’d thought of in the darkness of the night, but he would be a better king.Starting today, he was going to start visiting other leaps if for no reason than it was necessary for his own peace of mind.That alone made him feel like he was doing the right things, things that he should have been doing all along.

It took him until that evening to come to an understanding of himself.He had been lax in his job, and doing something about it made him feel better.Now that he had a plan, a good one, he thought, Major even felt better about his thoughts on the money.He’d use it for good.His ideas of using it for all leaps had him making notes even as he was readying himself for bed that evening.Yes, he thought to himself.He was going to be a king that Archie could be proud of.

~*~

Belinda was excited to have her money returned to her.She didn’t even mind that it was all in cash.It was easier to use but harder to explain.But use it, she did.The first thing she did was to put a downpayment on her own home.She’d been living in a small apartment since moving to the little town, and it was too much for her.Getting herself a little home with two bedrooms felt right.Also, she had enough of a yard that she would have herself a garden come spring.Something that she had missed since her family had been killed.

Walking home from work, she saw Danny, Sandy’s soon-to-be ex-husband, coming out of the local store with several bags of something.Standing in front of him when he stopped at a curb, she asked him what he was doing.

“Not that it’s any of your business, but I’m buying myself a treat.I’ve been stuck in that crummyhouse for two days, and I need something to do.”She told him to get a job.“I will not.I have a wife who works, and that’s going to change soon enough, too.Sandy is going to have my baby soon, and we’ll be living in the high life with the money that we get from Rogen when she buys out our part in the business.”

“She is not going to have your baby.You’ve been told several times that you’re not her mate and she won’t have your baby.”He told her that was an old wives tale.“No, it’s the truth.As for the business, Rogen won’t have to buy her out because they’re partners, splitting everything down the middle.If Sandy leaves, then all the business will go to Rogen.It’s in their contract that they split everything down the middle, including costs and pay.”

“I’m getting me an attorney.”She told him good luck with that.“You’re always so mean to me.What did I ever do to you that has you hating me so much?”

“Several things come to mind.One of them being that you’re a lazy fuck.Where do you get off spending Sandy’s hard-earned money when she’s trying to make ends meet?”He told her his opinion on that.“So you set up a charge at the store in the name of the Sheppards?You can’t do that, you idiot.I’m going to take care of that right now.”

She saw Weston coming toward her and told him what was going on.Making Danny turn over the bags while standing there, she went with Weston to take the things back to the store.He made it known that the Sheppards weren’t going to be footing the cost for anything that wasn’t business-related for the Watsons nor, as it turned out, for the Martins either.Weston didn’t find it funny, but she did when Weston tried to explain to Danny about children as well.The man was a moron, just as she’d been told about him since he married Sandy.

“What do you say about firing Sandy so that the two of us can hang around here in the house while the others work?”Weston asked him why he’d do that.“Because I’m bored, and since you hired us to make some business in your town, the least you could do is pick up the tab while I’m here.”

“No.”She nearly burst out laughing when Weston told him no.The man was good at it, too.He never felt the need to explain why he didn’t want to do whatever it was, but just simply said he wasn’t going to do it no matter what he said.“Not that you’ll have any luck from now on but don’t be charging things to accounts your ass isn’t able to cover.And so you’re aware, if, for any reason, Sandy quits, she’ll be out of a house and income.I read over the contracts like you should have done.No work means no pay.”

Belinda met up with her family later that afternoon.Telling them what had happened about Danny had them all laughing, including Sandy.She felt sorry for her sister-in-law.Being in a loveless marriage was hard on people.As soon as she left to go back to her own home, her new home, Belinda began knitting her first blanket in a very long time.

By the time she was ready for bed, she’d gotten nearly fifty rows finished and a start on the pretty little baby’s blanket that she decided to do for Wrangler and his wife.While she didn’t know the sex of the baby, the first scents of her being with child had her wishing for her own family again.

Benson had been a good man and a great father.They’d met when she’d been barely a baby and him being ten years old.Knowing that they were mates their entire lives had made them not just husband and wife but best friends as well.When their first child had been born, Benny, she thought that the world was the best place a person could have been.Then Sarah had come along, and life was suddenly perfect for the four of them.

After five years, they decided to have another child.She’d been out with her own family, her parents dying not long after her own family for her father’s birthday.The kids who had been playing in their pool all evening were too exhausted to go with her so Benson had stayed home with them.He had thought to make things romantic for the two of them and had lit candles all over their bedroom that night.

She’d been gone all evening, having only to come home to a fully engulfed home and her family gone.It still, to this day, broke her to think about it.If only she’d made them come with her, they might well all be alive.When her phone rang, she nearly didn’t answer it.

“I can feel your pain.”Bursting into tears, she spoke to Rogen when she answered.Telling her that it wasn’t as bad as the first few months but that there were times when she just couldn’t function.Like tonight.“I’m so sorry you hurt.When I think about my big brother being gone, I can’t help but think about Benny or Sarah, either.I’m so sorry, honey.”

They talked for hours, and it wasn’t until Rogen told her that she was nearly to her house that she remembered that she’d been finishing the house they’d been working on before leaving there.The house was finished now, and all the things that went into building a new house were completed before they could leave.Rogen was going to be staying with her for the duration of the contract to help the other leap, and she couldn’t have been happier.At midnight, the two of them were crying in their popcorn, talking about all the things that had happened since the death of her brother and Belinda’s family.

“Once, when Benson was younger, before you two got married, he told me that he was going to have himself a bachelor pad and never come out of it to date anyone.Mom thought that he was insane and had that look on her face like she didn’t believe it either.Being the oldest, Benson had this weird code of conduct that the rest of us would laugh at all the time.He actually used to tell me that he was going to go on each of my dates to scare men away.Like I date all that much now.”She told her that she should be dating.“No thanks.In my line of work, I see all kinds of human couples and their stupid fights.It would just like the fates to give me a human mate so that he’d turn out to be just like Danny.”

“Danny was never the right person for Sandy.Even before they started dating, I could see what an ass he was.”Rogen said that she’d forgotten that she’d known the other man.“Yes.We were in some classes together in high school.Even then, he was forever trying to get out of work by being sly.”

“We all tried to warn her, but it’s going to work out fine in the end.He’ll be stupid enough that someone will have to kill his ass, then he’ll be gone.”She told her about the game system that he’d tried to charge to the Sheppard’s account.“You know, that doesn’t surprise me in the least bit.He would think that it was all right that he’d be able to do something like that.”

After a time, it was bedtime for her as she had to work in the morning.Rogen said that she had a meeting with Archie in the morning about some things that had come up in the local pack and was having her usual breakfast with Sandy, too.

“You should join us.It’ll be fun to have you around.”She said that Weston was going to be at the meeting too and that she needed to open the offices.“I forgot about you working again.I’m glad you are.”

She didn’t mention the extra money that she had that would have made it so that she’d not have to work so hard as she’d been asked not to do.But when Rogen hugged her, telling her that if she needed any extra money to let her know, she told her what was going on.

“That’s wonderful.I’ll take that off my list of things to talk to Archie about when I see him.I was going to be a bitch about it, so thanks for letting me know.”Belinda told her how she’d purchased the house with the extra income and was going to be saving a great deal of money by not having to pay for the extra fines.“They’re not going to be charging us for staying here either.Not to mention providing housing for us.I heard that Toby and Rachel are having a wonderful time while here with the kids.”

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