My Angel is the Centerfold

Chapter 24

A few months later…

The man Carol had an appointment with was easy to spot from across the parking lot, even though she'd never met him before. He stuck out like a sore thumb in his wrinkled suit coat and dress pants. It was well past eighty degrees and it wasn't even noon yet. Everyone else at the farmer's market was wearing as little as they thought they could get away with. Carol nudged River, and gestured towards the man before she lifted her hand and waved at him.

"Someone's about to collect on his policy," River joked. "He looks ready to sweat ta death in this heat."

Carol nodded, laughing a little at River's observation. As he approached, the man shrugged his jacket off, revealing large damp sweat stains on the shirt he was wearing underneath. Carol smiled as she shook his hand, ignoring the strong odor of perspiration that was wafting off his body. She turned, intending to pour him a slushie from the machine that River bought on a whim. Carol thought having a slushie machine at their bakery booth seemed silly when River showed up with it. But they'd already sold more frozen drinks than baked bread. Sometimes there was a method to River's madness, even if she couldn't explain it herself.

"Here ya go," River said, offering the man a smile and a large cup of half frozen juice. He took it gratefully, sucking down a few hard gulps before he began rummaging around in his messy bag for the papers he needed Carol to sign.

Carol listened with casual disinterest as he rambled on. The man told her over the phone that Ed had life insurance. She was listed as the beneficiary. This came as news to Carol. She wasn't aware of any life insurance. And she assumed the policy must not be worth much. Ed was in the military years ago. So she assumed that he must have had some small veterans policy that maybe even he didn't know about. The only payday she was expecting was the one she would get when she sold the house they used to share. And that was a little ways off yet, as there was still paperwork she needed to get and file regarding Ed's sudden and untimely death.

The sweaty lawyer rambled on for a little longer as he shuffled a stack of papers around in his hands. Most of what he was saying, Carol couldn't understand. And to be honest, she wasn't really even trying. Taking money for Ed's death made her feel weird and sort of dirty. Even though she hadn't done anything to cause his death, it still felt strange to profit from it. She only met with the lawyer because River urged her to. Her reasoning was that even if Carol didn't want the money, she deserved it for her pain and suffering. And she could always put it in a trust for Sophia if she didn't feel right spending it.

"How much is she gettin'?," River asked, sucking on the straw of her own slushie as she tried her best to hurry the sweaty man along before he actually melted or dropped dead.

"Well," the lawyer said, fingering the papers again. "With all the combined policies, the ones Mr. Petliere's parents took out for him, and what he had coming from the military…" The sweaty lawyer paused, his fingers wriggling in the air as he counted up the figures in his head. "I'd say it's just over two hundred and fifty."

"Ya came all the way down here for two hundred and fifty bucks?," River asked. They already made more than that selling slushies to rich suburban people's children today. In fact, she'd pay three hundred in cash right now to not have to smell this guy's swampy ass any longer.

"Two hundred and fifty thousand," the man corrected, wiping at his sweaty brow with the back of his hand.

River paused, her lips pursed around her straw as she stared at him. She lifted her head. And then she spit frozen apple cider and strawberry juice all over him. "The fuck!," River exclaimed. "Yer shittin' me!"

Carol stood frozen in shock as River squealed and jumped around next to her. She didn't grow up dirt poor. But her parents lived paycheck to paycheck. Ed never allowed her to have a job. And he controlled all their finances, making sure she never had more money than she needed for groceries and gas. Two hundred and fifty thousand dollars might as well be two hundred and fifty million. She was having a hard time wrapping her mind around the fact that such a large sum of money belonged to her.

"That house you and Daryl 've been talkin' about building," River exclaimed. "Now you don't have to wait!"

Carol blinked her eyes. And then she finally smiled. A house was something tangible. She could wrap her head around that. She'd be happy with Daryl no matter where they lived. But the thought of not having to alternate between a crowded apartment and a dilapidated camper was a very appealing one. Carol's excitement slowly began to overtake her shock. She didn't inherit money, she inherited the funds she needed to start her new life off right.

River was already on her phone, telling Daryl he better get his ass down to their market booth right fucking now. Carol collected herself enough to sign the paperwork the lawyer was thrusting towards her. And a short time later, she was a few hundred thousand dollars richer than she was that morning. River pulled two cupcakes out of the cooler. And the two of them celebrated with chocolate and wild laughter, not caring that the vendors in the next booth over were staring at them like they'd gone crazy.

As lunchtime approached, the market grew busy. Carol forgot that Daryl was coming until she heard the roar of his bike engine in the gravel parking lot behind the market. River sent her away despite the small line in front of their booth, promising Carol that she could handle the transactions on her own for a few minutes. Carol weaved her way out through the back of the booth, waving at Daryl when she rounded the front of River's car. He must have been with Merle when River called, because both men had pulled their bikes into the lot.

