Page 8 of Birdie by the Bay (Wynn Harbor Inn #2)

Harlow spent the rest of the evening going back and forth, undecided about whether she should question her husband about her conversation with Janice.

She finally decided the discussion should be in person, face to face, instead of over the phone.

But the conversation would have to wait.

Harlow wisely decided she needed to pick her battles, opting to have firsthand information, to wait until Aunt Birdie and Eryn finished conducting a little intel.

No longer in the mood for a night on the town, Harlow headed home after hanging out long enough to make sure she didn’t interrupt what was left of Lottie and her father’s card and casserole night.

Back at the house, she gave her father a quick update. He wholeheartedly agreed a little closer investigation was in order. Despite her initial reservations, Harlow knew it was time to find out what her husband might be up to.

She went to bed not long after, tossing and turning, unable to fall asleep. When she finally did, Harlow’s sleep was filled with vivid dreams about her mother, along with an unrelated dream about Robert. Even Caleb Jackson made an appearance.

She woke exhausted early the next morning. Flipping over to check the clock, a knot settled in the pit of her stomach. Aunt Birdie and Eryn were already on the mainland, driving south to the Detroit airport where they would catch a direct flight to New York City.

By the time she dressed and rolled out of her bedroom, her aunt had texted, letting her know they were on the plane, getting ready for takeoff.

The smell of fresh coffee lured her into the kitchen. Harlow poured a cup and went in search of her father. She found him in his usual spot on the front porch, the morning newspaper in hand.

“Good morning, Harlow.”

“Hey, Dad.”

“You’re up early.” He set the paper in his lap, giving her his full attention.

“I didn’t sleep well.”

“To be honest, neither did I. Have you mentally prepared yourself for what Birdie and Eryn might find?”

“Yes. I mean I’m trying.” During the long hours of the night, Harlow contemplated her marriage. She was beginning to realize it wasn’t a deep and lasting love, but more of a business arrangement.

She couldn’t remember the last time Robert had told her he loved her or even complimented her.

Their professional and personal lives revolved around their careers.

Business deals, public appearances, scheduled promotional events and…

spending money. Lots of money spent on a lavish lifestyle, to the point Harlow was almost embarrassed by the excess.

She absentmindedly checked her cell phone and noticed she’d missed a text message. It was from her credit card company, declining the charge for the hotel room she’d booked for Aunt Birdie and Eryn. “Now what?”

“Is something wrong?”

“The credit card charge for Aunt Birdie and Eryn’s hotel room was declined.” Harlow promptly dialed the number. She explained the situation to the company representative. “This is an American Express Gold Card with unlimited charging.”

“Which has been cancelled.”

Harlow could feel the color drain from her face. “My credit card has been cancelled?”

“Yes, ma’am. The only way to get it reinstated is to visit your local bank branch and reapply in person.”

She thanked the person on the other end of the line and hit the end call button. “My card has been cancelled. Can you do me a favor and grab my purse? I need my wallet.”

“Sure.” David sprang from the chair and hurried inside. Returning moments later, he handed it to her.

Harlow flipped open her wallet and began placing calls to check her other credit cards, only to find all but a small line of credit had been cancelled. “I have one small credit card still active.”

She set her purse on the table and tapped the screen. “I’m calling Robert to find out what’s going on.”

“Hold up.” Her father stopped her. “Do you think there’s a chance he may have put some sort of freeze on your bank accounts too?”

Harlow blinked rapidly. Would Robert do something so sneaky, so underhanded? “While I was awake last night, the thought had crossed my mind that maybe it was time for me to check out my…our finances. I haven’t done it in a while.”

“To make sure Robert hasn’t spent all of your hard-earned money?”

Harlow nodded. “I’m ashamed to admit he also controlled our bank accounts.”

“Because you were busy working,” her father pointed out. “I’ve heard horror stories about famous folks who turned their money over to a manager only to find out later it was all gone.”

“First things first. I’ll call the hotel and get the reservation straightened out.” Harlow promptly placed the call. Using another card, a card she kept for emergencies, she paid for the night’s stay. “I’m going to need my laptop.”

“The kitchen counter would work better. You can spread out.” Her father gathered up what she needed, including tracking down her laptop. “Do you need help reaching the barstool?”

“I want to try it on my own.”

Mort, who had trotted into the kitchen, worriedly watched her struggle to get from her wheelchair to the barstool. “I’m making Mort nervous,” she joked.

“He’s not the only one, although Mort’s a bit of a worrywart.”

The dog stayed close by Harlow’s side. He was almost always in her room when she woke in the morning. The pup followed her to the bathroom to keep an eye on her and even monitored her movements throughout the day, having become Harlow’s self-appointed guard dog.

She let out a celebratory whoop when she successfully landed on the barstool. “I did it.”

Woof. With tail wagging, Mort nudged her with his nose.

“Onward and upward, my furry friend.” She ruffled his ears.

“Do you want me to hang around?”

“Thanks for the offer, but it’s going to take some time to dig through what we have.”

“I’ll be on the porch. Just holler if you need help.”

After her father left, Harlow began sifting through her emails, making sure Robert hadn’t sent her a message with an explanation about why her credit cards had been canceled.

She quickly answered her most pressing messages. Halfway through, she found one from her husband, asking her to review a handful of potential projects he’d forwarded. She responded with brief and to the point replies.

He replied, thanking her. As an afterthought, he asked how she was feeling.

Getting better every day .

During the long, sleepless hours and late into the night, Harlow had done some serious soul-searching about Robert and their marriage.

She loved her husband, but it wasn’t the kind of love that made her heart race and her knees weak.

No one had ever made her feel like jelly except for Caleb Jackson.

Stop! Harlow scolded herself. Caleb was a part of her past. So what if he was close by? He had chosen his path. She had chosen hers. To top it off, the two were not even on the same page about what they wanted out of life.

Pushing all thoughts of her high school sweetheart aside, Harlow grabbed a pad of paper and jotted down each of the bank accounts she knew of.

Starting at the top, she tracked down Coastal California Credit Union’s site and logged in. Or at least she tried logging in. Twice, she got an error message informing her she had the incorrect password.

Harlow hit the button for “forgotten password.” A second error popped up, stating the online account was unavailable and listed a number to call. “Great. This is getting better by the minute,” she muttered under her breath.

The front door slammed. Her father appeared. “How’s it going?”

“Not good. I’m locked out of our main bank account.” Harlow grabbed her cell phone and dialed the number. After several transfers, she finally reached the regional assistant manager, who offered to look into it. “It appears some recent changes were made to your account.”

Harlow’s scalp tingled. “I haven’t made any changes.”

“Robert Barbetz is the designated account holder, along with Harlow Wynn.”

“Which is me. You’ve already verified my information.”

“The username and password were updated last week.”

Harlow’s mind whirled. “I need to access our account and would like to change it.”

“We can take care of it now.” Clicking on the other end of the line ensued.

Within minutes, she was able to give Harlow access. “Is there any way to put some sort of note on this account so the password isn’t changed again?”

“Unfortunately, as a safety measure, all customers are allowed to change their password and account information as often as needed.”

“I see.” Harlow thanked the woman for her help. She ended the call and immediately logged in. The main account page popped up.

She clutched her chest, staring at the screen in disbelief. “How can this be?”

Her father leaned in, peering over her shoulder. “What is it?”

“The main accounts have almost zero balances.”