“I was at the cemetery putting flowers on my father’s grave, and he was there putting flowers on his mother’s grave. Her name was May Smith, and she died in 1995. She’s buried pretty close to my father. For the first year of our marriage, I kept flowers on her grave as well as my dad’s,” Kate said.
Jamie chuckled. “He told me his mother’s name was Julie Smith and she was buried in Louisiana where he was raised. He had that southern drawl, so I never doubted him. I bet May Smith’s family thought she had a secret admirer that whole year.”
Amanda slapped the table. “He told me that you were his sister and your mother was also his mama. And that you had control of the money. What a mess!”
“Julie Smith is probably the name of one of those women that he conned,” Kate said. “He bragged about how stupid women were. In his mind, with a wink and a few compliments, he could have any woman in the world falling into bed with him.”
Amanda’s hands went up to cup her face as her eyes bugged out. “He talked to you about his women—about us?”
“Not about you two specifically, but yes, about his other women. He was trying to make me mad enough to divorce him so he could have a lot of money.”
“Well, we were all duped by the same rascal,” Jamie said. “The next thing is what are we going to do about it?”
“Step number five is an upward turn,” Kate said. “You’ll see the light at the end of the tunnel and start to realize that you can have a normal life.”
“Do I have to get over the anger before I can go to that one?” Amanda asked.
Kate picked up her coffee and sipped it. “Yes, you do, and also the depression.”
Amanda sighed.
“Do you really hate Conrad?” Kate looked across the table at Jamie.
“Right now I do, and that’s not healthy. So when I leave here at the end of summer, I want to be indifferent and ready to move on. How could he do this to Gracie? He could have divorced me. There was no prenup between us,” Jamie answered.
“Even if he did divorce you, there would still be the Kate marriage. And he probably didn’t want to get lawyers too close to any of the marriages,” Amanda said. “Who knows what happened before Iris. There might be an even earlier wife out there who will hunt me for this cabin and whatever else he had in his bank account.”
“When was his birthday?” Kate asked in an attempt to divert their attention from the ownership of the cabin.
“November 28, 1972, was on his driver’s license,” Amanda said. “That made him forty-four last fall.”
“That’s when we celebrated it, too,” Jamie said.
“The birthday and the wedding dates are the same for us all.” Kate pushed back her chair and headed to her room.
“Where are you going?” Amanda asked.
“I’m writing this down, like I told you. I may hire my own private investigator. If they find a living wife before me, then she will be in line for this property. If it’s not mine, then I’ll go home and let her worry with the legalities of the thing,” Kate said. “I want to know the truth, and once I know that, I can truly have closure.”
“Know the truth and the truth shall set you free,” Amanda whispered. “But I will fight anyone to the death for this cabin.”
“Quoting Scripture? Are you religious?” Jamie asked.
“Oh, yes, I am,” Amanda said. “Conrad and I went to church every Sunday when he was home . . . Dammit!”
Both Jamie and Kate giggled.
Amanda frowned. “It’s not funny. He was sitting in church with me, pretending to be all righteous when he was . . .” Tears filled her eyes and spilled down over her cheeks. “I can’t believe that he even conned God.”
Kate smiled. “A touch of depression is setting in, right?”
Amanda nodded. “He doesn’t deserve to make me sad. I’m more depressed with myself than anything, because I was so gullible.”
“That’s what con men prey on,” Jamie said. “Do you think I wasn’t gullible? Or Kate? And honey, you can fight, but I’ve got a legal claim on this place that you can’t unseat. Gracie is his oldest child, and she will inherit this place.”
“We’ll see when it all comes out that there are divorce papers hiding somewhere and that I’m his wife. And gullible? You might have been, but not Kate!” Amanda shot a glance toward Kate.
With a sigh, Kate turned around and returned to the table. “Of course I was. I’d spent my entire life working on my career. I was thirty when we married, which isn’t old, but I was established in the business, had three degrees, and was working on my doctorate at that time. I have a level head on my shoulders until it comes to men, then all my common sense flies right out the window,” Kate admitted. “And on that note, I have to go write down details before I forget them. Thanks for the breakfast, Jamie.”
“You are welcome,” Jamie said.