The Orphan Daughter by Cari Noga

Author:Cari Noga [Noga, Cari]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781503901322
Publisher: Lake Union Publishing
Published: 2018-05-07T22:00:00+00:00

Chapter 32

JANE

It’s been almost a week since the storm, and I still haven’t filed an insurance claim on the roof repair. The big question is whether it’ll be worth it. I doubled the deductible to twenty-five hundred dollars after Jim left, and I had to cut costs by any means necessary.

But when I pick up the phone to call in the claim, the message tone beeps, and William Langley’s formal voice fills my ear. “Mrs. McArdle, William Langley in New York. I have some news on the apartment. Please call at your earliest convenience.”

That could be good news for my roof repair bill. Of course, the money’s to be spent on Lucy’s behalf, but since the gash in the roof is right over her room, I’d say fixing it qualifies.

“Mrs. McArdle,” he says, after the same cool assistant connects me.

“Jane, remember?” Mrs. McArdle hasn’t existed for five years.

“Yes. Well. Jane, then. How is Lucy?”

“She’s fine.”

“Settling in well?”

I sit down at the kitchen counter, contemplating the question. Didn’t voluntarily leave the house for weeks except on piggyback. She still spends hours with her earbuds and phone. On the other hand, she and Jared seem to have hit it off. She’s showing a faint interest in the farm, even if she won’t admit it. Lexie’s runaway attempts illustrate acclimation, and now the stepping stumps have empowered Lucy. Going out to the barn today was a huge step.

“There’s been some adjustment, but I think she’s making progress.”

“Good. Very good. That’s the most important thing, after all.”

His last words raise an antenna. “After all” is a justification.

“Every girl should have a sister, after all.”

“After all, you still have your son.”

“Matt’s grown up and on his own, after all.”

“You have news about the apartment?” I say.

“Yes. The apartment has sold.”

“That’s wonderful!” I sit more upright, unknown weight sliding off my shoulders. Roof repair, therapy for Lucy.

“However, in the process of arranging the closing, I discovered unknown financial obligations.”

The antenna flickers up on my unease meter. “What do you mean, exactly?”

“A second mortgage. A rather substantial one, taken out more recently.” He pauses. “One that the proceeds from the apartment were insufficient to cover.”

“You mean they were—” I search for the word, trying to remember it from all the housing-crisis stories on NPR a year or two ago. “Underwater?”

“That’s correct. The estate, however, was also in possession of the payout of the life insurance policies, both the network’s and their personal ones. Those assets have offset the debt.”

Why can’t he speak plain English? “The life insurance paid off the second mortgage.”

“Yes.”

“And how much is left for Lucy?”

“Unfortunately, very little.” He clears his throat. “Actually, the jewelry that Gloria bequeathed directly to her daughter constitutes her largest asset from the estate.”

“The jewelry I brought back in April? That’s all that’s left?”

“If it wasn’t already in your possession, I believe that, too, could have been lost.”

In other words, Mrs. McArdle, things could be worse. After all.

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