Page 49 of Wayward

“Jesus.” It was an enormous amount of money. “I’m surprised no one else wanted the caretaker job.”

“I don’t think there’s a job posting anywhere. It’s just the house rental, and there aren’t too many people who want to live in a tiny town on the Oregon coast out in the middle of nowhere. I mean, the closest city to us is Seaside, which is not exactly big.”

“True.”

“Though I doubt anyone would have signed up to be a caretaker either. It’s not an easy job. I suspect you’re in for a rough road.”

I didn’t doubt that for a second. But whatever I was about to get into would keep me busy. And I needed to be busy until I could find my bearings.

“But I’m glad she found you. You seem like an excellent choice.”

He’d known me less than an hour but thought I was swell. I had to wonder if there was something in the air that made everyone so trusting.

“You know,” he continued, “with me suspending all other account holders but you and Ada, I would prepare to be inundated with phone calls and perhaps even visits. People will come out of the woodwork, and your name is first.”

“People will want to talk to Ada.”

“But you see, Ada’s had staff all her life. She’ll defer to your judgment first, and everyone who knows her understands that. There’s no getting around you to her. She’d find that rude.”

This sounded like it was about to be terrible.

“I suspect there will be an onslaught.”

“Great.”

“And of course, that money will rise again with the next deposit.”

“Sorry?”

“Her trust pays her quarterly, and that money, which runs between three and a half to four million, is then deposited into her account.”

“You’re kidding.”

“Why would I— Mr. Gorev, these are facts. Why would I kid about money?”

He wouldn’t. He was a banker.

“What if I were some grifter or—”

“Ms. Farley has always struck me as a keen judge of character.”

“Oh, has she? How many people were on the account?”

He snorted out a laugh. “Well, yes, you’ve got me there.”

Everyone who had anything to do with Ada Farley was nuts.

“Don’t forget to set up the banking app on your phone, Maks. I texted you the link. It will be so much easier than driving into town all the time.”

He was acting like it was so far out of my way when it was minutes from Ada’s door to the one at the bank. “I’ll make sure I get that done,” I promised.

“Your credit and bank cards should be arriving in a few days by private courier. We’re not going to trust the mail with something like that.”

Heaven forbid.

Before I could leave, he leaned forward and offered me his hand.

I took it begrudgingly because he really wasn’t grasping the insanity of this entire situation, and in my opinion, I should have been vetted just a bit better.