The man looked like she’d just saved his life. “Are you sure you can manage everything?” he pulled out a card and handed it to her. “We’re filing the tax forms now, getting all of the employees into the system. I’ll be in charge of the business accounts and a check should be cut to each employee forty-eight hours after they’ve certified that the hours are correct.”
“But what about all of the fines Janice has received due to the health and building inspector?”
The man shook his head. “Employees come first. Any amounts still in the accounts after the employee fines are paid will be used for the other fines. But you people must come first.”
They all nodded and Daisy immediately took over managing the diner. She stopped the fourteen hour shifts and brought in more employees, warning them that it would probably only be a temporary job. Janice would most likely fire them as soon as she got out of jail, which she surely would because…well, because people like Janice never seemed to be fully punished for the things they do to others.
But everyone was working eight hour shifts now, with three shifts total, and some of them overlapping in order to give everyone the required lunch and shift breaks. She let Tony order whatever food he wanted and the man went a bit crazy, but the increase in profits was amazing! Word of the new menu quickly spread. Because the truckers were a tightly knit group and talked amongst themselves via the airwaves, they spread the word that the food at Janice’s diner was incredible and the diner was packed from morning to night, with more people taking their food to go, because the wait for a table was too long.
Tony brought on two additional cooks, showed them how to make the meals and supervised them until they got it right. The two new women loved to cook and added their own ideas, which Tony incorporated into the menus as well. Even Jane helped out, providing smaller, take out desserts and boxes of cookies for the truckers to enjoy after they’d pulled out of the parking lot. Jane’s desserts were a huge hit and even required a special refrigerated case to display all of her treats. Because they were so beautifully decorated and incredibly tasty, it was hard to keep enough desserts in the case to fill all of the orders.
Daisy, Ivy, and Marilee supervised the new wait staff, trained them, and helped when things were busy. They even had to hire a cashier to serve all of the additional customers streaming in.
Tony was the first to bring up the issue pressing on each of their minds. It wasn’t hard though since it was the talk of the diner. The news anchors continuously reported that no one had stepped up to claim the billion dollar lottery prize. Every time someone in the diner mentioned it, joked about how they were driving over to “pick up their winnings”, the four of them would share a look.
A month after their visit to Jason’s house, they got off work at two o’clock. All of them walked out the back of the diner and all got into Daisy’s car. Thankfully, it started up again and they drove out to their spot.
When they were all once again standing around, Tony spoke up. “We need to hire Jason. He’s proven himself after Mindy’s situation.”
“Yeah,” Ivy agreed. “I guess I just…I’m not sure I want someone to tell us that we didn’t really win. I don’t want to hear that the ticket is a fluke.”
Daisy nodded her head. “Why don’t we just go find out?” she offered.
Marilee shifted her feet, saying what each of them were thinking. “Because it’s more fun to dream. And hope.”
Daisy smiled. “Yeah, but what if we really did win? What if we could fly out of here tomorrow night, bags packed to say…Aruba!”
“Paris!” Ivy offered. “I’ve always wanted to see Paris.”
“London!” Marilee laughed, clutching her hands together as she thought about all of the possibilities.
“Let’s do it,” Tony agreed.
Daisy looked at the others, who all nodded. “Okay, I’ll make the call.”
She dialed the cell phone number and smiled when Jason answered the phone on the first ring. “Jason, it’s Daisy from Janice’s diner.” She listened for a moment, then shook her head. “No. Nothing like that. You were brilliant! Janice had no idea what was coming her way and was arrested. We’ve all received back pay and I’m managing the diner for now.” She laughed and nodded, but the others could only hear one side of the conversation.
“Yes, well, we have another problem that we need your help on. Would you mind if we came to speak with you? It’s rather urgent.”
The three others stood there silently until she nodded again. “Yes. Thank you. We’re about a half hour away, if that’s okay with your schedule?”
There was a pause, then Daisy said, “Thanks so much!” Daisy ended the call, pocketed her phone and nodded to the others. “He can meet us now.”
They all piled back into Daisy’s car and she drove to the lawyer’s house. He was waiting for them, cup of coffee in his hand and leaning against the doorway.
“How’s it going?” he asked in a relaxed manner.
Daisy walked up and wondered what his genuine mental state was, the sharp, quick lawyer who dove into a situation and obtained victory or this laid back, congenial man. It was an interesting mystery.
The four of them stood in the man’s messy yard, where a chicken pecked at the ground looking for food. The outside of the house was such a contradiction to the interior. It was almost as if the man were trying to hide who he really was from the world.
“We have another challenge for you,” Ivy spoke first.
The man’s eyes crinkled at the corners, almost as if he were laughing at them, but didn’t want to hurt their feelings. “Okay, so let’s go inside and I’ll see what I can do to help you.”
They shuffled inside and he poured everyone piping hot coffee. Marilee, Daisy, and Ivy looked at each other, thinking it was strange for someone else to be serving them for a change.
“Right! What’s going on?” he asked, sitting in the big leather chair where newspapers were draped over the arm and scattered on the floor around the chair.
