“Right,” she said, with a sigh. “I mean, if he’d even offered me a decent amount when he first kicked me out, I would have been okay with that.”
“The thing is, what you consider a decent amount and what I consider a decent amount and what I know you’ll need for the rest of your life are all different. He is wealthy,” Nick stated quietly. “As in mega-megawealthy. To give you enough to live on for the rest of your life, he wouldn’t even note the lack of it. He would have absolutely no problem financially giving you several million dollars.”
She froze in her tracks. “Seriously?”
“Absolutely. And that’s the thing. The judge will see that as well, and he will make sure that you’re well taken care of.”
She gasped. “Oh my God, I think he’d try to kill me over that much for sure.”
There was silence on the other end of the phone. “Now that wouldn’t make anybody happy,” Nick finally said. “But you do have direct access to Mack, and, if at any time you feel threatened or in danger, don’t hesitate to speak to him.” He paused. He didn’t get any response from her. “Doreen? Promise me.”
She knew she should do this. “I promise. I will contact Mack if I’m scared.”
“Good,” Nick said, blowing out a breath. “At the same time, I don’t want you to buckle under his threats. He is a bully, as you well know.”
“Has he threatened anybody yet?” she asked. “Like you?”
“You ask that like it’s a guaranteed reaction.”
“If you could lose millions of dollars, and you thought you already had the divorce matter sewn up …” She stopped, not sure how to get Nick to understand.
“Well, that’ll be another reason—two, three reasons—why the judge doesn’t go easy on him,” he added. “Besides his greed and failure to disburse marital assets, plus the improper lawyer conduct in reaching the original divorce settlement, which the judge will hear all about, there is also your husband’s physical and verbal abuse of you during said marriage, his marital affair, even stalking you here.”
“Oh my. Look. I don’t, … I don’t even know what to say,” she replied, as she started walking again.
“Well, just let me handle it, and we’ll see if we can get your husband to bring in a decent offer. Because he will know, especially with his new lawyer’s advice, what’ll happen in the court, so I suspect he’ll come up with a much healthier offer for you. I’ll keep you apprised.” And Nick hung up.
She slowly pocketed her phone. But it was a bit much to consider that a judge would let her have millions of dollars. She still thought of it as his money, mostly because he had always made it clear to her that it was his money. And yet, as Nick reminded her, they’d been married for fourteen years. She deserved something from that. Doreen shook her head. “I was an idiot and a fool,” she said out loud, “but I don’t want to be a fool anymore.”
She also didn’t want to take what wasn’t hers rightfully, and, because of the way he had kept her so enmeshed, so controlled, so verbally belittled during their marriage, it was hard for her to see if any of it was hers or if she was entitled to any of it. But to consider that he can give away that kind of money and not have it hurt him in any way, shape, or form financially, well, that was a bit too greedy for her. The least he could do was share.
But this man didn’t have a generous bone in his body. In his mind, it was his money, and she wasn’t entitled to any of it.
She arrived at Nan’s, still confused and off-center. As she stepped onto the small patio, she heard voices inside.
Chapter 16
Doreen stepped inside, calling out, “Hey, Nan.”
Nan bounded to her feet from the couch. “There you are,” she said. “How nice to see you and the animals.”
Doreen gave her grandmother a hug. Then Nan had to pet all the animals. Doreen noted an older woman sitting on a chair. She smiled at her. “Hi. I’m Doreen, Nan’s granddaughter.”
The woman looked at her and gave her a beaming smile. “She talks so much about you,” she said warmly. “I’m Peggy. I work in the kitchen here. I’m just taking a few minutes to get off my feet.” She waved at her obviously swollen ankles.
Doreen took one look and winced. “Ouch, they look very sore.”
“They are,” she confirmed. “My doctor wants me to get a different job, and I just want to retire. But, hey, neither one of us will get what we want. So there it is.”
“I’m sorry.” Doreen nodded. “I certainly know what it’s like to not have enough money.”
At that, Peggy stared at her and asked, “But do you?”
The money conversation was guaranteed to upset people either way, so Doreen backtracked. “Obviously each situation is different. I hope you come up with a solution soon.”
“I thought I had a solution,” she added, with a heavy sigh, “but it wasn’t to be.” Peggy looked over at Doreen. “Nan probably won’t want to share,” she teased, “but I did bring over some almond croissants.”
And Doreen’s nose twitched, as she could smell it. “Oh, wow. The food here’s been absolutely marvelous. Anytime I’ve had a chance to try it, I love it.” She winced, looking over at Nan, realizing that Doreen probably shouldn’t say anything about all the food that she was getting here.
“Oh, that’s nice of you to say,” Peggy replied. “We do work hard in the kitchens. Sometimes the recipes work better than others, but most of the time we can hit everybody’s favorite dishes without too much trouble.” She chuckled. “I understand Nan gave you some assorted croissants the other day.”
“Oh, yes, she did. I hope that doesn’t get her into trouble.”
“Oh no, not at all,” Peggy said.
Nan got up and announced, “I’ll go put on the teakettle. Peggy brought a few treats with her, so we’ll sit outside and have them.”
“That was very nice of you,” Doreen told Peggy, as Nan disappeared. She looked over at the other woman. “I know my grandmother gets quite lonely here sometimes,” she mentioned in a lowered voice. “So thank you for taking the time to visit.”
Peggy nodded, a conspiratorial look on her face. “That’s all right. We look after one another in this place,” she said gently. “Your nan’s a beautiful person.”
“She really is,” Doreen agreed. “She’s got a heart of gold too.”
And, with that, Nan popped back in again. “Let’s sit out on the patio.”
As they got up, Peggy looked at Nan and asked, “Where are the cookies I gave you?”
Nan flushed. “I ate them for breakfast,” she admitted. She rubbed her hands together. “Chrissy gave me that wonderful little bowl,” she said, “I put them in there. And then I scarfed them.”
“What little bowl?” Doreen asked Nan.
She looked at her, walked over to the cupboard, pulled it out, and said, “This one. It’s more of a large sugar bowl, but it’s just perfect for a couple cookies too.”