Chapter Seventeen
Emma
I placed the phone on the seat and drummed my fingers on the steering wheel, my insides churning. The checks were sitting on the seat beside me, and I constantly glanced over to ensure that they were indeed real and true. I really had ten thousand dollars sitting there, waiting for me to decide what to do with it. Cooper’s conversation had more or less gone like I expected. He’d said what I thought he would say, that this was a deserved good fortune that had come my way and I should take advantage of it. I just couldn’t fathom why anyone would want to give me that kind of money. I didn’t know this woman and surely she didn’t know my plight. I had never been one to spread my personal gossip around, so unless she knew my father or William personally, there would be no way she could have known how much this money would mean to my family. I had heard of people doing random acts of kindness for strangers, but this was over the top.
I found myself driving down a street that was popular for tourists, seeing all the happy families as they took in their slice of California in the fading afternoon sun. They all looked like they didn’t have a care in the world, their smiling faces causing my heart to ache. I could be that person; I could have that permanent smile on my face if I so chose to. I had caring people around me now. My dad, William, the crew at Keefer’s; they all cared about me. And Cooper. Just the thought of his smiling face made me all weak inside. Cooper cared about me. I could already see a potential future with that man — that kind, caring man.
Still, I thought as I headed toward the bank that I normally did business with, it would be nice never to worry about where the next check was coming from, to be able to go on vacation even. I hadn’t been on vacation since I was little when my dad and mom took me up to Washington to visit the Space Needle. It had been a wonderful trip, but not long after Mom got sick. Within a year, she was gone. A trip would be nice for me and for Dad, but I wouldn’t waste this money on a frivolous vacation, not when I could literally stock up on Dad’s medication and pay for another semester of school so money wouldn’t be so tight anymore. No, this money, for whatever reason it had made its way to me, was going for the greater good. If these checks were real, that is.
Pulling into the bank parking lot, I cut off the engine and took a breath as I grabbed the envelope. Either I was going to be laughed at, maybe arrested, or I was going to walk out ten grand richer. It was time to find out.
* * * * *
Twenty minutes later, I practically fell into my car and leaned against the headrest, my mind still spinning. The checks hadn’t been fake. They had been very real, and I had ten thousand dollars above and beyond my usual pay sitting in my bank account, free to do with as I wished. The manager at the bank insisted that since my name was written on the checks as the payee, there was no reason I should be concerned about the money not being intended for me. She assured me that whoever left me the checks did so knowingly, stating that they would have noticed their mistake after one or two checks.
With real excitement flowing through my veins, I grabbed my phone and looked up the contact for my dad’s pharmacy, dialing the number with shaky fingers.
“Grayson Pharmacy.”
“Jimmy?” I said excitedly, recognizing the pharmacist’s voice that I normally dealt with. “This is Emma Carlson. I want to go ahead and fill my dad’s prescriptions for the next month.”
“Emma, you know I can’t do that,” Jimmy replied with a heavy sigh. “As much as I would like to help you out, I’m afraid you’re already two months behind. I can’t fill any more prescriptions without payment. I’m sorry. I would help if I could, really.”
“Oh no, Jimmy, I have the money,” I blurted out, cranking the engine and pulling out of the bank parking lot. “Please. I promise I can pay this time.”
“It’s almost closing time,” Jimmy reminded me.
“I know, I will be right there,” I said, pulling out in the direction of the pharmacy. “Please, give me ten minutes, Jimmy.”
“How’s your dad?” he asked, suspicion still in his voice.
“He’s in some pain,” I admitted, thinking of the pill bottle that never strayed far from his reach. Not that it mattered at times. He had to be stingy with the medication. He would be so happy not to need to break the tablets in half anymore. As much as I hated for him to do so, it did make the medications last longer. Now, he would haven’t to worry about it for a long while. “I need all of his medications filled, Jimmy.”
“I’ll give you fifteen minutes, Emma,” Jimmy replied, hanging up. I pressed the gas pedal a little harder, my adrenaline pumping. I made it to the pharmacy in ten minutes, pulling up to the first parking spot and snatching my keys from the ignition before running to the door. Jimmy was standing just inside, his surprised expression telling me he hadn’t expected me to make it on time.
“I’m here,” I said breathlessly, holding up my card.
“So you are,” Jimmy replied as he moved behind the counter, placing two white paper sacks in front of him. “Here are the medications. I do hope that you have the money.”
“I have my card right here,” I said, handing it to him over the counter. “It’s good, I swear.”
“You know I’m only supposed to take cash on back payments,” Jimmy said slowly, eyeing the card with some distrust. “It’s store policy, Emma.”
“Oh please, Jimmy,” I begged, pushing the card toward him. “It’s a debit card. The money is there. If it isn’t, the transaction won’t go through and then you just don’t give me the prescriptions. Just think of how happy the manager will be that you closed out my account balance in one swoop.”
Jimmy eyed the card a little longer and then sighed, picking up the plastic in his hand. “It’s only because it’s you, Emma, that I will do this You know how much of an ass George can be about his damned store policies.”
“Thank you, Jimmy,” I grinned, feeling a lightness in my chest for the first time in a long time. I was actually going to be a leg up for once, and I had my mystery big tipper to thank for it. “I really, really appreciate this.”
Jimmy ran the card as I stood there, gripping the bags in my hand.
After I left there, I planned to go pick up some of Dad’s favorite foods and surprise him with an amazing dinner and a new supply of his medication to go with it. I also knew he would have a lot of questions as to where the money had come from, so I already had a plan in motion for that. I had received a bonus at work and, even though I would be lying to him, it was a good kind of lie. If he knew someone had given me ten thousand dollars, he would force me to turn it in. But we needed the money, he needed his medication, and I was fully prepared to take whatever consequences came out of this mystery tip. At least, it had been legit. A small amount missing wasn’t going to completely break me if the check writer came back looking for her checks. I could cover the costs I had pulled out. And even though the bank manager assured me I had nothing to be cautious about, since I had talked with Cooper, putting the money aside for a couple of days felt like the right thing to do. A few days of waiting until I really started to make use of the money was not going to hurt me.
“Alright, Emma, it went through,” Jimmy said, handing me a slip to sign with a smile. “Your balance is back at zero with us.”
“Yay,” I said with a little laugh, signing my name with a flourish at the end before handing it back to him. It felt good to have this off my chest and out of the way. I would have no problems with the pharmacy from there on out, and I intended on making the newfound money stretch as far as I could until I could start replacing it with some of my own.
The little bell over the door sounded and Jimmy looked up, a friendly smile on his face. “I’m sorry, we’re closed for the night. We reopen at nine in the morning.”
“I’m not here to shop.” The voice caused a shiver to run through me as I turned around to see if my ears were playing tricks on me. They were not. Tim’s handsome face was looking at me intently. “I’m here to talk with the lady.”
“What do you want, Tim?” I asked hesitantly, pressing myself against the counter as he started toward me.
“I want to talk to you about your new boyfriend. I finally think I know why you are with Cooper Randall,” he said as he stopped right before me. “The question I kept asking myself over the past couple of weeks is: what does he really have that I don’t? I mean we are like two peas in a pod.”
“What are you talking about?” I asked slowly, not computing his question.
Tim threw his head back and laughed, the sound filling the quiet store. “Oh, come on, Emma. The man’s a billionaire. No wonder you dumped me for the big money. Hell, I can’t really say that I blame you.”