They looked at each other, trying to figure out how to explain. Once again, the most timid of the foursome was the first to speak up. “We won the lottery,” Marilee blurted.
The man blinked and Tony chuckled. “We think we won the lottery. But we’re concerned about claiming the prize money. If we really won, we have no idea how to keep that news a secret.”
Daisy took over. “We were hoping there might be some way we could claim the ticket anonymously.”
The man nodded his head, his strong hands cupping the coffee mug. “Well, there are only five states in the country that allow winners of lottery money to claim their prize anonymously, and Kentucky isn’t one of them.” They all looked a bit desperate with that news, but he continued. “However, there are ways to set up a trust, which is a legal entity, and then the trust claims the prize money, allowing the owners of the trust to remain anonymous. Would that work?”
The four of them straightened, looking at one another quickly. “Yeah,” Ivy agreed eagerly. “I think that would be awesome!”
He smiled. “Okay, so how about if you show me the ticket and I’ll see what I can do to validate your winnings as a first step?”
They handed over the ticket as well as the newspaper article showing the winning numbers. This was the step that worried them the most. It wasn’t as if the ticket actually had their name on it or some way to identify that the ticket was theirs. It was just a ticket with the winning numbers on it.
Thankfully, he let out a low whistle as he compared the numbers, but then handed both papers back to Tony. “Okay, so here’s what I’ll do. It will take me about twenty-four hours to file the paperwork that will set up a Claiming Trust for each of you. Can someone give me a dollar?” he asked.
While Daisy, Ivy and Tony were still trying to figure out why he wanted a dollar, Marilee pulled one out of her pocket without hesitation, handing it over to him. Typical of sweet Marilee, they all thought. If someone needed something, she did
n’t ask. Her gentle heart just provided whatever she could.
He took the dollar and nodded. “Thanks. You’ve now retained my legal services and guaranteed my silence.” He took a notepad from the stone fireplace and started writing. “I’ll personally file the paperwork this afternoon, but once this starts going, you’re going to need more people to help you out. Right now, you don’t know who you’ll need, what kinds of people you’d like around you. But I have contacts and will see if we can get you some expert advice once you have your money.”
“A financial advisor,” Tony spoke up quickly.
Jason wrote that down. “I know of someone. You can interview that person and see what you think. Don’t jump on the first person you talk to though.” He stopped writing and looked at each of them. “What you did, testing me before you revealed anything, is actually brilliant. Once people know that you have money, they’ll be coming at you from all sides. You’ll be hit with requests for money, scam artists that are brilliant, relatives coming out of the woodwork that you never knew existed, and all manner of unscrupulous people.” He paused and all of them understood that he’d experienced this personally. “Trust me, don’t tell anyone that you are wealthy.”
He went through several more issues, but after less than a half hour, they stood up and shook his hand. “I’ll be in touch. Guard that ticket,” he warned. “Don’t tell anyone about this until I contact you tomorrow. If I can make it happen sooner, I’ll let you know.”
They nodded, already understanding the significance of hiding all of the information. Thankfully, no one even suspected that they had the winning ticket, so that was in their favor.
Chapter 5
“It’s done,” Jason announced as soon as Daisy answered her phone one day later.
Daisy stopped, looking around at the chaos in the dining room. “What’s done?” It was ten o’clock that night and Daisy was covering for one of the other waitresses who had cut her finger earlier. She had about ten orders that were stacking up in the window and more people waiting to order. And this was a slow period of the night.
“The money is in your trust. I went ahead and set up a bank account for each of you, separating out the prize money into four equal shares but each of you will need to visit the bank with identification to set up your signatures and security. The total winnings came to just over one point six billion. That’s billion with a B! After taxes, that came to seven hundred and eighty four million. Dividing that up, each of you are now worth just over one hundred and ninety-six million dollars.”
Silence.
They’d met with Jason earlier this week and he worked fast! They’d met with him again that afternoon and warily handed over the winning ticket, but he’d already had paperwork there for them to sign, attesting to the ownership of the winning ticket. He said it was so that they could be assured that he wouldn’t steal the ticket.
He’d told them that it might take several days. It hadn’t even been one day!
“Um…could you repeat that?” she whispered, unable to speak any louder.
Jason laughed, but he went through all of it one more time.
The ringing in her ears was loud and muffled his words, but the news slowly sank into her brain. One hundred, ninety-six million dollars?! She had a net worth of one hundred, ninety-six million dollars?! She’d never even had a net worth before ….
Someone called to her and she looked over at one of the other waiters. “Um…Jason, I need to go. Thank you!” she gushed, not wanting to sound ungrateful. “Thank you so much!”
He laughed. “You’re going back to work, aren’t you?” he asked.
Daisy looked around. There were truckers and travelers waiting for food, friends who were struggling to carry out all of the orders to the tables…she couldn’t leave. These were her friends!
“Yes. I have to…”
“Don’t worry. We’ll meet tomorrow to go over more details. Can you come out to my place at ten o’clock tomorrow morning?”
Daisy must have agreed, because she hung up the phone. Still standing in the middle of the diner, chaos swirling around her. But she didn’t see any of it.
