Fifteen

Chapter 7: Move Along

Brooke spent the morning trying unsuccessfully to not think about everything that happened over the last two months. She always wanted to be famous and imagined daily what it would be like to have so many people know her name. But the last two months proved that the age old saying "be careful what you wish for" was still valid and true.

Everyone knew that the FTC and SEC had uncovered what James and Barbara Brunson had been doing for many years. The Brunson & Brunson group was her family's company and was supposed to be her legacy, but it was gone.

Her family would now replace Enron in the history textbooks and the Brunson name would be infamous for all of the wrong reasons. Her furrowed brows could be seen a mile away and Mary Beth knew instantly what her granddaughter was thinking about.

The past couple of months had been hard on everyone. Mary Beth was very used to her daily routine by now. She lived a quiet life in Temple, Texas with her husband Artie. They had over 200 acres of land for their ranch and farm that took up their time now in their old age.

In the beginning, it was not always like this. When Mary Beth was pregnant with her sixth child, Artie decided to build a new home for their expanding family. Once completed, the house stood at 5,900 square feet with enough space to house their then nine children and now thirteen grandchildren.

Once everyone had grown up, they became accustomed to having at least one person in the house from time to time. Their youngest daughter, Blake, was currently getting her Master's in College Station, Texas while working for a PR company in Houston, Texas. She would drop by whenever possible. Blake was an adult, so Mary Beth didn't worry outside of the usual maternal constraints.

But all of that changed when she got that dreadful phone call at 3 am from a blocked number. Mary Beth could barely hear her daughter, but she knew something was wrong. When she walked out of the room to avoid waking up Artie she was able to better hear and speak.

"Mama," Barbara cried, "we're in trouble." For three hours, Mary Beth listened as her second oldest daughter told her everything about Brunson and Brunson. Barbara went into detail about the investigations, the seizing of telephones and periodic searches at the office and the various properties and houses.

Barbara seemed so upset when she initially called, but as she talked more and more about it and eerie sense of calm began to come over her. It was as if with each detail she divulged a level of acceptance was reached.

"Mama, I need you to take Brooke. You and Daddy are her legal guardians and since she's seventeen they'll give you custody." Mary Beth was alert at this point. She didn't have time to wrap her mind fully around the severity of their current situation, but she knew she had to do what she could for the granddaughter she barely knew.

Barbara didn't need a lecture and Mary Beth knew it. So, after providing the contact information for the lawyer, faxing over pertinent academic, medical and health records, mother and daughter prepared to say goodbye. "Mama, I don't know when I'll be able to talk to you again like this. Tell Daddy I love him and I'm really sorry..." Barbara's words were caught behind a deep cry.

"Mary Barbara, I love you. I can't promise that everything will be all right, but I do know that you will do what's best and right. God is in control, honey. You just need to call on Him." Mary Beth held the phone in her hands for what seemed like another day as she cried.

Where did I go wrong? She thought to herself as the fax machine buzzed and hummed downstairs. Over the next few days, she and Artie would begin to prepare to have a teenager in their house again. It was an adjustment that neither they nor Brooke were truly ready to make.

"Do you want something to eat?" Mary Beth asked from the kitchen sink. Brooke sat on the bar-stool across from her grandmother and shook her head no. Surprisingly, she didn't have an appetite that afternoon. She had been in Temple for over two months and had already gained ten pounds.