Hometown Family by Mia Ross

Author:Mia Ross
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Steeple Hill
Published: 2012-03-25T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter Eight

Monday morning dawned early, but all the Sawyers gathered around the kitchen table for breakfast while the kids were still asleep. After a bracing swallow of Marianne’s high-octane coffee, Matt told John and the girls what he’d discovered last night. Then he sat back and looked at each of them, trying to gauge the impact of what he’d said. Although he’d spent a restless night going through the options, he still hadn’t made up his mind about what to do. He was counting on their reactions to help him make the toughest decision of his life.

At first, all he got was dead silence. The three of them traded pained looks, obviously trying to come to terms with what he’d said.

As he’d expected, Marianne spoke first. She was the self-appointed mother hen of the family, always practical when it came to the farm. “I don’t understand. I do the books, and I had no idea. I mean, things are tight, but that’s nothing new. How could he manage to do something like this?”

“He used his salary to make the payments on the loans. From what Caty and I saw, he didn’t make a dime the last five years.”

Frowning, Lisa asked, “Do you think the stress from all these financial problems caused his heart attack?”

Matt hadn’t considered that, but it would make sense. Their father was one for keeping bad things to himself to avoid worrying the rest of them. Keeping all that bottled up couldn’t be healthy.

It made him appreciate the fact that for the first time he could remember, he had someone to take some of the load off him. He knew he could trust Caty to handle the banks, while he walked his family through the mess their father had left behind.

Because they were all still shaken by the whole thing, Matt kept it vague. “We won’t ever know that, I guess. The question is, what do we do now?”

“Are we gonna lose the farm?” John asked very quietly.

“Not in this lifetime,” Matt promised him with more confidence than he felt. The irony of it didn’t escape him. Just last night, he’d pretty much told Caty he was ready to sell the place and take off. He wasn’t sure what had happened, but during the night, something had changed.

“If you, John and I pool the money Dad left us, we could pay off most of the debt,” Lisa suggested. “The kids would still have theirs.”

“You can have mine,” John agreed quickly. “I don’t really need it for anything.”

“I thought of that, too, but we won’t get that money until next year.” Still, their willingness to share the pain took some of the burden off him, and he smiled proudly at them. “I appreciate the offer, though.”

“We might need it later,” John pointed out. “I won’t buy that Ferrari I’ve had my eye on, just in case,” he added with a grin.

Grateful to him for easing the tension, Matt couldn’t help grinning back.

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