“Honey, come sit down. Did someone die? Are you okay?” Martha, one of the new waitresses, asked solicitously as she led Daisy over to an empty chair. “Get her some water, honey,” Martha called out to Walter, the other waiter. Walter hurried behind the counter and grabbed a glass, filling it up. One of the truckers realized what was happening and grabbed the plates of food, delivering it to the tables himself.
Daisy couldn’t drink. She simply stared, in shocked at that enormous number. She kept repeating it in her mind.
“I need to go,” she muttered, standing up and looking around. “I’m sorry to leave you in the lurch like this but…”
“Honey, you do whatever you need to. And let us know if you need anything, okay?” Martha said at once. Walter was right behind her with the glass of water, both of them looking at her worriedly but nodding, telling her to leave.
Daisy grabbed her purse and walked out the back. It took her three tries to start up her old car and she vowed that the first thing she was going to buy was something that started up immediately!
She drove to Tony’s house first, but as soon as she knocked, he answered the door with the same stunned look. Inside, Ivy and Marilee were standing there, identical looks in their eyes.
“These came for us,” Marilee lifted the package.
“There’s probably a special messenger knocking on your door, trying to…”
Before Tony could finish, her cell phone rang. It was a messenger trying to locate her. “I’m um…I’m at Tony’s house.” Thank goodness for small towns. The man appeared at Tony’s door less than five minutes later. None of them had said a word, all of them too shocked at the news.
The messenger handed her an electronic clipboard and Daisy signed for the package, which he immediately handed to her and nodded, departing quickly.
“It’s a credit card, a bank statement, and some cash,” Marilee whispered, her voice weak.
They all sat on Tony’s torn up couch, staring at the money. “I’ve never had a credit card before,” Marilee whispered. “I’m not even sure if I know how to use one!”
That seemed to break the dam. Daisy, Marilee, and Ivy all began to chuckle, then giggle, then full on laugher filled the room. They jumped up, hugging each other, as their eyes got misty. Tony stood back, leaning against the cracked wall with his arms crossed over his chest, smiling as he watched his friends.
When they realized that he was standing off to the side, they wiped their tears and looked at him. Tony knew what was going to happen and he straightened up, the amused expression falling from his face as he backed away. “No!” he snapped, lifting his hands, palms up. “Don’t drag me into that!”
But they surrounded him anyway, wrapping him in a big group hug. Tony took it with a sigh and a roll of his eyes, but he squeezed back. All of them laughed, the ladies jumping up and down while Tony avoided getting knocked in the chin by their heads.
Chapter 6
Jason called the following morning. “What’s first on your list?” he asked.
Daisy groaned. They’d gone out to the grocery store and bought several boxes of wine, drinking it for the rest of the night. Tony had cooked something, but Daisy wasn’t sure if they’d actually eaten.
“Um…we talked about traveling.”
“Good idea. Would you like me to recommend a travel agent?” he asked.
Daisy pushed her hair out of her eyes, wondering what had happened to her hair band. “Um…yeah. I guess. I’m not sure…”
Jason chuckled softly. “This woman is amazing. She’ll get you all set up and help you go wherever you want to visit. I’ll have her call you.”
Three days later, they were on a flight to London, their passport requests expedited with Jason’s help. Jessica, their travel agent, had arranged first class tickets for each of them, and a car to meet them a
t the airport. Since they didn’t have any luggage, none of them having traveled before, she told them that someone would meet them at their hotel for shopping. She’d arrange everything.
A limousine was at their disposal and took them to Harrods’s, one of the most well-known department stores in the country. Each of them was outfitted with new clothes, underwear, shoes, and purses for the ladies. Tony was dressed up in suits, slacks, sweaters and all the things he needed. They also purchased luggage, each were given makeovers with makeup tips and stocked with all of the beauty products to recreate their makeup the next day.
Next stop, a spa. Tony went with them and received a shave while the ladies enjoyed facials. Then massages all around and dinner at a beautiful restaurant.
Over the next four days, the driver drove them around the city while a tour guide took them to all of the major tourist’s sites. They saw Westminster Abbey, Big Ben, rode the massive Ferris Wheel, toured London Tower, then were driven out to tour the Harry Potter film studio. From there, they enjoyed Stonehenge and Bath, which Marilee declared her favorite city in the world.
“This is only the third city you’ve visited,” Tony teased. “And LowPoint doesn’t count.”
She laughed, but dismissed his teasing comments.
From Bath, they moved on to Paris and did more shopping, more touring, and more eating. Tony loved the restaurants the most, but they were thoroughly enjoying themselves.
By the time they made it to Aruba, Marilee had gained ten pounds and groaned when she lowered herself into the beach chair. “I can’t keep this up,” she groaned.
Ivy, who had always been slender, laughed and patted her shoulder. “You have to be kidding,” she teased, knowing that Marilee’s bodacious breasts were drawing men’s eyes left and right.
Marilee pushed her sunglasses higher onto her nose. “No. And I know this is horrible, but…”
“I miss home,” Ivy sighed as she fell into the chair next to Marilee.
The Lottery Winners_A Free Introduction Page 5