"Yes, thank you, Mr. Taylor." Emeline smiled politely, her head still spinning as she watched the man walk away, then looked at Barnabas. "Oh...goodness...."
There was so much, and this wasn't something that was going to be solved quickly, although she had her ideas. "It's...really?" Her voice dropped to a whisper. "Two-hundred fifty thousand? That's..." An amazing amount! "We need to put part of it somewhere safe...I mean, not invested anywhere. Even without the ranch, we can easily live on half of that...less than that, but we just need to make sure it's there, regardless."
If everything else fell through, they could still have security, and that was what was important.
Pike sat for a moment soaking it all in. There was money, quite a bit in the bank in Helena already. They had spent a great deal already perhaps two thousand to twenty-five hundred dollars on this trip so far, not that he regretted a single penny of it. There would be hard work and perhaps hard decisions to be made once they returned. Yet Cap's advice was sound, in so far as investing. That may well need to wait a while.
Stashing a large sum of money somewhere 'safe' might prove difficult, if not interesting. Where of course, would be the first question. But the first order of business was the money held at the Wells Fargo Bank.
I figure the best thing to do is eat this before it gets cold, then we'll tackle the money over at the Bank." He said at last. "And we will have some decisions to make about it, and how we intend to live going forward." He said quietly. "You do understand that properly dealt with, our children will ever have to work, although they will be raised differently than that. And, there is a great deal that we could do with that kind of money, and it won't take much of it to make an impact."
The steak was good, as good as he had remembered. He and Em had a great deal to come to terms with, and fear could not be a part of their lives.
"But I think our children should have to work." Emeline frowned, knowing that Barnabas didn't mean to spoil them, but she wanted them to know what it was to put in effort for something you wanted. "It will give us something to talk about when we get home, after we have a chance to think it over."
Honestly, it was still making her feel a little queasy, although she was enjoying her meal, the food was very good. "Of course, you'll have to take care of business here, while you can. The rest can wait, and we've plenty yet to do." It was going to be hard to go back to normal, though, at least in her mindset, now that there was confirmation that they were wealthy. She really didn't know what that meant, nor how to act, nor if she wanted to act differently. Maybe, once they were home and the child was born, she'd feel differently.
"They're ranch kids, Em, they'll work every day on the place." He said. "True, there will be hands, but our children will learn how to take care of the place that will be theirs one day. They will learn like their father did, by doing it before and after school." It was the way, there was no other. And it worked for him and his siblings, it would work his own brood, and brood it would be, that was what Em had said. There would be children, according to her, plenty of children.
"We can hide some cash if that will make you feel better, it's this 'safe place' you mentioned that escapes me." He agreed, " Maybe bury it, but we'll need a map if we do that. What I will do is have most all of it transferred to the bank in Helena, and find out why it wasn't in the first place. And pocket money for us. Maybe see if they can find out what's in the bank in Helena already. Be easier if one bank contacts the other.
Bongo
Emeline was relieved that Barnabas intended for the children to work, although that didn't come as a surprise. She was confident that he wouldn't coddle them, even though he no doubt would heap them with praise and reward.
"Imagine, they can do anything they want to." She smiled a bit dreamily. "They can attend the best colleges, if that is their pleasure..." So many people, like Tom in San Francisco, had wild dreams, but could never afford to follow through.
"As for the money, I just meant setting a portion aside in the bank, not to be invested or risked, but there just in case." Even she had a savings account, although it was only a few dollars.
"I wasn't sure, the way it sounded. But of course, and with this kind of money, perhaps more than one bank." Barnabas offered, "Speaking of, the Kalispell National Bank, there should be a goodly sum kept there for day-to-day expenses for the ranch and the Lickskillet, if you decide to hold onto it. Oh, about that, I want to hold on to the building if you sell the business."
The building would produce income. He liked the idea of investing in the one thing that would always hold value, land. If he owned the building, he would own the lot under it. That is what he would buy.
"As for them kids we'll have, college in the east unless they build a proper one out here. Their education is paramount to their future. Hopefully at least one of 'em will stay on the ranch, which I plan to see grow in size. But yes, education is a must for them." He said, smiling.
"Yes, of course, in a bank..." Emeline chuckled. "Although I have to say, I was starting to warm up to the idea of having a treasure map!" She laughed, then nodded. "And certainly, we can keep the building, I can see to paying it off once we get home." It would be a pittance compared to what they had. "And it will still give Clara and her husband a place to live, and a way for them to make a living, so long as they want to."
Finished with her meal, she leaned back in her seat, looking at Barnabas. "I wanted to think that my children -- our children -- would be secure and taken care of, but I never would have imagined..." She shook her head. "I don't think I'll ever get accustomed to knowing they'll be supported." In fact, now, the hard part would be instilling a good ethic, but she knew she and Barnabas could do that.
"So you've decided to sell the business to Clara and Jacob then?" He asked, simply relaxing before venturing down to the bank. "I don't want you to regret leaving the cafe. Then again, with this army of children you're planning, there wouldn't be much time to be working there." That was realistic, which gave him pause.
"I guess now's as good a time as any, me bein' a deputy for Speed, how do you feel about that?" He asked a question he felt needed to be asked. "I know, men don't ask their wife's opinion on nothing these days, but you and me are in this lifelong partnership, and I figure you've an opinion, and I want to hear it."
Barnabas 'Pronto' Pike was suddenly in a position he could have only dreamed of. The turn of a card had made him wealthy, but Captain T.G. Taylor made him rich beyond anything he might have dreamed of. He knew that he needed to take charge of this wealth, as he had no idea how much sat in the bank in Helena, he hoped Wells Fargo could help since they had transferred the money every month. His lack of financial knowledge was suddenly unacceptable, and just as suddenly he had choices, serious choices he had not anticipated, nor expected.
"I'm not sure about selling, so much as just letting Clara run it. It depends on her, of course, but I need to talk to her first." She may not want the cafe, even to run it, and she certainly couldn't afford it, even though Emeline would gladly 'sell' it for a dollar. But she knew Clara, and was pretty sure she wouldn't allow that.
Then he asked about the deputy job, and that caused her to hesitate, so she took a drink of lemonade before answering. "If that's what you want to do." She had no intention of stopping Barnabas from doing anything he wanted to, he could make his own decisions. Of course, things could change, too. He might find that the ranch took too much time, or he could delegate some of that.
"I'd worry about you, no denying that, but it would be better than having you wanting to be there and feeling stuck at the ranch." She shrugged and sipped lemonade again. "And you can change your mind any time."
"As I've said, what you do with or about the Lickskillet is your affair, after all, it is your business, you bought it and built it. I'm just the former dishwasher there. And your husband of course." He said in his easygoing manner, because in reality, even though men of the period controlled everything, and women owning businesses was rare, that was not how Barnabas saw things.
About bein' Deputy to Speed, be a hard thing to back out. I know the men that are binging the herd an' your horses, well, they'll work out just fine on the ranch. So I'll likely stay on, for a bit anyway. Frank Teal, he's ramrodding the drive, he'll make a good foreman. I trust him, well if I didn't I woulda went after the stock myself. So that'll work out, I believe."
"But Speed, he may not run for Town Marshal again. There's always that you know. I don't know, but he's serious about Alice Fletcher, so she may not care too much for him wearing that badge, even though, mostly Kalispell's pretty quiet." He was not thinking about the hospital and the ramifications if it even passed. They had heard nothing from up north one way or the other. At least he had not.