The next day, Austin sat in the lawyer‟s office. He deliberately skipped the funeral to show how little he thought of his father. To his surprise, no one else attended the funeral either.

It was hard to feel sorry for his father, though it did make him wonder who would bother to come to his funeral. He pushed

aside the funny sensation in the back of his mind as the lawyer entered the office.

“Austin hansworth, it‟s a pleasure to meet you,” Mr. Bart said as he shook his hand.

“I wish I could say the same but I would rather be doing something else.”

“Your father wasn‟t an easy man to deal with.”“I‟m sorry, Mr. Bart. It‟s hard to think of him without getting upset. I‟m sure you are a decent man.”

“I try to be.” He smiled to show that he took no offense to Austin‟s earlier bland greeting.

They sat across from each other.

“Your father had no other children besides you. At least, there were no children that we are aware of, and he didn‟t marry

any women after the divorce so there‟s no heir but you. I think once you see the amount of money he was worth, you‟ll be glad you made the trip.”

He handed Austin a piece of paper that revealed his father‟s total assets. Austin‟s eyes widened in surprise. He could easily triple his net worth with his father‟s money.

“There is one stipulation before you can receive this money,” Mr. Bart slowly stated.

Austin‟s eyes narrowed. Leave it to that man to make me miserable from the grave. “Alright,” Austin said. “I‟m a businessman.

What are his terms?”

“You must marry a woman and stay married for six months. He always regretted leaving your mother and didn‟t want

his example to turn you off from marriage. He used to say that leaving her was when his life went downhill. It wasn‟t until two

weeks ago that he came to Christ and got saved. I guess it gave him lots to consider as he laid in the hospital bed waiting to die.”

“Why six months? Why not one year? Or two?”

“He fell in love with your mother in six months.”

He rolled his eyes. “And left her eleven years later.”

“He thought the grass was greener on the other side. But after having a heart attack, he quickly learned it wasn‟t. So this

brings me to the qualifications that this woman you are to marry must possess. She must be a virgin, for sexual purity became a big thing for him. She must be a Christian who pursues honorable work, if she is out of her parents‟ home. Also, she has to be closewith her family so she knows the importance of being with loved

ones.”

“This woman is the total opposite of who he was,” he noted.

“Yes. I notice that too.”

“Tell me, did he give me her name? It seems that he has everything else planned out for me.”

“I know his method for giving you this money is unorthodox, but it is legally binding. He heard you were still

single and didn‟t want you to miss out on the joy of marriage to a wonderful woman.”

“Who can control me and make my life incredibly dull. I know what women are like. I have married friends who are stuck

at home, helping with the kids and unable to do anything fun because if they were able to have fun, it would mean they would

get their manhood back which is what every woman hopes to eliminate.”

“You have an unexpectedly morbid view of marriage.”

“Well, isn‟t that why he left my mother?”

“It wasn‟t her fault. She did everything she could to keep him happy. He just refused to see her value until he was ready to

die.”My mother was an honorable woman. She didn‟t deserve what he

did to her.

“Anyway, this is the will, so you can read everything for yourself,” Mr. Bart said as he handed Austin the document. “If you decide to follow through with your father‟s wishes, I will need to be at the wedding to verify your marriage and I must stay with you for one week, unannounced, to make sure you two are living in the same house. Then at the six month mark, I will stop by to give you the money. Actually, I can give you half of it at the wedding. The other half will be due at six months. What do you say?”Austin carefully read every word of the will, his jaw

clenching more and more as he read each paragraph. Only his father could control his life after death. He almost rejected the

money when a thought occurred to him. Half of this money will not only pay off the Lewisville debt, but it will be enough to cover their farming expenses for the next year and it will provide Claire with a comfortable living for the rest of her life. Then after six months, she can go her way and I can go mine and I will live very well off the remaining half of the money. What if God was answering his prayer this way? Sure, it wasn‟t the way he expected his prayer to be answered, but sometimes God used unconventional means to solve a problem. After all, Jonah lived to tell of his experience after he was swallowed by a whale.

