A Bride for 100 Days

twenty-eight: revelations to acts

Every minute on that plane getting farther and farther away...I felt nauseous. 

There was nowhere for my mind to rest worrying about Jeb and Levi and everything. The possibility of Lonnie or Garth trying something sent spikes of anxiety into my heart.

Dad and Ari and a couple of people who were clearly planning a movie with him took over the main part of the plane so I moved to the back. For almost 5 hours, I stared out the window with tunes in my ears to block out their talking. 

Dad told the driver of the waiting car to take us to his new condo in downtown LA.  I was shocked when the car stopped and only my father and I got out. 

It was a corner unit with sweeping views of the city and two bedrooms. I stood looking down at the city. It felt strange. I had never been alone with my father that I could remember.

"Where is everyone?" I asked as he handed me a Sleeman's in a glass bottle.

"The people I work with have homes, you know. As for the family, probably at the houses in Santa Monica." His ex, Graciela, had a house next to his current wife.

"Probably? How's your marriage, Dad?"

"How's yours?" he countered. "You filed for divorce less than a month after getting married, which was less than a week after you met."

"Yeah," I took another long swallow off the beer.

"But it looks like you care about him," he joined me at the window. "And the boy."

"Yeah," I repeated.

"And still getting divorced? That sucks."

I nodded. 

"Tell me you at least got a pre-nup?"

I laughed out loud. "To protect a 6 year-old boxy Kia and two cartons of used art supplies?"

"Ali, I mean your trust."

"My educational trust?"

"Yes."

"Gone."

"Not possible."

"Possible and happened."

He beckoned me to join him back on the sectional. "Explain."

"The trust was opened when the divorce was finalized - I was 10."

"Yes."

"The cap on contributions is 13,000 a year until the child is 18. It was no small amount and I was grateful for it. But even at a state school with some grants and a partial academic scholarship, it didn't cover everything."

"I do not understand."

"5 full years of tuition plus supplies, housing and all my expenses? Even with a partial scholarship and working part-time, I couldn't stretch that far. I just used the last of it to pay my final tuition bill. In fact, I had to take a small loan."

"When I said I don't understand, it's not about the trust. It's about the amount. The tax-free cap is 13,000 but that doesn't mean you can't add more - it just means there are tax consequences. Alicia, I seeded your trust with a million dollars in the divorce."

My jaw dropped.

"You didn't know."

I shook my head violently and slapped a hand over my chest. A million dollars? 

"You knew the divorce settlement was quite substantial."

"But that wasn't real money."

"Excuse me?" He looked startled.