Nine Lives - Danielle Steel Page 0,21

intentions, which she hadn’t even thought of.

The insurance company’s check took a little longer. Phil made his first payment right on time, as she would have expected him to. No matter how she looked at it, or hated the reasons for it, in a short span of time, she had become a rich woman. She didn’t know what to do with the money, and hired the same investment advisor Brad had used. He had left her a legacy of stability, and a solid foundation he had built carefully. But she still had no idea what to do with it, or who she was without Brad. He had been her whole identity for nineteen years. Without him, she felt invisible, and lost. She had nightmares about the money sometimes and saw it dripping blood in her dreams, or floating in a pool of blood with the vision of Brad slipping under the surface.

She told Aden none of it, and she had accepted it all for him. She knew that if she safeguarded the money, as Brad would have done, and invested it well, Aden would be a wealthy man one day, but she had no intention of telling him or anyone else about it. In the meantime, overnight she was now a wealthy widow, which was the last thing she wanted to be. All she had wanted was to be Brad’s wife, and a good wife and mother. Instead she now had money and had to live the rest of her life without him. At least they were safe and secure. It was his final gift to her. She would never have to worry about money or the future.

Little by little, the nightmares lessened, the headaches were less severe, and she was able to sleep at night again. She realized that despite how sad she was without Brad, security was a good thing. She was never going to do anything risky with her money or spend it lavishly. She would save all or most of it for Aden. It would be for him one day. It was the only way she could live with acquiring so much money as a result of Brad’s death.

Chapter 4

At the end of March, Aden got his college acceptance letters. He was accepted at Dartmouth and Boston University, with a full scholarship to play on their hockey teams. Buck’s recommendations had helped, but Aden had earned it. Maggie was even more worried now about his playing such a violent sport, but he had played all through high school, and it was what he wanted to do in college. It didn’t reassure her that two days after he accepted Boston University, he got into a massive team fight on the ice, and got a cut over his eye that needed stitches and a dislocated jaw when the opposing team’s goalie punched him. She gave him a sound lecture when she drove him home from the emergency room. Half the team was there, and Aden was proud of the scrap that they had gotten into. All of the boys were fined and would have to miss the next game. She was still annoyed at him when Buck came to check on him the next day. He was a big, burly man who had played professional hockey for two seasons in his youth, and had to give it up when he broke his ankle during a game.

“It’s the nature of the game.” He tried to soothe Maggie about the fight, which didn’t reassure her. “The pros do it too.”

“That’s what I don’t like about it. He could end up with a serious injury,” she said as she led Buck into her kitchen after he visited Aden, who was watching TV from his bed. Aden didn’t admit it to his mother, but he thought the fight had been fun, just like the pro players in the NHL, as Buck said. He felt like a man now, and Buck didn’t disagree with him, although he didn’t say it to Aden’s mother. He knew she was always worried about Aden getting hurt. Other than that, Buck liked her. And she was a very pretty woman.

“He’s a great player, Maggie. He’s got what it takes for the NHL: incredible timing, speed, size. He’s got all the right instincts. He could be a pro player one day, and a good one.” She had higher hopes for him, and didn’t want him playing violent sports. Brad hadn’t wanted that for him either. “I’m