When Daryl saw her coming he darted towards her. "What's wrong?," he asked. "River said it was an emergency."

"River thinks everything is an emergency," Merle quipped. He used his one good hand to tap a cigarette from his pack before he lit it, lowering himself down onto the edge of his bike seat as he sucked in a lungful of smoke.

"Nothing's wrong," Carol promised. "That lawyer met me up here today, the one that called about Ed's life insurance policy." Daryl nodded, ignoring his brother's loud announcement that drinks were on him tonight.

"How much do we owe?," Daryl asked, his brows knitting together in concern.
"We don't owe anything," Carol explained, trying not to laugh. "I just got a check for two hundred and fifty thousand dollars."

"What?," Daryl asked. His hooded eyes widened. And his mouth dropped open. His hands froze, the cigarette he was fishing for sticking half out of his crumpled pack. Like Carol, he didn't even know what to think or say. It was Merle that snatched her up off the ground and spun her around.

"Just remember," he drawled, knocking a kiss to the side of Carol's cheek, "...I'm the one that killed his dumbass. So I think I deserve at least ten percent of yer winnings." Carol laughed as Merle lifted her off the ground and spun her around in a circle.

"Quit grabbin' all over her," Daryl barked, shoving at his brother until Merle released his grip on Carol and set her back on her feet in the gravel lot. "Yer not gettin' shit," Daryl announced, though his tone implied that he was teasing rather than threatening.

Merle turned, punching Daryl hard in the upper arm before he took off the lot to go accost River. With the packed booths and crowds of people, Daryl quickly lost sight of him. But he knew when Merle found his target and cracked her on her ass, because he heard River's loud squeal from across the lot.

Daryl wrapped his arms around Carol, holding her against his chest. When he let her go, they were both smiling.

"Ya really got two thousand dollars?," he asked.

"Not two thousand," Carol corrected. "Two hundred thousand. Like a quarter of a million dollars." Like her, Daryl wasn't sure how to react. He stood there for a moment with his mouth hanging open. And then he lit his cigarette and took a hard drag, chuckling his head when Carol reached for it and put it between her own lips. She blew out a gray plume of smoke. And then she added, "...this means we can build our house. And another house on the property for River and Merle, like we talked about."

Daryl snatched his cigarette back, sucking in a drag as he considered this new information. Like it did when River suggested it to her, the idea of being able to build themselves a house made Daryl more excited than a large sum of money.

"We should put their house on the other side of the property from ours," Daryl joked, stomping out his smoke before he pulled Carol back into his arms. Daryl wasn't usually a fan of public displays of affection. But he kissed her anyway, his arms tightening around her waist as his lips pressed down on hers. Carol kissed him back, parting her lips to accept the gentle press of his tongue. They made out like teenagers in the back seat of a car until the slam of a nearby car door brought them back to reality. They were in a crowded parking lot at the farmers market. There would be time for kissing later, when they were alone.

"We should go out to dinner tonight," Carol suggested. "To celebrate."

Daryl was quick to nod his head. "We can go to that Mexican place, Sophia likes the chips and cheese there."

Daryl's suggestion gave Carol a warm feeling in the center of her chest. It was typical of him to think not of himself first, or her, but her daughter. Some of his attempts to bond with Sophia were misguided. Sophia bawled for hours after Daryl took her out hunting and shot a rabbit in front of her, begging him to take what was meant to be their dinner to the veterinarian. But Carol couldn't fault him for trying. In the end, they were all doing their best to navigate and define their newly formed relationships. The next time, Daryl took Sophia out fishing instead of hunting, which went much better. And Carol got a good laugh out of it when he whispered in her ear before they left, telling her she better have the aquarium ready when they got back in case Sophia refused to let him filet her fish.

"She'll love that," Carol agreed. She wrapped her arms around Daryl and gave him one more tight squeeze. When she let go, she had a sly smile on her face. Carol had news. And she'd been waiting for the right moment to tell Daryl about it. There seemed like no better time than the present. Especially since she blabbed to River. And River could keep a secret about as well as a holey bucket held water.

"Now that we have this extra money," Carol said. "I think I'd like to make the house a three bedroom instead of only two."

"Remember, we can always add on later," he replied. It was his idea to start with something small and expand it later, that way they'd have something livable to stay in while he was working on the rest of the place.

"We can," Carol agreed. "But I think we're going to need the extra bedroom before next year."

Daryl knitted his brows together, tilting his head slightly as he tried to figure out what she was implying. Her smile widened as she reached for his hand. Carol placed it on the inward curve of her abdomen. He left it there, his thumb stroking back and forth across the waistline of her pants. The confused look of concentration remained on his face for another moment before he lit up with much more excitement than he displayed when she told him about the life insurance money.

"No shit," Daryl exclaimed. "Are ya really…" Carol nodded, the words spilling out of her before Daryl even finished his question.

"I'm pregnant."