A Mothers Lost Fortune

By Debra Nicodemus

Jessica was scared but excited to start her new life in New Orleans. The thought of opening and running a new store in New Orleans sounded fun. Taking her best friend, Kevin, with her made leaving her hometown and her friends a little easier. But leaving behind all her other friends was going to be so hard. Had she known the move would put her best friend’s life in danger, she would have never left her beloved Boonsboro. In a matter of months, Jessica would meet the love of her life and have Kevin almost die. They would go into hiding to make sure they were safe. Who would do this to them? How long would it take to figure out who did? And is it connected to the mother’s fortune they found? People would find her story hard to believe, but it did happen to her and Kevin.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Page Publishing, Inc.
• Release date: Oct 31, 2017
• ISBN: 9781640822115

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A Mother’s

Lost Fortune

DEBRA NICODEMUS

Copyright © 2017 Debra Nicodemus

All rights reserved

First Edition

PAGE PUBLISHING, INC.

New York, NY

First originally published by Page Publishing, Inc. 2017

ISBN 978-1-64082-212-2 (Paperback)

ISBN 978-1-64082-211-5 (Digital)

Printed in the United States of America

Chapter 1

The Job Offer

When Jessica got up today, she had no idea how much her life was going to change in the next couple of months. She’d have a job offer that would take her to a new place to live. She also had no idea the changes the love of a new man would make in her life nor how another man would put her life in danger. She had not even met these men yet, but her life would be in serious danger from one of those men. Good thing she didn’t know her best friend, Kevin, was in danger of being attached because he was at the wrong place at the wrong time. Kevin would be lucky to be alive after his attack. He was lucky Jessica found him. Jessica would never experience such terror. If Jessica knew how scary it would be, she would never had except the job offer.

When people saw Jessica, they would see her outward beauty. She also had a beautiful inward beauty that drew people to her. She had tanned skin with her long, curly blond hair, and dark blue eyes. She was five feet six inches, very slight built. Jessica had a beautiful purple sundress on today with sandals.

But if she could have her way, she’d never get out of her shorts and T-shirt with flip-flops. Jessica sure did love being with people. She always had her fair share of dates but really never found the one she wanted to be with forever. Jessica stayed friends with most of her old boyfriends. It wasn’t them. It was her. So why be mad at them?

Jessica remarked on what a beautiful day it was in Maryland while she was driving her navy-blue Mustang to work at the mall. Jessica almost wished she had today off. Almost. Jessica had always loved a warm day. Warm days made her happy. She also loved the town she grew up in, Boonsboro, named after Daniel Boone’s cousins. She was fortunate to live close to the Antietam Battlefield. Jessica also liked to go to the Gettysburg Battlefield when she had time. She would walk the Antietam Battlefield on beautiful days and read about either battlefield on cold rainy days. Jessica enjoyed all the history around here. The county she lived in was rich in history. Jessica was thinking about where she would go over the coming weekend as she drove to work in Hagerstown at the mall. Jessica knew she would go somewhere with history for sure. Maybe Burnside Bridge. Or maybe she would go to the Washington Monument on top of South Mountain, then have lunch at the South Mountain Inn. The inn was so rich in history. As she parked at the mall to go into work, she wished it was the weekend already. Little did she know her plans for this weekend would change. Little did she know she had a whole new life opening up to her.

Jessica checked her hair in the glass as she walked into the mall. Jessica couldn’t believe she was at work already. The mall was still pretty quiet when she went inside. She smiled and said hello to everyone she passed. That was just her way. It helped her make friends easy.

She was all smiles as she walked into the store to start her day. She felt today was going to be a good day. She could feel it. She loved the little dress shop she worked in. It was called Deb’s Closet. She had met some really nice people working there. She also gained great friend working there. Jessica had been there four years and just loved it. Jessica always called the employees and her customers her family. She didn’t have much family. Her parents had died years ago, so having her family at work had helped her and given her so much comfort. She had distant cousins whom she only saw at funerals. Her customer Lydia walked in and asked Jessica for some help finding a dress for her anniversary dinner with her husband at a fancy restaurant in Shepherdstown, West Virginia. Jessica said, Oh, Lydia, I have the perfect dress for you. Come with me, and you can try it on. Jessica adored Lydia. You don’t meet a nicer person that Lydia.

It was a nice steady day at work. A lot of regular customers came in. Jessica was her same happy person but excited to talk to her customers and help them with finding the right outfit they needed. That was the thing that she excelled at. Her customer service skills were top-notch. She received many rewards for it in here four years there. Jessica’s personality stood out in a crowd. The time there flew every day. Jessica was so busy with customers she didn’t notice Dan walk in, or the fact, he had been watching her work with the customers.

Jessica’s day was almost over when she was called into her manager Jenn’s office. Jessica stopped her work, and as she walked to Jenn’s office, she wondered what was going on. When she got to Jenn’s office, she saw her district manager was there too. She had only met Dan about a dozen times, so she was really concerned as to why he was there and what on earth it had to do with her. It didn’t take any time at all for her to find out. They we offering her a new job at their New Orleans store that was set to open in four months. Dan said he had that faith Jessica can handle it. He said Jenn would go with Jessica to get the store open and help with interviews for staff members. It came with a big raise and moving expenses, along with a bonus to help her purchase a home in New Orleans. Jessica asked if she could have a day or two to think about it. Jessica didn’t want to look overexcited. She also wasn’t sure she could handle leaving her friends. They were all she had, but she kind of knew she’d take the job.

