1929 by M.L. Gardner

and
hours from homelessness.” He chuckled.
    “Hmm?” she asked, barely interested.
    He watched her closely as he spoke the name.
“Jonathan Garrett.”
    Her fork stopped mid-air, eyes fixed straight
ahead.
    “You remember him, of course.”
    She dabbed the corners of her mouth with her
napkin daintily before taking three gulps of wine. “What do you
mean wiped out?” she asked quietly.
    “I mean broke. His little empire is gone.
Lost everything and took his friends down with him, too.” He gave
her a minute to absorb that while he chewed another bite. Slowly,
he reached out to pat her hand. “I know he was special to you at
one time, but aren’t you glad now you didn’t end up with him, my
love?” She forced a smile and nodded but didn’t meet his eyes.
Special was an understatement. Ruth had been completely in love
with him. Jonathan had cared for her, but he had never loved her,
and he never led her to believe he did. Regardless, she believed
fully that they would end up married. Mutual hatred of Jonathan had
brought she and Victor together. Their relationship was based on
little else.
    Victor asked cheerily, “What’s for
dessert?”
    “I’m really not hungry anymore,” she
whispered. She took the wine from the chiller and left the room,
swaying slightly. Victor finished his dinner alone, dismissed
Grayson and retired to the parlor. He settled in his chair and
opened the newspaper with a smug grin. He would give Ruth a while
to drink herself to sleep before he went up to bed. He had no
interest in witnessing her grief over Jonathan Garrett.
     
    ∞∞∞
     
    “Ahna!” Caleb yelled as he burst into their
home. “Arianna!”
    “Up here!”
    He breathed a sigh of relief and took the
stairs two at a time. He found her on the bedroom floor, legs
tucked under her, sorting small piles of jewelry.
    “What on earth are you doing?” he asked as he
sat down beside her.
    “I’m checking the jewelry against the
insurance paperwork. We can take or sell anything there’s no record
of,” she explained, eyes focused on the neatly arranged piles.
    “Good thinking, Ahna.”
    “How did it go today?” she asked
distantly.
    “About that. I need to talk to you. There are
some things you need to know concerning where we’re going–”
    “I found some drapes and linens in the attic
and packed them,” she interrupted. “But I need help getting them
downstairs.”
    “Okay, I’ll get to that. But I really need to
talk to you about where we’re going. It’s going to be somewhat of a
shock.” He touched her arm to get her attention. She stopped
sorting and looked at him numbly with swollen eyes.
    “I’m sure it’s bad,” she said quietly. He
nodded with eyes full of dread. She took a deep breath and squared
her shoulders. “Okay. Tell me.”
     
    ∞∞∞
     
    Jonathan bent down to help Ava pack a few
sentimental pieces. He was thankful for something mundane to do for
a moment, having no idea of how to begin to tell her where they
were going and whom they were forced to rent from. Jonathan looked
up suddenly. “What’s that smell?”
    She smiled. “It’s Sven. He’s cooking dinner
for us. Charles and Maura are here, too. They came a couple hours
ago to see if they could help with anything.”
    Jonathan stiffened. “I can’t pay them,” he
told her in a low voice laced with shame.
    “They know. They want to help anyway. Let
them, Jonathan. They feel awful about what’s happened to all of
us.” His brow creased in frustration. Just as he was about to
protest again, Charles appeared in the entryway of the parlor.
    “Hello, sir.”
    Jonathan turned and tried to smile. “Hello,
Charles.”
    “I hope you don’t mind us coming unannounced
today, sir, but we thought it only fair that we assist you right up
until you have to leave.”
    “Only fair?” He swallowed hard. “I can’t pay
you, Charles.”
    “We’re not here for pay, sir. We’re here as
friends.” His old eyes were kind. “You