Page 8 of The Beachside Cafe 6
“I’m going to have to think about it,” she said. “I’ll talk to my daughter and… get back to you.”
“That’s fine. And take as long as you need. The money is only sitting there gaining interest hand over fist. If you aren’t using it, it will grow to be quite a nest egg.”
Jaymee’s eyebrows shot up. “Grow? Grow to be a nest egg?” she laughed. “You have a good sense of humor, John. I’ll call you back tomorrow when I’m not in shock by all this. And after I get a chance to talk to Cheyenne. I’ll talk to her later today and call you back.”
“Sounds good. And by the way, Jaymee,” John said. “He really did care about you. I want you to know that. He may have not shown it like he should have but he never spoke badly of you or your daughter. I knew how much he doted on his daughter. Give her my condolences on all that has happened, will you?”
“I will. Talk to you tomorrow.”
“All right. Good bye.”
“Bye.”
Jaymee pressed the end button on her phone and tossed it gently on the coffee table. She continued to stare at it for a moment, lost in thought.
“That’s an enormous amount of money, Jaymee,” Cameron said, leaning forward and setting his own phone down next to hers. He turned his head to look at her directly. “What are you going to do? Like he said, you can’t give it back to them. That would be ridiculous.”
“Yes, it would,” Jaymee said. “But I’m going to talk to Cheyenne and get her take on this first before I make a decision.”
SIX
Cheyenne and Alex came through the front doors laughing about something. They were both speaking at the same time and finishing the joke between them together. Jaymee twisted her upper body and looked at the open kitchen door.
“In here, kids!” she called out and immediately regretted it. It was likely Alex didn’t take kindly to being called a “kid” at his age.
The two came around the corner and into the kitchen together, pretending they couldn’t both fit through the door together, though it was a wider door than most. They each had a foot between them and the wall but it didn’t stop them from squeezing through as if the passageway was narrow.
“Good afternoon, Mother!” Cheyenne said, excitedly. The smile on her face was refreshing to see. Since they’d found the body of her father, Cheyenne had been in mourning, trying to rid herself of the grief by spending more time at her childhood home and with Alex.
“Good afternoon, Mother,” Alex repeated what she’d said, dropping a wink at Jaymee while smiling from ear to ear.
“It’s good to see you both.” Jaymee took the towel from the oven door handle and wiped her hands, going around the island to give her daughter a quick hug and a kiss on the cheek. “My darling girl. And a good looking guy with her. Not bad.”
They all laughed as Jaymee gave a hug to Alex.
“Where’s my man?” Alex asked, slapping himself on the belly and leaning back to look out into the foyer, tilting his head this way and that like a chicken.
“He’s in the living room. Probably watching the stock market or something. Sometimes he is very boring.”
Cheyenne let out a bark of laughter that prompted the same from Jaymee and Alex.
“Cameron is never boring, Mom. You know that’s a lie. Don’t lie like that. Sheesh.”
Alex left the two women and they could hear his laughter out in the hallway.
Once he was gone, Jaymee felt comfortable to say why she’d called her daughter there for dinner.
“I didn’t just ask you here for dinner because I miss you, Chey,” Jaymee said, pulling out one of the stools that sat around the island and sitting on it. She gestured to the one next to her with her towel and Cheyenne sat down, giving her mother a curious look.
“What is it, Mom? You look a little stressed. I haven’t seen you look like this since you were investigating Dad’s disappearance.”
Jaymee nodded, admiring how in tune her daughter was.
“I am feeling stressed, Cheyenne. I want to talk to you about something and I’m not going to make a decision without your input. Not on something like this.”
Cheyenne took on a serious expression and nodded. “What is it, Mom?”
“This morning I received a package from overseas. In it was a DVD, a letter and a jewelry box. Also a business card. It was from a man named Captain John Hastings, who is currently living in Puerto Rico. He’s the American Ambassador there. Apparently, there is a bank there that… well, all of your dad’s victims sent their money to that bank. He’s the accountant who took care of it.”