Yes, it was a very good day. The day flew by. She hoped none of her customers at the end of the day felt Jessica was distant and distracted after her meeting with Jenn and Dan. It was so hard to focus when she had so much on her mind. But now that Jessica was alone and heading home, she was starting to panic about the responsibility. Her mind was racing . . . Where would she live? Would she find enough help for the store? Could she say goodbye to her friends and her beloved town of Boonsboro? And so on. She knew she would have sleepless nights until she made her decision. How was she going to make a decision so fast? The job and the move was exciting, but it was a lot to think about.

Jessica decided to take a walk and take pictures at Burnside Bridge. That way, if she moved, she would have some pictures to remind of Burnside when she missed home. It was described once as a 192-foot-long bridge built over the Antietam Creek. It was a stone structure with three arches. The bridge was named after General Ambrose Burnside, who stormed the bridge to fight the Confederates. Jessica thought she was so glad the battlefield took such great care of this beautiful bridge for her to enjoy walking over. So peaceful now but so many lost their lives there many years ago. Such a sad thought. The walk helped her clear her head but sure did not help her with the decision she had to make. Could she walk away from her life here? Where would she find such a peaceful place in New Orleans?

Jessica decided to stop by Bender’s Tavern in Sharpsburg to get a drink and dinner. At Bender’s, she ran into two of her friends, Phil and Brad. She didn’t bring up what happened at work that day. She just wanted to enjoy their company for now. Phil was a conductor on a train out of Brunswick, Maryland, and Brad worked at a plant in Hagerstown—both nice guys, their grandmother’s pride and joy. They spent time talking about the friends they had in common, Diana, Donna, Mary,Leasa, and Frank, with whom both boys met at while working in production in a dairy farm.. While talking to Phil and Brad, Jessica decided to plan a party and invite everyone so she could give them her decision about the job. Whether she moved or not, she wanted to let them know about the job. The three spent a couple of hours at Bender’s, laughing and talking. They said their goodbyes and said they’d see each other soon.

It looked like it was going to be a long night. Jessica was sure she wouldn’t sleep well. She wanted to call her friend Leasa and talk things over, but she really wanted the decision to be her own. Good thing she was off tomorrow. All the tossing and turning. All the walking the floor. Long, long night. Now that morning was here, Jessica was glad to be up and get that long night over with. She was right; she hadn’t slept.

Jessica spent a lot of time thinking about the new job. She had to make a decision today. She needed to let Jenn and Dan know tomorrow. She decided to make lists of pros and cons since she couldn’t seem to make a decision. After making her lists, she laughed. Hardly any cons. Plenty of pros. So her decision was made. She was taking the job. She’d be silly to give up this opportunity. And no one ever called her silly. Now she could relax and enjoy her day off.

Since Jessica was off, she called Diana and Mary. The three girls went to see a movie and to an early dinner. Frank joined them at dinner when he got off work. Jessica had hoped Frank and Mary would date, but so far, that hadn’t happened. The four of them had went to school together.

Jessica was the first one into work today. She walked around the store, thinking about leaving the store for her own store in New Orleans. She wondered what her store would look like. Just then, Jenn came in and said, Today is the day. Do you have an answer for us?

Jessica said, I think so.

Jenn said they’d get together as soon as Dan arrived. Jessica and Jenn continued getting the store ready to open. Kevin and Dan came in at the same time, so he called the girls to Jenn’s office for a meeting.

Jessica was pretty excited to tell them her answer. Jenn and Dan both were happy to hear her answer. They thanked her and told her they were there for her if there was anything she couldn’t handle. They were a phone call or a flight away from helping her anytime. They all went over some important things about the new store. Then they told Jessica they had a big surprise for her. We are giving you a week off with pay and sending you to New Orleans so you can get the lay of the land, Dan said. They also would paying her airfare. What a nice surprise.

Jenn said, So go home and pack, young lady, because I’m going to take you to the airport tomorrow morning. I have your flight scheduled.

Jessica could not believe how good they are to her. When she said goodbye to Kevin as she left the store, she realized she wouldn’t be working with him much longer. That made her sad. She would miss this nice young man more than he would know. Jessica decided on not telling Kevin about her job offer for a while. She just wanted to make sure she knew what to tell him. She would tell him when she got back. Would she ever make such a wonderful friend like him in New Orleans? Before Jessica left Kevin, she did tell him that she was going out of town for a couple of days to take care of something for Dan. She knew Kevin would call her because he called almost every day.

At home, while packing, Jessica started to worry about all the responsibility she was taking on. Then she said to herself, You can do this, and went back to packing. Once she was done packing, Jessica took out a notepad and started one of her endless lists—what she needed to do before she left, who to invite and what to have for her party to tell everyone about her future, what she needed for the store. Yes, her endless lists. She packed her notepad for her trip because she knew she would be making notes on her trip. Off to bed because the next day was going to be an exciting day.

In the morning, Jenn showed up to drive Jessica to the airport. They talked about the store on the way to the airport. Jenn reassured Jessica that she could handle being manager of the new store. Jenn said, Don’t forget I’ll be with you awhile until you get things set up. You’re never on your own. Ever. When Jenn dropped her off at the airport, she told Jessica to try to have fun. Fun was what Dan and Jenn wanted for Jessica.

Jessica was excited to start her day in New Orleans. A new adventure. New places to explore during her paid vacation. As she