Heiress

Those words, meant for comfort, did little to assuage Allison’s apprehension. How could she supervise employees when she didn’t know what they were supposed to do?

Chapter Two (#ulink_ed57357d-6779-53db-ae91-7c5b7b9eb041)

Still wavering between going to Columbus and rejecting the inheritance, Allison gave her employer two weeks’ notice and told her landlady that she would relinquish her furnished apartment in another month. More than once Allison picked up the receiver to telephone Thomas Curnutt to tell him that she wouldn’t accept the legacy and authorize him to transfer the assets to Mount Carmel Hospital, but something always held her back. Was it the unseen hand of God preventing her from making a mistake? At last, she telephoned Curnutt and told him that she would arrive in Columbus in late February, and he assured her that he would immediately set in motion the necessary steps to transfer Page’s assets to her.

Still plagued with misgivings, she began to pack her belongings. Allison wanted to move back home for the few weeks she had left, but when Beatrice still refused to discuss Allison’s plans for the future, she knew it wouldn’t be pleasant for any of them. Whether or not Charles intervened Allison didn’t know, but when Allison telephoned that she intended to move within a week, Beatrice did ask her to stay with them during her remaining days in Chicago.

Tim and Cleta came to help Allison pack the loaded boxes into her six-year-old sedan, and there wasn’t room for everything, but she gave a box of knickknacks to Cleta, enabling them to stow the remainder in the back seat and trunk.

As they shifted boxes to make more space, Tim said, “You won’t have to drive this old car much longer, Allison. What kind of new car will you buy?”

“I haven’t thought about a new car. I’ve been too busy burying the past to think about my future.”

“You’re afraid to think about it, aren’t you?” Cleta said.

Allison looked in amazement at her perceptive sister. “Maybe, but I have been busy.”

After Allison turned the key into her landlady, she said, “If we can all three wedge into the front seat, let’s drive around the city. Chicago has always been home; I rather hate to leave it.”

Along the lakefront, they enjoyed a view of the public parkland stretching along the shoreline, its broad beaches and lawns covered with a few inches of snow. They drove through downtown Chicago, with its spectacular skyscrapers, fashionable shops and many department stores. Entering the financial district, they noted at least six major banks, the Chicago Board of Trade, the City Hall-County Building and the blue-tinted Illinois Center. Only a few walkers braved the frigid weather to exercise in three-hundred-acre Grant Park. Allison had spent a lot of time with Donald in this downtown area, but she had also enjoyed days of pleasure with her family at the same places, so she focused on the family gatherings rather than her dates with Donald.

As the time approached for her departure, Allison felt her excitement intensify, yet she would have anticipated the adventure much more if her mother had not been displeased. Allison had deduced that Beatrice was not angry with her, for she prepared all the foods that her daughter preferred and insisted that Allison store anything in her bedroom that she didn’t want to move to Columbus, and she arranged a dinner party for the family and Allison’s best friends at a downtown restaurant and bought tickets to a performance of the Chicago Symphony. Allison winced at the cost of the evening, but she had to accept the outlay of money—for she knew it was Beatrice’s way of apologizing for her attitude. Allison decided that her mother was reconciled to the move, for she made no overt display of unhappiness, although Tim and Cleta shed tears for a couple of days before her departure, and Charles, his face solemn, would often hug Allison tightly without saying a word.

Although eager to be on her way, Allison dreaded their final parting, but she forced a cheerful attitude until, at the last minute, Beatrice embraced her eldest daughter and wept convulsively. Her grief spread until the whole family was sobbing, and when Allison finally drove away from the house, her eyes were swollen and red. Beatrice had gone into the house rather than watch Allison leave. She realized that her mother would miss her, but Allison still felt puzzled at her mother’s reaction. It wasn’t as if Columbus were a continent away—there was no reason they couldn’t visit often. Children couldn’t stay in the family home forever, and it wasn’t like Beatrice to act this way.

