Thann

Chapter One

Ticket

Today’s Jackpot = $597 million

Maren Padgett stared at the neon sign sitting in the store’s front window. The urge to go in and purchase a lottery ticket was fast becoming an itch she couldn’t ignore. However, she could damn well scratch it. It was almost as if a little voice was whispering inside her head, urging her to cave. Promising her dreams of untold wealth, and all the wonderful things she’d receive in the wake of it. She’d never been an impulsive person, but just this once…

Aww, hell with it. Grabbing her wallet from her purse sitting on the floorboard by her feet, she got out of the car.

Where are you going?

She glanced over the hood at where her fiancé was pumping gas. I’m just going in for a sec to get a lottery ticket.

Burke wrinkled his nose in disgust. Why would you want to waste money on that crap?

I’m only going to spend a couple of dollars.

Which could be better spent on something else, he snapped. You know how tight finances are right now. Now get back into the fucking car and let’s go.

Maren hesitated, knowing how pissed he could get if she disobeyed him. However, the five singles in her wallet were all that were left of the twenty her father had sent her for her birthday. It was hers to spend as she wanted, and by God, if she wanted to waste it on a lottery ticket, that was her prerogative.

It’s my birthday money, she countered. I’ll only be a minute. Without waiting for his angry comeback, she stiffly walked into the convenience store.

I’d like to buy a ticket for tonight’s drawing.

The PowerBall one? Or the regular one?

PowerBall.

With the add-ons?

Sure. Why not?

That’ll be three dollars.

Sliding the bills over to the clerk, she read the placard posted over the register as her ticket peeled from the machine.

Today’s Jackpot is $597 million

You can’t win if you don’t play!

Five hundred ninety-seven million. After the government took its unfair share, that would roughly leave about two hundred fifty million. Still not a bad haul. What I couldn’t do with two hundred and fifty million dollars.

Here’s your ticket. Good luck. The clerk grinned as he held it out to her.

Thanking him, she took the slip of paper, and hiked out of the store. As she’d expected, Burke was sitting stone-faced behind the wheel when she got in the car.

Feel better, now that you’ve had your little act of defiance?

She turned around in her seat to look at him directly. What is wrong with you? It was my money. If I want to tear it up in little pieces and throw it into the wind, I have that right. Why are you being so nasty tonight? She waved it in his face, as if to prove a point.

He glanced at the ticket, then sighed. I’m tired, and all I want to do is get home and put my feet up. He reached over the console, and for a moment she thought he was going to slap her. He patted her arm instead. Sorry, babe. I just had a lousy day at work. I know I don’t need to take it out on you.

She managed to relax, relieved to know this wasn’t going to escalate into another shouting match. Tucking the ticket and her wallet into her purse, she sat back and said no more the rest of the way to their apartment.

He had been having a lot of those kinds of days recently. Stress levels were ungodly high at the company. Sometimes, he’d have to pull an all-nighter to get a project or a report done before the next morning. Those evenings when he did manage to make it home, he wanted nothing to do with her. Not to talk, not to go anywhere, and least of all not to make love to her. It was fast becoming a situation where they were more like two strangers sharing accommodations instead of two people planning on getting married and spending the rest of their lives together.

She glanced over at him from the corner of her eye. He was definitely thinking of something, and it wasn’t pleasant. His lips were pressed into a thin line, and that little vein in his forehead was prominent and pulsing. She wanted to ask him about what was going on at work. Maybe get him to open up and get it off his chest, but Burke Shavet wasn’t one to share his thoughts. Never had been since she’d met him three years ago. Yes, there were moments when he could be gentle and loving, but that side of him hadn’t shown itself these past few months. The best she could do was to leave him alone, stay out of his way, and hope everything would eventually work itself out.

When they got back to their apartment, she went to their mailbox in the cluster area in the middle of the complex. By the time she got back, he’d already showered and was stretched out on the couch in the living room, whiskey sour in one hand and TV remote in the other.

I was thinking about making some sliders for supper. How’s that sound?

Fine. Whatever, he mumbled as he surfed the channels.

She ate at the kitchen table. He ate on the couch. Afterwards, she washed dishes and went to get her own bath. The night ended as usual, with her curled up in bed and reading a book. Fortunately, it was Friday, which meant she could stay up as late as she wanted without having to set the alarm.

She must have dozed off. The next thing she knew, she was being awakened with someone roughly shaking her shoulder.

Hey! Mare! Where’s that lottery ticket?

Hmm? Uhh, in my purse. Why?

Just wanted to check the numbers on it.

Half asleep, she watched as he went over to dig through her bag. Extracting the piece of paper, he strode out of the bedroom. She threw back the covers and got out of bed to follow him. Wait! Why all of sudden are you interested in that ticket?

Because I remembered a couple of the numbers on it when you shoved it into my face earlier, he remarked. If we’re lucky, we might have won a couple of bucks out of it.

