Chapter 12

I woke up in the middle of the night with a single thought on my mind "Lizzie Steven!" I said as I sat up in bed. Samantha woke up next to and sat up as well,.

"Who's Lizzie Stevens?", she yawned

"Pastor Stevens' wife ... I mean widow"

"The woman who was driving the van behind your parents?

I nodded. "They had to sedate her"

"Paul, I don't want to be insensitive ... but what does that have to do with you?"

"She doesn't have any family"

Samantha nodded slowly as she started to understand, "So when she's no longer sedated, they'll send in another lawyer and have her sign some bullshit settlement"

"Exactly"

Samantha lay back down and spooned up next to me, "I'm on it babe"

The next day, Samantha went down to the courthouse and filed an injunction preventing the chain store or any of its proxies from approaching Elizabeth Stevens for the duration of her stay in the hospital and for a period of one month afterwards. She'd made some calls to find a sympathetic judge who signed the injunction the minute he heard the name of the company. Then she went to the hospital and spoke to the minister telling him about the injunction and why. He was furious that the company had swooped in and gotten settlement agreements from the relatives of the other two members of his congregation that were killed along with my family and his youth minister. The pastor, who had written me off as a lost sheep long ago expressed his gratitude to Samantha and how thankful he was that The Lord saw fit to bring her into my life.

"Maybe, you're just the thing he needs to bring him back to God", he said patting her arm

Remembering my preferred expositions when cumming down her throat or in her ass, Samantha smiled back and said, "He talks about God a lot when we're together"

"Hallelujah", beamed the pastor

"Amen", smiled Samantha

Her next stop was to my parents' attorney and insurance agent. She was able to find out their names from the pastor who offered them up as they were fellow members of the congregation. Samantha didn't have to produce death certificates or proof of my being the only living heir. Both the attorney and the insurance agent were on the trip and wept as they related to Samantha how they'd prayed as they watched my family being loaded up in ambulances and taken away. Both assured her that they would do what they could now trusting that she would provide the necessary documents later. She obtained copies of my father's will, and estimate of the estate as well as a copy of my fathers' insurance policy.

After she and Jane went over the documents and compared notes, she came to me with a legal pad and sat down on the couch.

"You up for this?" She asked

I nodded. Samantha flipped through some pages and began.

"Your parents' house has a two hundred thousand dollar mortgage on it which will be paid off by a mortgage cancellation policy your dad took out when he bought it. Current market value is about a quarter million"

She flipped to another page

"Your dad had a three hundred thousand dollar life insurance policy on himself and a hundred and fifty thousand on your mom. In addition, there was a college fund in each of your names"

"What?" I asked ... nobody had mentioned anything to me about a college fund when I left home. Samantha could see me getting angry and put her hand on my arm.

"Paul, everyone does things they regret. When you're father and mom came to see you in the hospital, he told me how much he regretted missing those years in your life and how he hated himself for his pride. I knew about your college fund but he made me promise to keep it a secret. He wanted to give you a check when you came to visit so you could pay off your student loans"

Tears welled up in me and I grabbed Samantha by the shoulders and looked into her eyes

"You swear to me that you're not making this up just to make me feel better"

The look on Samantha's face was all the assurance I really needed. "I swear", she said.

Seeing me relax, Samantha turned back to her notes

"There was seventy five thousand in your fund and forty in each of your sisters' funds. Altogether there is six hundred and forty-five thousand dollars in insurance to which you are sole beneficiary"

"Is that everything?"

"Aside from the furnishings in the house and personal belongings, yes"

I nodded, "so the estate was worth?

"Everything included, just over nine hundred thousand dollars. Probate shouldn't be a problem. Your father was very organized"

I nodded again, got up, walked into the bedroom, sat down on the bed and started to cry. I didn't even know why I was crying ... there were just tears in me that I needed to get out. I stopped crying after about fifteen minutes and just sat there with my eyes closed. I don't know how long I sat there on the bed ... maybe an hour. I slowly became aware that I wasn't alone in the room and opened my eyes.

There, kneeling before me and looking at me in silent adoration was Samantha, Jane, and Maria. I looked into their eyes and started crying again. The rushed to me to comfort me. When I regained my composure, I hugged and kissed each of them and remarked.

"I've had a hell of a month"

The funeral was two days later. Samantha, Jane, and Maria had taken care of everything including a new suit and tie laid out for me on the bed. We all sat together on the front bench dressed in black. I barely registered what was said, I just went through the motions shaking hands with the members of the congregation who passed by offering condolences. Lizzie Stevens was out of the hospital and came to the funeral dressed in a black dress that, while modest, could not completely hide her curves. Considering what she'd been through, she looked wonderful ... just slightly lost. I remembered how much she had depended upon Pastor Stevens.

Lizzie was the last in a long line, when it was her turn to express her condolences, she kept her eyes cast down and, in a barely audible whisper, told me how grateful she was that I'd taken the trouble to have Samantha intervene in her behalf. She confided quietly to me that she was well taken care of because of my wonderful fiance. Just as she turned to leave, she stopped and said, "Paul, it would mean alot to me if you would be one of the pall-bearers at David's funeral tomorrow"

"I'd be honored", I said ... but surely there are tons of...

Lizzie shook her head, "You were special to him" She started weeping and moved along.