Allison planned two days for the trip to Columbus, but driving conditions were favorable and she arrived at the luxurious hotel along High Street where Thomas Curnutt had made reservations for her early Thursday afternoon. Over the past month, she had often wondered if this change in her circumstances was real or if she was dreaming, but if she needed proof that she was now classed among the wealthy, it came when she reached the hotel complex and a valet took her old car and parked it beside the Cadillacs, Lincolns and Mercedes belonging to the hotel’s other patrons.

As she followed another valet carrying her small bags into the reception room, Allison had never felt more out of place. Recalling a poem that Charles, from his childhood memory, had often quoted, she thought, “Lawk a mercy on me, this is none of I.”

Dressed in jeans, wearing a heavy parka and fur-lined boots, she certainly looked out of place, and she breathed a sigh of relief when the door of her room closed behind her. Even here she felt overwhelmed as she viewed the large room with king-sized bed, lavish draperies and bedspread, thick carpet and modish furniture. How she wished she were still in Chicago!

After she telephoned her mother that she had made the journey safely, Allison contacted the attorney’s office and made an appointment for the next morning. Still, she had several hours on her hands before bedtime. She wouldn’t consider going to a dining room in this building for dinner, especially when the few dress garments she owned were packed away in the car. She contemplated room service for her meal, but she couldn’t cower in the room for hours. So exhibiting a nonchalance she didn’t feel, Allison took the elevator to the lobby, happily noting that many people were dressed in casual attire, and went out to take a look around the shopping district.

Trying to envision what the city would be like in spring and summer, Allison snuggled into the warm parka, tucked gloved fingers into her pockets and merged with the natives. After she reached Capitol Square, she slowed down and looked in the shop windows, wondering if she should buy some new clothes. She wouldn’t spend an inheritance she hadn’t received, but she did have some Christmas gift money that she had been carrying in her billfold for weeks.

In a large department store, Allison tried on several dresses before choosing a two-piece brick matte jersey skirt and a matching tunic with vee-necked top. She also decided on a tailored navy suit with a long, fitted jacket and straight-cut skirt Though the style was a bit more severe than her usual taste, she thought it looked businesslike and made her appear older. Taking over Page Publishing, she’d need all the help she could get.

Leaving the clothing department, Allison stopped to look for a new nail color, for she wanted to work on her nails tonight. Packing and the rush of moving had been hard on her hands. She had spent all her gift money, so she didn’t buy anything new, deciding instead to use what she had in her cosmetic bag at the hotel.

The shopping had consumed Allison’s extra time and dusk was falling when she left the department store. She stopped for a meal at a nearby Chinese restaurant, and it was completely dark by the time she finished eating. The air was considerably colder, so Allison hailed a taxi to take her back to the hotel.

Dressed in her new blue suit, Allison didn’t hesitate about breakfasting in the luxurious hotel, and she asked the concierge to order a taxi for her at nine o’clock. She would leave her car parked at the hotel until she could make other living arrangements. After seeing the cost of the room for one night, Allison knew that her bank account wasn’t adequate to spend many nights here, and she figured it would be a long time before she had any access to funds from her inheritance.

The fast-driving taxi driver arrived at Curnutt’s office before she had her mind composed to talk to the attorney. One minute Allison was excited and optimistic about the adventure she was facing, and other times she was clammy with fear and indecision.

The latter emotion predominated when she cautiously entered the lawyer’s office. She thawed somewhat under Mary Curnutt’s welcome and the attorney’s outstretched hand, but when she sat facing him and Curnutt started discussing the legal ramifications of her inheritance, Allison swallowed hard and said, “You can’t imagine how inadequate I feel to be taking over this estate. You’re wasting your time explaining all those things to me. I don’t understand much of what you’re saying. Can’t you just take care of what has to be done?”

“I can do what I think is best if you’re willing to trust me that far.”

“I have no one else to trust, so please settle this estate as you would if it had been received by one of your children.”

“Very well. I promised Harrison that I would assist you in any way possible. Also, I will have his accountant refer any financial matters to me for the time being. Within a few months you will be more qualified to make decisions. For the present, you will have all you can do to take over the management of Page Publishing. I’ll take you there today.”

