Tanya leaned close to Malcolm and stared directly into his eyes. "I have really big money."
"Ten million dollars?" Malcolm said, with a smirk.
"No. Twenty. I have twenty million dollars."
Malcolm Clark's jaw dropped. With his mouth still open, he pulled her file to him and leafed through it. "Are you sure?" he asked, his eyes wide, looking at her from above his reading glasses.
Tanya laughed. "Yes, I'm sure. I know I give the impression of the poor little orphan. I act like a poor girl. That's because I was poor, up until about four years ago. Raised in foster homes, taught to scrimp and save…but four years ago, everything changed."
"What happened?" He closed the file and folded his hands on top of it.
"My parents left me a trust. It came to light, surprising everyone, me most of all. I never counted the money-the bank did it for me. And I've hardly had reason to spend any of it, until now."
Malcolm's mouth still hung open in shock. Tanya laughed.
"Listen, Mr. Clark…I'll do anything you say, hire anyone you suggest, for as long as you deem necessary. But don't make me pack and leave. I never had a life, until I came here. I don't want to lose it. It's all I have."
"Except for just a wee bit of dollars," Malcolm Clark said with a grin.
"Twenty million, Mr. Clark, tw-e-nty mil-li-on dollars."
As she drove home, she remembered the meeting and the funny little man who was the director of the bank. She remembered her shock more than anything else.
"Twenty million dollars…" Tanya gasped, held her breath for a moment, then let it out with a whoosh. "Are you sure?" She sat, totally flabbergasted, in front of the bank's director.
"Oh, yes, indeed, Miss Caldwell," he said. "That's the amount we have in your name, plus a few thousand and some change. It appears the fund was established only weeks before your parents died." He mopped his forehead with a handkerchief. "It has increased in value every year until now, and will continue to increase, if you handle it well." He shoved a business card at her.
"This is the lawyer who can assist you with any problems or questions you may encounter in your new financial position."
Tanya took the card. It read, "Leslie G. Hadson, Corporate Lawyer, 32 B. Franklin Avenue."