Chapter 4 - Ten Years of Questions
Graham slept in the guest room.
Vivian did not ask him to come back.
The following morning, Miles sat at the breakfast counter drawing a dinosaur wearing a business tie.
“Are you mad at Mom?”
Graham poured coffee.
“What makes you think that?”
“You didn’t kiss her good morning.”
Children noticed everything adults believed they concealed.
“We’re having a disagreement.”
“About the basement man?”
Graham nearly spilled the coffee.
“Miles.”
“What?”
“How many times have you been downstairs?”
Miles thought.
“Three.”
Vivian entered just as Graham asked, “Who did you see?”
Her face tightened.
Miles counted on his fingers.
“Grandpa Basement.”
Graham looked at Vivian.
“He told me not to call him that,” Miles explained. “But he’s Mom’s dad, so he’s my grandpa.”
Vivian closed her eyes.
“You introduced them?”
“No,” she said quickly.
Miles corrected her.
“I introduced myself.”
Graham almost smiled despite everything.
“What else?”
“The lady with the purple glasses.”
Nora.
“And the guy who doesn’t smile.”
Marcus.
Miles lowered his voice.
“They talk about money a lot.”
Vivian sat beside him.
“Miles, honey, you should never have been downstairs.”
“I know.”
“Why did you go?”
“I heard Mom crying.”
That silenced them.
Miles returned to his dinosaur.
Graham watched Vivian.
She looked exhausted.
After Miles left for school, Graham closed the kitchen door.
“When did you decide to marry me?”
Vivian looked up.
“What?”
“I want the truth.”
“I told you—”
“No more partial truths.”
She stood.
“I met you because I was investigating your family.”
There it was.
“I knew your company sponsored the museum fundraiser where we met. I bought a ticket because I hoped I might speak to Colin.”
“But you spoke to me.”
“You spilled champagne on my coat.”
Despite himself, Graham remembered.
She had laughed.
He had been embarrassed.
They had talked for two hours.
“Was that planned?”
“No.”
“The coffee the next week?”
“No.”
“The dinner after that?”
“No.”
“The engagement?”
Her eyes filled.
“Absolutely not.”
He turned away.
“You should have told me.”
“I tried.”
“When?”
“The night before our wedding.”
Graham laughed bitterly.
“You did not.”
“I sat in the hotel bathroom for an hour with my birth certificate in my purse.”
“But you walked down the aisle anyway.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because by then I loved you more than I hated your family.”
He looked at her.
“That is not comforting.”
“I know.”
“Did you marry me for access to Whitaker Holdings?”
“No.”
“Did you ever search my office?”
Silence.
His heart sank.
“When?”
“Before Miles was born.”
“How many times?”
“Twice.”
Graham closed his eyes.
“What did you take?”
“Nothing.”
“What did you photograph?”
“One old project index.”
“Harbor Point?”
“Yes.”
He laughed again, softer this time.
“You weren’t my wife. You were investigating me.”
“At first.”
“And later?”
“Later I was terrified of losing you.”
“You should have considered that before lying for a decade.”
Her voice broke.
“I considered it every day.”
Graham stared out the window.
He wanted to hate her.
It would have been easier.
But every memory had become contaminated by a second possibility.
Their first date.
Her tears at their wedding.
The way she held Miles after he was born.
Had Sarah Vale been present in every moment?
Or had Sarah disappeared and Vivian become real?
His phone rang.
COLIN WHITAKER.
Graham and Vivian both saw the name.
He answered.
“Morning, Uncle Colin.”
“Graham.”
Colin’s voice was warm, familiar.
“I heard Elias Vale is back in Connecticut.”
Graham’s eyes went to Vivian.
She went completely still.
“Really?”
“Yes. Funny thing. Someone from legal ran his name this morning.”
“Why would legal care?”
“Old enemies sometimes become new problems.”
Graham forced himself to breathe normally.
Colin continued.
“Actually, I was hoping to stop by tonight.”
“Why?”
A pause.
“Family matter.”
Graham looked toward the basement door.
“When?”
“Seven.”
The call ended.
Vivian whispered, “How does he know?”
Graham had no answer.
May you like
But one fact had become unmistakable.
Someone inside their circle was already talking.
