Sharon Sala - Wild Hearts

“I just found the paperwork on an old loan my Dad took out at your bank some years back. I knew nothing about this and wonder if you can tell me when it was paid off.”

Standish frowned and then cleared his throat. He had been dreading this conversation, although he hadn’t expected it to happen for a few weeks, which was when the balance of the loan, in its entirety, would come due.

“Let me check our records. The computers are slow today, so give me a few moments.” She heard the clicking of keys as he checked the computer. “Ah, yes, here we are. Your father did indeed take out a loan some years back. He’d been paying on it regularly until two years back, but I’m afraid he’s been in arrears ever since. I believe he and I discussed this briefly earlier in the spring, but I hadn’t heard from him since.”

“How much does he still owe?” she asked.

Standish cleared his throat again.

“A little over fifty thousand dollars. Interest accrued rather rapidly with the missed payments.”

The room was beginning to spin. Dallas dropped down on her knees to keep from falling.

“What did you tell him when you...when you talked in the spring?”

Standish cleared his throat one more time.

“I believe he understood that if the money wasn’t paid in full, he would lose the collateral, which was his farm.”

Dallas gasped. “The farm? The one that’s been in our family for over a hundred and fifty years?”

“Yes.”

“What date would that take place?”

“Twenty-seven days from today.”

“I’m listed on his checking account. Can you please verify the amount in that account?”

More clicking of keys.

“Seven thousand, five hundred and twelve dollars, and thirty cents.”

“And his savings account?” she asked.

“He doesn’t have one.”

“What? I don’t understand. Dad always had—”

“Actually, the amount in his checking account is from a transfer from savings made about six months ago. I’m afraid that’s all that’s left.”

“So my Dad was about to lose the farm?”

“Yes, and I’m sorry to be the one to give you this news.”

Stunned, Dallas disconnected without even saying goodbye, then stood and stared out the window at the scene before her. She’d seen it a thousand times before and never thought it remarkable in any way. It was the same pasture, with the same mountain looming behind it. She looked at the barn, built before the house in which she was standing, and then thought of all the people who’d lived here, and the years of toil and hardship they had suffered to keep themselves afloat. Generation after generation had lived and died beneath this roof, and now she was going to lose it because she’d wanted to go to college, and her parents hadn’t told her no. They hadn’t told her they couldn’t afford it. They’d never said, “You need to work your way through if you want to go.” They’d just sent her on her merry way, and she’d never thought twice about how they’d made it work, because she’d been so wrapped up in losing Trey and, at the same time, realizing she was about to live her dream.

All of a sudden bile was burning the back of her throat and she was racing to the bathroom. She threw up until her sides were aching and her throat was raw, and then she staggered to her bedroom and collapsed from the weight of her guilt.

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