We?

He stopped in the middle of the living room to check the ticket against the winning numbers displayed across the bottom of the paused TV screen, muttering to himself as he compared. Maren watched, hands on hips, when his body went stiff, and she heard him gasp.

Not fucking possible!

A little shiver of excitement raced through her. What’s not fucking possible? she asked, walking over to where he re-checked the numbers. She started to reach for the ticket when he suddenly whirled around, his face flushed, his eyes wide. Grabbing her by the shoulders, he pulled her across the carpet in a bizarre dance.

"We won! We won, Maren! We’re rich! This ticket just won us half a billion dollars!"

Chapter Two

Plan

That same little voice that had told her to buy the lottery ticket was now telling her things were moving too fast. She needed to put the brakes on this wild whirlwind that had come about because of what occurred last night.

Babe, why don’t you call that hard-ass boss of yours and quit your job? Right now, Burke half-suggested, half-ordered her. He was on the computer, checking the winning numbers listed on the lottery website against the slip of paper resting by the keyboard. This was probably the eighth or ninth time, but she couldn’t blame him. The couple of times she’d read through the list of numbers, she hadn’t quite believed it herself. And, in some ways, she still didn’t.

Five hundred and ninety-seven million dollars.

Half a billion Washingtons.

Sweet Jesus.

Maren? Babe?

His voice cut through the fog. They hadn’t gotten much sleep last night after the revelation. Burke had spent most of the night talking about what they could do with the money, while she worried about how becoming suddenly super rich would affect their lives. Several times he’d gotten out of bed to disappear into the living room where she had no doubt he was checking the numbers again for the umpteenth time. It continued to feel like some sort of fairy tale. Like a dream she’d wake up from to discover it had all been wishful thinking. Only, here it was Saturday morning, and the bubble hadn’t popped.

Hey!

Blinking, she looked at him. He held up the ticket.

We need to put this somewhere where it’ll be safe until we can cash it in.

Why can’t we go cash it in now?

He gave her one of those don’t-be-an-idiot looks she was familiar with. I checked online. We have to take it to the state office here in town, and they’re closed on weekends.

Then why not just put it in the desk drawer there?

What if someone breaks in while we’re gone?

This time, it was Maren who rolled her eyes. Who’s going to steal a lottery ticket they have no idea we have? Unless you go blabbing around to everyone about it. A chill went through her. Burke, we gotta keep quiet about this. We can’t go telling the world about our winning all this money.

For some strange reason, saying our winning left a sour taste in her mouth. It had been her three dollars that had bought the ticket. Not his money. Hers. And, on top of that, he’d been adamant about her not buying it in the first place.

But we’re going to get married soon, which means what’s mine is his and what’s his is mine. Fifty-fifty.

For once, he agreed with her. You’re right. Someone might try to kill us so they can claim it for their own. Burke made a face. Too bad we don’t have a safe deposit box, or a safe.

Striding over to him, she snatched the ticket from his fingers. We don’t need a safe deposit box. And even if we had a safe, that would be the first thing burglars would go for if they broke in. Maren grinned. I have just the place they’ll never look.

She went into the bathroom with him trailing. Reaching inside the linen closet, she withdrew a box of tampons. Folding the lottery ticket in half, she stuck it inside the box and closed the lid. There. It’ll be safe there until we need to cash it in.

He narrowed his eyes. You sure about that?

Maren shrugged her shoulders. Unless the burglar is a woman, and discovers she needs a tampon, why not? I don’t see a guy checking inside. Hell, you won’t even get me one if I need it.

Burke made a face to show she’d proven her point, when his excitement caught up with him again. Listen! I’ve been thinking about what we’re gonna do with all that money.

Her internal warning bell clanged adamantly, and her conservative side moved to the foreground. Burke, we need to back off and think all this over before we start doing anything rash. I mean, this is a windfall that could last us until the end of our days, but we’re going to have to be very cautious about when and where we spend it.

Leaning against the doorframe, he crossed his arms over his chest. So what do you suggest we do with it? Off the top of your head?

Well, we could take some of it and have a nice wedding. I’m not talking about spending thousands of dollars, she quickly added, noticing the dark cloud that started to settle over his handsome features.

What else?

Umm, put some away. Maybe in CDs, so it could draw some interest. Or maybe in some stocks.

The stock market is too volatile, he remarked. We could lose everything we put into it. But I like the CD idea. It won’t gain a lot of interest, but at least it’ll earn more than if we just put it into an interest-bearing savings account. Go on. What else?

I don’t know. Maybe hire a CPA to get his advice?

We’d be better off hiring a lawyer. Now, do you want to hear my ideas, or don’t you?

Sure.

First thing, you quit that damn receptionist job.

It was the first smart thing he’d said in days, and she nodded. "Not a