Claire didn’t think she had ever laughed so hard in her life. The more she tried to stop, the more she kept going. They had to stop because she needed to lean against a tree and catch her breath. The people who walked by them smiled and waved. They didn’t understand why she was laughing, but they found her laughter infectious.
Finally, Claire took a deep breath and wiped her eyes with the back of her shirt. "Really grandma! Unemployed billionaire?!"
Wilder shrugged. "I should have added the word imaginary in there. Unemployed imaginary billionaire."
Claire tilted her head. "Mmm, well, there are billionaires who are unemployed. The kind that inherit generational wealth. We know someone like that. He sleeps in the downstairs bedroom of my house. His brother shamelessly took all six jars of my chili crab sauce!"
Wilder linked her arm through Claire’s and they slowly walked forward. "Lemon’s boyfriend does not have generational wealth to inherit. He has generational poverty. I looked into him and his family has been ordinary for four generations. His grandparents own a small farm in the South. His mother works in a hair salon and his father is a security guard at a mall. Honest people, unlike their son."
Claire frowned slightly. How had her cousin become entangled with a man from a background like that? Lemon, like her mother, worshipped wealth. It seemed her cousin had been hoodwinked. "Does Lemon know about this?"
Wilder snorted. "I don’t know. All I know is that Lemon needs to tell that young man to wake up and stop dreaming. The real world is much more cruel than they think."
Claire knew about some of the cruelties of the world. She was sure that sooner or later, her cousin’s eyes would be opened. Hopefully, it would not happen after her savings were emptied out. And now that she thought about it, Claire realized she had been hoodwinked too. She was lucky that Andrew had not made her waste her savings on him!
They reached the courtyard of Claire’s grand-aunt, Rochelle. The woman greeted them warmly, her smile lined with years of hardship. Claire tried not to look at the scar on the woman’s face. She already knew the story behind it. But still, she couldn’t help sneaking a glance at it for a few seconds before looking away.
"Rochelle, why are you drying seaweed in your yard?" Wilder asked, poking at the seaweed that was drying on a rack.
Rochelle looked back and replied with a sigh, "Theresa came back home with Prim. In just one week, she has had a miscarriage, got a divorce and quit her job. She is now a single mother. Her ex husband’s family cut them off because his new celebrity girlfriend wants them gone. I asked her what she planned to do with her life going forward and she said that she plans to sell tuna wraps in the food market."
Claire had not met Theresa, but the name had been mentioned to her before. Theresa was her cousin who was married to a bodyguard of a famous actress.
"What did I tell you about Cupid?" Wilder asked, looking at Claire with anger on her face. "Chubby, underwear tooting bastard! I am going to find Theresa and discuss with her what we can do to make her feel better."
With Wilder gone, Claire remained alone with Rochelle, outside. Claire averted her eyes, choosing to look around the yard. Aside from the seaweed, custom furniture filled half of the space. Chairs without arms, tables missing polish, cabinets half-assembled.
Rochelle read the interest in her eyes and beamed. "Those were made by Drew, my youngest son. He is a carpenter. You can look at his catalog." She rushed into the house and returned with a binder of designs. Rochelle proudly flipped through them--benches, rustic farm tables, ornate wardrobes. "Drew has designed some furniture for some of the hotels in the city. He wants to open his own furniture company someday."
Claire admired the craftsmanship, saving some of the designs in her mind. She had some baby furniture she wanted. If it was not too expensive, Drew could make it for her. Keep the money in the family.
Then, Rochelle leaned closer, whispering, "I heard from Wilder that you are considering buying land in the area. My neighbor is looking to sell his farm. Big land. Very big. They are looking for a serious buyer who will pay one lump sum."
Claire’s ears perked. "How much?"
"Twenty million," Rochelle replied, caution in her eyes. "It is a lot of money. More money than most of the people in this town will ever make in their lives."
Claire grimaced. Rochelle laughed.
"Come on," her grand aunt said, taking her hand and leading her across to the neighbor’s property. The land stretched wide, fertile and green, with gentle slopes perfect for ponds. Claire walked the perimeter, her mind racing. Fish ponds, duck pens, vegetable plots, rice paddies---it was a dream waiting to be built.
Paddy bounded ahead, splashing in a shallow ditch as if already claiming it.
Rochelle was still giving the tour when a man approached them. He was tall, middle aged, with sun-creased skin. He carried a hoe that was hanging over his shoulder.
"I might have a buyer for you, Calvert," Rochelle said with a grin. "But she thinks twenty million is too steep. Is there wiggle room on your asking price?"
Calvert shook his head. "Twenty million. Not a coin less."
Rochelle looked down for a second, then lifted her head with a more hopeful idea. "What about leasing?"
Once again, Calvert’s response disappointed them. Claire’s heart sank. Twenty million was a mountain of money compared to her modest savings. She tried to keep her expression calm, but inside she felt the weight of poverty pressing down. Her little nest egg--painfully gathered--would vanish in a blink and it was not even enough.
Claire thought of the 700,000 dollars she had made today. She would need to make twenty nine trips to the other world to make twenty million dollars.
The goal could be accomplished in seven weeks or less, if she found some kind of treasure in the sea. But she highly doubted that Calvert would be waiting around for her to accumulate the money.
"I guess we won’t be neighbors then," Rochelle said sadly, patting Claire on the back in comfort. "We will find something cheaper. I will keep looking."
Claire sighed. Cheaper land could be found, but this was the perfect land. Could it be found again? Tomorrow, I will go fishing and see what I can find. Hopefully, a sunken ship with treasure or something, she thought.