Chapter 3

We cuddled just like we were for little while longer. Eventually Tara sprang from the bed like she was infused with a bundle of energy. We silently agreed to share the shower and bathroom. We both took care to avoid being naked in front of each other. Still it was fun to play like man and wife for a few minutes, knowing it was harmless.

By the time our showers and other basic activities were complete it was apparent that Tara was comfortable in such an intimate setting with me and Mr. Johnson nearby. She was just not comfortable enough to want me to see her naked, even though I’d touched her intimately. That morning grope was thoroughly accidental, but it lit the fires of desire in me and I think it did the same for her. We’d get there and if we got there without any pressure from me, she would be calmer, happier and a better partner for it. Running back and forth in bra and panties seemed perfectly fine to her, so it looked like we would move the ball ahead a little bit at a time. I liked looking at Tara in her lingerie. She was exquisite.

Whatever came from our sudden openness would take time before it was what it would be. Tara was going to be a long term project and I hoped a long term lover. When she hip bumped me out of the way so she could use the mirror, I knew we’d soon be more than we were, especially since I was wearing only a towel at the time. For two people so unaccustomed to any level of intimacy we felt right together. There were two other young women in our lives that would have something say about our new relationship, but I was certain without knowing why, that it wouldn’t turn into a problem for us, or them.

Cary and Edwina had breakfast ready when we put in our appearance and confronted us immediately. “You two seem awfully chummy today,” Edwina quipped, seeing Tara’s smile. “I’d say you two were ‘cavorting,’ as Connie would put it.” She was being playful, not spiteful and it was received that way.

Edwina switched to imitating Connie’s displeasure voice. “Young lady, you will act like a perfect lady. None of that running around with fast boys, riding in fast cars and going with boys to some local lover’s lane, or cheap motel...” Cary laughed until she had a coughing fit while Tara stood there and blushed. Nobody seemed to notice that I said nothing and acted as if everything was as normal as could be.

Just as we finished breakfast and got the kitchen cleaned up, all three girls disappeared upstairs to become presentable. By the time they were done primping for company a car was coming down our lane. “There’s Kelvin,” Cary called out as she tromped down the stairs. It seemed our family lawyer had arrived with the bad news.

Kelvin Ulmer was what one would call, ordinary. He was about five-foot seven, one-hundred and fifty five pounds, with brown hair and brown eyes. His appearance was ... unremarkable in every way. He hauled a large filo-flex out of the backseat of his average Chevrolet Impala and walked to me with his right hand out to shake.

“Good to see you awake and well, Michael,” was his greeting. He neither hurried, nor held back. He even moved at an average pace. Tara, Edwina and Cary retreated upstairs to give us privacy to deal with Ed and Connie’s final issues.

“We have a number of issues to attend to, while I here, so I hope you have some time to work on this,” he was all business in an average businessman kind of way. “You parent’s will was short and sweet. Michael you inherited everything and there is more to everything than you might imagine.

“Tara was kind enough to get me your father’s employment information so I could notify them of his accident. The company held a two-hundred thousand dollar policy in Ed’s name and I filed all the requisite papers as soon as the county issued death certificates. What surprised me was discovering that your father chose to add on an identical policy covering your mother.

“John Hancock issued two checks, totaling four-hundred thousand dollars each because of double indemnity in both cases. They were made to you as back up beneficiary. The checks were deposited in an account that you already have access to, as I dealt with the paperwork with your bank last week.” Kelvin Ulmer might look average, but he certainly got right to work on Michael’s behalf when his parents were killed. “The account earns five percent interest and on eight-hundred thousand dollars, that account will earn three-thousand three hundred and thirty three dollars a month until you do something else with it.

“You father’s company also co-owns a handful of patents with your father and they will continue to pay his royalties, which should total about another eighteen to twenty thousand a quarter for as long as those patents are active. They did hand over a check for just over thirty-nine thousand dollars for accrued vacation and royalties.

“The bank holds no mortgage on the farm. Your father paid it off two years ago and I have a copy of the notarized lien release here for your files. If you need help setting up a filing system, let me know and I will send my little sister, Helen, over to give you a hand.

“We also checked to make sure that the company who owned the truck that hit you was properly insured, licensed and that their driver was appropriately licensed. That’s where we ran into a couple of problems.” He dug through his file and came out with a manila envelope.

“Yount, Tucker and Company has a poor safety record and the driver who hit you was driving on a suspended license.” That hit me like a ton of bricks, and Kelvin picked up on it. “Yep ... I will be filing a blizzard of lawsuits against them as soon as you sign a set of documents giving me power of attorney to represent you and your aunts.

“Speaking of your aunts, we need them present for the next part of this.” he waited while I went upstairs and asked them to join us.

“Ladies, Ed and Connie added a couple of peculiar additions to their will. Ed was almost prescient when he had me add a clause that looks after your basic needs for as long as you remain in the family home and look after the surviving children, or in this case, surviving child. Connie was emphatic that her children not be set adrift, without family should they be taken before the boys were fully grown and on their own.

“The stipend pays for all expenses relative to your education and gives each you a one-hundred dollar per week spending money. There was a special bank account opened and far more than is necessary has been deposited in it to cover your schooling and the weekly stipend. Michael was named executor of their wills and the trust account. If you want to continue to live comfortably in this lovely home, all you have to do is stay on Michael’s good side and help while he fully heals and recovers from losing both parents and little brother.” Ed took a breath and waited for their reaction.

He didn’t wait long. Tara absorbed the news and smiled beautifully. Edwina and Cary nodded without speaking. They had had to take in so much in the last week I was surprised they even did that much. Kelvin took out three envelopes and handed one to each of the girls. “These cover the last two weeks and then next two weeks,” he said. “I will have your stipend out on the first business day of each month.”

We dealt with some other details but Kelvin gathered a raft of signatures and departed within an hour, having explained everything to my satisfaction. I wondered if I could trust him to properly handle the legal action against the trucking company. Something just felt off about him and I chewed on it all day long.

With eight-hundred thousand dollars available from the life insurance policies and thirty-nine grand from Ed’s employer, I wouldn’t have to worry about where the money would come from to pay the bills anytime soon. In nineteen-fifty five it was a lot more than it was in the new millennium.

Kelvin drove off and the four of us sat at the dinner table and talked about things. “One thing I insist we do right away is get you your own car.” Cary and Edwina took a deep breath. “What I meant to say is that we need a car for each of you. If you’re going to attend college you will need good, safe, transportation.

“I will pay for the three cars out of the insurance account so we don’t use too much of your college funds.” Three sets of shocked faces stared at me when I finished.

Tara spoke first. “Michael, three new cars will cost a lot. Is that even possible? Shouldn’t we be looking for one good used car that all three of us can share, instead of three new ones?”

We needed to talk this through, but I didn’t want them to know too much. A new Chevrolet in nineteen-fifty five ran about sixteen-hundred dollars, so three would still cost little more than five-thousand dollars. “I need to know you are all safe. You need a safe vehicle to drive back and forth to school and shopping. It terrifies me to think of any one of you in an unsafe car. The station wagon was a new car and it didn’t stop ... you know ... what happened.

“I’m buying you each a new car and if you can drag yourselves away from this table, we can go shop for them right now.”