Page 61 of Happy Harbor
After poring over the books for more than an hour, she called the insurance company and sat on hold for a half hour, listening to some of the worst hold music she’d ever heard. Just as she was dozing off with her chin resting in her hand, the house phone rang so loudly that she almost jumped out of her skin. Nana still had a landline in the house, but Josie hadn’t realized it until recently. She was planning to shut it off since she only used her cell phone, but she hadn’t gotten around to it yet. It was on her ever-growing list of things to do.
“Hello?”
“I’m looking for Adeline Campbell, please.” The woman on the other end was markedly Southern, her drawl thicker than Nana’s had been, which was hard to do.
“I’m sorry, but Adeline recently passed away. This is Josie Campbell, her granddaughter.”
“Oh dear, I had no idea she’d passed. Please accept my condolences, sugar.”
“Thank you. What can I help you with?”
“Well, my name is Eunice Whitehead, and I’m with Lowcountry Lending. Your grandmother took out a loan with us a few months ago.”
“She did? I don’t see that in my files anywhere.”
“Then, darlin’, you probably don’t know your grandmother was four months behind on her payments when she passed.”
Josie froze in her seat as her stomach churned.
“Four months?” she finally said.
“Yes, ma’am. I spoke to Adeline a few months back when the first couple of payments were late. She was really trying to get caught up, but nothing ever came. Now I know why, I suppose.”
“I haven’t seen any statements,” Josie said, rummaging around in the stack of mail on Adeline’s credenza. Then she noticed a smaller stack on the corner of the desk, pink papers peeking through the windows on the envelopes. “Oh, wait. I think I see it here.”
“You should have an updated statement there. I show one was mailed just a couple of weeks back.”
Josie opened the most recent one and suddenly felt like she couldn’t breathe. Five figures? “How much time do I have to get caught up?”
“Not much, I’m afraid. You see, Adeline put up the restaurant as collateral. The investors are ready to take it and sell it.”
Josie felt like running out into traffic, but there wasn’t any traffic in Happy Harbor, unless you counted golf carts and mothers walking with expensive strollers.
“I need time.”
“Sweetie, time’s just about up. I can get you two weeks, but that’s about it. I wish I could do more.”
“Only a couple weeks to get four months’ worth of payments? That’s impossible!”
“Again, please accept my sincerest condolences, dear. I know this is an awful time.”
“Even more awful now,” Josie said, slowly hanging up the phone. She sat there, staring out over her nana’s rose garden, and allowed tears to fall for as long as they wanted. She was home alone, after all.
How could Nana have done this? Did her mother know? Where did the money go? Was this why the accounting looked so weird? There were so many questions and not nearly enough answers.
Why did life have to be so dang complicated?
* * *
After calling her mother and letting her know she wouldn’t be in for a while, Josie headed straight to Joe Strand’s office. Surely he had to know something about the situation, since her grandmother seemed to confide in him about a lot of things. And just in case he didn’t, she’d called Ethel Boniface and asked if she could join them as well.
“Hey, Josie,” Joe said when she arrived, a hint of sympathy in his voice. As she followed him to his office, she found Ethel already sitting in one of the two chairs across from his desk.
“Hey. Thanks for meeting me. Hello, Ethel.”
“Hi, Josie. How are you doing, sweetie?”
“Not great. I’m hoping maybe you can shed light on a situation.”
