Chapter 3

Oh, my God, did I have a lot of studying I needed to do. I looked into personalities, submissive and authoritarian, how they fit together, how to make sure to do it right. Thankfully, I did it. The studying, that is. I couldn’t believe what I learned in just that next week, but I learned it, just the same. Plus, I had her to help guide me, so I knew we’d live through it.

The life insurance was to be paid out into accounts set up by Dad’s accountants, just to keep it safe. Most accounts aren’t insured for the kind of money that was coming in. There were multiple accounts; savings, checking, investments, and the like. None were at risk. However, with that safety net, all were on a very, very slow track to making any money for the time being. Safe, but not productive. You generally don’t get both.

The appointment with the lawyer went pretty much as I expected with a couple of twists. I didn’t know the plane was paid for, and owned by the family, outright. I thought it was the company’s. Nope, it was Mom and Dad’s. Well, mine. It had another five years or thousand hours on engine and airframe maintenance plans, paid for up front, as well. That plan included all the required inspections. Wow.

The company was also completely turned over to me, Dad’s fifty-five percent and Mom’s forty-five percent both willed to me, as I had no siblings. There was talk that Dad did, but I knew of no factual evidence of that. I was now President, CEO, Principal, Owner, and every other descriptor of being in charge of a multibillion-dollar international company. I was going to need help. I mentioned that out loud.

“We’re here, Charlie. Your father doesn’t expect you to step in overnight and be able to do everything right. The five of us have been helping him or your grandfather for between five and thirty-five years. You are going to be fine, and we’ll see to it.” That was Tom Bosnell, the Vice President for Operations. He was the one with thirty-five years at Cardin, Incorporated.

“Now,” George said, “You gentlemen can leave if you like. We have one more thing to discuss with Charlie and Miss Swanson, then the world will continue to turn as it has for ... Well, forever, I guess.”

Each of the managers came to me, introduced themselves, making sure I remembered them from the past, which I had, all but one. The HR manager reminded me a bit of my third-grade teacher. If someone told me I had to go back to school, with all the same teachers, I wouldn’t do it. I’d refuse. It would be because of Mrs. Anderson. No thanks. I won’t do that again. Cheryl Whitley stuck a pencil in my thigh that year as well, but it was Mrs. Anderson that turned me against the third grade. The #2 lead from the yellow Ticonderoga stayed there, and I can see the black spot on my leg to this day, but it was Mrs. Anderson that caused me to remember the bad times that year. Oh, yeah. HR. Ickkkkk. I laughed inside as I remembered those things.

They all left telling me they’d see me when I returned from Maryland in a few weeks.

“Miss Swanson, there are actually two separate actions in your part of the will. Are you ready?”

“Of course, George.”

“First and foremost, as executor of their will and monies allotted for such things, you are to let me, or one of my partners know of any educational endeavor you follow. Your parents have been notified already, and we all understand that they, or you, could afford whatever you wanted to pursue, but Caroline was adamant that it would be her that paid for your education, as far as you want to take it. There is no limit. As long as the course of instruction is accredited, and it doesn’t matter by whom, as long as it is legitimate, it is to be paid for by Caroline Cardin’s irrevocable trust.

“Second, falling more in line with what has happened to young master Charles today, you are bequeathed the sum of two hundred and fifty thousand dollars, cash, unencumbered by taxes, to be placed into an account with you and only you as the authorized owner. We are not on that account to help manage it, once you receive the transferred funds, but if you need help, please let us know. You can change any of that after it is settled, but that is her wish at the outset.