Page 29 of No More Hiding
10
New Memories
Talk about a shock to hear.
Or maybe that was why Vivian felt like she was drawn to Brent. That they both had things in their past that could be considered dramatic to some. Messy to others.
In her case an embarrassment and scandalous.
Sins of the father were not going to fit for her nor did she want anyone looking at her as if she was a liar and cheat like him. She wanted to be as far away as possible from that and felt she’d accomplished it.
She’d been living her life the way she wanted it. The way her grandparents had helped her do.
She didn’t break the law. She kept her nose clean. She did what she thought was right to hopefully counteract all the wrong her father had done.
It’d never be enough. She knew that and wondered why she tried as much as she did.
It’s not like her parents cared about her enough to put her first. They’d been planning on escaping the country together last she knew.
“I’m sorry to hear that,” she said. “I know something about loss myself.”
“I’m not surprised,” he said. “I can almost see it in your eyes too. Wow, that came out as cheesy. It’s not a line. Truly it’s not. I’m not sure I could give a line if I read the top ten in a book.”
She laughed. “You’re fine. I like that you’re honest. I try to be the same way.”
“Try?” he asked.
“I can be a straight shooter and it’s not what people want to hear often,” she said quietly.
“I tend to blurt out what’s in my mind more than anything. I suppose it comes from not spending a lot of time around people.”
“Do you like doing that? Or whatever you do,” she said.
“I do. My sister was the more outgoing one of us. I’ve been the quiet one that she pulled along. I went because it made her happy. She made a lot of people happy.”
“It’s great you have such fond memories to carry with you.”
“I do,” he said, drinking more water as if he had to parch the words sticking in his throat. “It was hard. It is hard still, but we got through. You mentioned loss?”
“My mother,” she said. She took a deep breath. “She committed suicide when I was a teen.”
She’d never lied about that. There was no reason to. She only skirted the truth as to the reason why. She couldn’t very well say her mother couldn’t live without her father and with him spending multiple lifetimes in jail, the scandal was too much to bear on top of it.
Her grandparents were prepared to help her mother and her both change their identities and start over. Her mother wouldn’t hear of it.
“That’s horrible. You mentioned your grandparents before. So I’m going to assume your father isn’t in the picture?”
“No,” she said and left it at that. She’d mentioned before he didn’t exist to her.
She’d be forever grateful that her grandfather was smart enough to not invest all his money with her father. Or when he did, he kept enough control of it and sold it when he could.
Many were wiped of their life savings. Actors, professional athletes, businesses were part of the victims. Those that had nothing left, she’d felt for them. But her grandfather was a smart frugal man who never put all his eggs in one basket.
She supposed the fact that actors and athletes were a good handful of the victims that it helped bring her father down. It was bad enough to steal from people, but when you get cocky and do it to those in the spotlight, you’ve got to have some massive balls.
“And your grandparents are gone too,” he said.
There was sympathy in his voice and on his face. “Yes. My grandmother died about five years ago. My grandfather close to three. Nothing was keeping me in Chicago anymore. Some might say I ran, but the truth is, I couldn’t cope. It came down to that. I needed to start over and make a new life and new memories.”
