Page 9 of Persuading Penny
“Right.” I went to the side table where my father had left the documents. I handed him a pen and fanned out the pages. “This is to authorize this payment from this bank account every first of the month.”
He signed on the line.
“And this is to authorize the cleaning deposit from the same bank account.”
He again signed.
“And this last one states that you understand what parts of the house you have access to or not.”
He nodded. “All good.” He signed.
I looked at the three signatures. “Richard Healy?”I said, suddenly interested in who he really was.
“That’s right.”
“Where in the States are you from?”
“Illinois,” he said. “I grew up in Effingham and now live just outside Chicago.”
“Really?”I said. “Effingham?”
“Yeah. It’s a small town in the central/southern part of Illinois.”
“Right.”I said, my memory working overtime. “Do you have any siblings?”
He looked at me with a curious gaze. “As a matter of fact, I do. An older sister, Riley and a kid brother, Cliff.”
“Cliff,” I muttered to myself.
“What was that?”
“Oh, nothing,” I said.
“In fact,” Richard went on. “If all goes well, Cliff should be joining us here in a few weeks.”
A silent gasp escaped me. “No,” I said softly.
“Is there a problem?”
“Um.” I looked through the documents he’d just signed. “Wasn’t there something in here about the number of people who can stay here?”
“I don’t think so,” he said. “No one mentioned anything about that.”
He was right.There was nothing about that.
Either way, it didn’t change anything, I thought. I wouldn’t be passing by to check in...or would I? Should I?
He suddenly seemed uncomfortable as he sensed my distress. He pointed up the stairs. “I’m going to go join them.”
“Right. Yes.” I looked around and my gaze fell on my suitcase. “I’ll leave you then. If you have any questions, if there’s anything you don’t understand, or can’t find, you know how to contact us.”
“I have all your numbers right here,” he said, showing me his phone.
“Perfect.” I picked up my suitcase and opened the door. “Have a nice stay.”
I left them and headed to my car as my eyes quickly filled with heartbroken and confused tears.
Cliff. Cliff Healy. Was it a decade ago that I last saw him?