Austin looked at Mr. Bart. “I‟ll do it.”

**********

Austin wasn‟t able to return home until Friday afternoon, which made him rush through a quick dinner before he bathed

and dressed. He would be going to the dance but the business he usually tended to at these dances would focus on one person. Claire would most likely be there, ready to say yes to a marriage with any

available bachelor who offered it. As much as he hated the idea of being married, he knew any woman who settled for an old man

just to bail her father out of debt would be more miserable than he would be for the next six months. It would be better for her

too, if she only had to confine herself to marriage for six months to him instead of a lifetime to an old man who only valued her for her body.

I‟ll give Miss Lewisville credit for being selfless. Had it been him, he would let his father go bankrupt.

He arrived at the dance at his usual time and tipped Hampton.

“I‟ll be waiting for you when you come out,” Henry promised.“Thank you,” he said. He liked the fact that Hampton always

waited for him whenever he went anywhere. He didn‟t have toworry about finding another driver. “I appreciate you taking me

on such short notice. I wasn‟t originally planning to come tonight, but I discovered a business opportunity too good to pass up and if I don‟t act on it tonight, I‟ll probably lose the account.”

“My wife and children are so grateful to you that they said to take you anywhere you want to go whenever you want to go,”

he confided. “You‟re steady employment for me.”He smiled. “If things go well, then I‟ll most likely bring a

guest to take to her home.”

“I thought you said you had a business venture here tonight.”

“Part business, part pleasure. I‟ll explain later if she agrees

to it.”He nodded.

Austin entered the building, adjusting his dark blue tie with

thin white diagonal stripes on it. It matched his dark blue suit.

He wasn‟t superstitious by nature but more often than not, when

he wore this particular suit in the past, he succeeded in all of his

business transactions.

“Good evening, Mr. Hansworth,” oscar Thomasville greeted. “May I take your coat and hat, sir?”

“Yes, you may, Mr. Thomasville,” he replied. He slipped off his black coat and hat and handed it to the doorman. “Have you seen

Miss Lewisville?”

“The new blond who is wearing the same dress she wore last week?”

He grimaced. He wondered why she would do something as tacky as wear the same dress to two dances in a row but

reminded himself that she probably used all the money she had to buy that dress and didn‟t have any others. “That‟s the woman.”

He tried not to let his distaste show. Thank goodness Mr. Thomasville warned him before he saw her and reacted poorly at the sight of her. It wouldn‟t be a good way to start his proposal.

“She is on the dance floor,” he said.

“Thank you.” He slipped him a tip for hanging his coat and hat.

“Anytime. I‟ll keep a close eye on your things.”

He nodded and walked further into the building. He knew that Mr. Thomasville took better care of coats and hats than the other

doorman did, so he made it a point to enter the building when Mr. Thomasville was at the door.

As he walked into the ballroom, he saw Jenny petty laughing and whispering to one her friends who was just as gossipy and giggly as she was.

He sighed when he realized the two girls were making fun of Claire who was dancing with the seventy year old man who had his eyes glued to her last time. He didn‟t

know what was worse. Watching old man Sussex staring at her bosom or the fact that Jenny and a few others in the room

believed Claire was making a public spectacle of herself.

Two things are for sure: one, I‟m not going to let Sussex ogle her for the rest of the night and two, I‟m buying her a new wardrobe as soon as she agrees to my plan.

Just as he was about to walk onto the dance floor, Chad Walker stopped him. Chad Walker was one of the wealthiest

clients at the bank, so he had to talk to him. At least York wouldn‟t grope her in public.

“Mr. Walker, how are you this fine December evening?

Are you looking forward to Christmas?” he warmly greeted.

“With Christmas being two weeks away, my wife is out doing her usual yuletide shopping. I‟m almost scared to see the bill every time she comes home.” He grinned. “But she is a

sensible woman and only purchases things we need so I don‟t complain too much.”

“Will you be going to EVERDON this year?”.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

OH MY AUSTIN IS IN BIG TROUBLE 🤪

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