“Do I have to go so soon?”

“Yes, I believe so. The employees are quite edgy. Several of them have contacted me trying to find out what is going to happen to the business, but I had no right to divulge the contents of Harrison’s will without your permission. It isn’t fair to keep them in the dark any longer.”

Allison referred to the copy of Harrison’s will that she carried. “Who are the people named in his will?”

“Of course you know who I am, and I’m flattered that Harrison chose to remember me.” He read the names from the will. “Adra and Minerva McRamey are the caretakers at Harrison’s home. They’ve been in his employ for years. Minerva took care of Harrison’s wife, and of him before he chose to enter a nursing home. The McRameys are in their sixties.”

Curnutt adjusted the nosepiece of his glasses.

“Celestine Handley is an employee at the company. She has been Harrison’s secretary for years, and I question that he would have managed half as well if she hadn’t been there to support him. I’m sure she will be just as helpful to you. Benton Lockhart came to Page Publishing Company out of college and proved his worth right away. He is competent and steady, faithful and devoted to his work, and self-sacrificing for the company. When Harrison became ill two years ago, he made Benton his assistant, and after Harrison was no longer able to come to the office, Benton took charge and has been in charge since. He’s a calm and collected individual and the publishing company has expanded under his leadership.”

The lawyer tapped the document significantly. “All these people have been valuable employees to Harrison, and they deserved to be remembered in his will.”

“I wasn’t implying that they shouldn’t have been, but if I encounter them, I want to know why my uncle regarded them so highly.”

“You’ll probably see all of them today, so it’s well that you know something about them.”

As she folded the document and returned it to her purse, Allison said, “I knew a Benton Lockhart once. I’ve been wondering if it’s the same person.”

“I didn’t know Benton until he came to work at Page Publishing.”

“Then he isn’t a native of Columbus?”

“No. I believe he came from somewhere in Indiana.”

“Then it could be the same person, for I met the Benton Lockhart I’m talking about at a youth crusade in Indianapolis. He was the most fantastic spiritual speaker I’ve ever heard. I had expected him to go into the ministry, but I haven’t heard of him since that time.”

“To my knowledge, Benton isn’t a churchgoer, and although we meet socially from time to time, he’s never impressed me as a man with any spiritual side to his nature.”

Curnutt telephoned the publishing firm and made an appointment to see the entire staff at one o’clock, and while he talked, Allison was conscious of a deep disappointment. She had been hoping to renew the acquaintance with the Benton of her youth.

“That will give us time to have lunch,” Curnutt said when he finished the phone conversation. “There’s a nice café in German Village that provides a light lunch that you’ll enjoy. If you don’t mind, Mary can come with us.”

Allison replied that she didn’t mind in the least.

The Curnutts were delightful company, and as they traveled along the tree-lined brick streets, Mary commented on the unique atmosphere of the tiny Dutch-single and large Dutch-double houses of an earlier century.

“German Village consists of more than two hundred acres and is listed in the National Register of Historic Places. A good way to see it is to take a walking tour because one can get a greater appreciation for the window flower boxes, patio gardens and ornate wrought-iron fences.”

“There are several special events here during the year to celebrate our unique German heritage,” Thomas added. “This is a part of Columbus that the casual tourist doesn’t see. You’ll enjoy visiting this area.”

The small restaurant was decorated with red-and-white gingham tablecloths and cafe curtains. They ate their lunch of bratwurst on a sesame bun, hot potato salad and a fluffy cherry chiffon pudding, while outside, on the sidewalk, a small gaily costumed Alpine band played toe-tapping music, and Allison was able to ignore the stressful afternoon she faced.

After they returned Mary to the office, the attorney maneuvered his Mercedes through the busy noonday traffic and followed High Street north of the capitol, where he turned east on Broad until he reached a five-story buff brick building with Page Publishing Company etched in a stone slab across the front of the structure. Curnutt turned into a narrow driveway between two buildings and parked in the company’s private lot.