Vivian’s eyes lifted toward the ceiling, as if she wanted to linger in her happy place a moment longer. “Give me the good news first.”

  “Uncle Douglas is downstairs. He came to see you today.”

  Vivian turned questioning eyes toward Alexis. “Douglas? He wants to see me?”

  “Yes, he’s waiting to talk to you.”

  Vivian’s eyes got big. “Did Mama come with him?”

  Alexis took her mother’s hand in hers, patted it. “Remember the bad news I mentioned?”

  Vivian nodded her head.

  “Grandma passed away.”

  Vivian drew a sharp intake of breath, then let out a long sigh. “Mama flew away?”

  Alexis wanted to cry. Her mom had obviously suppressed this memory because it hurt too much for her to remember. Now, here she was making her mother face reality. Sometimes, reality sucked.

  “Come on, Mom. Let’s go visit with Uncle Douglas. You haven’t seen your brother in a long time.”

  * * *

  The visit with Uncle Douglas went well. Her mother sat and reminisced with her brother for hours. When he left, Vivian hugged him and cried on his shoulder. Even though she had to bring her mother back to reality on the matter of Grandma Joyce, Alexis felt that she had made the right decision in contacting her uncle.

  Later that evening she went to the kitchen and fixed a cheese and cracker snack with sliced green apples for her mother. She was about to take it upstairs, but then it hit her. She and Michael hadn’t said two words to each other all day. They couldn’t continue on like this. If she had to be the one to humble herself so they could get back to a good space in their marriage, then so be it.

  Alexis walked to the back of the house where his office was. She was about to knock on the door, but she heard voices. She had not heard the door chime, but she wasn’t surprised. Her brain had been frazzled lately. The kids could be shouting and breaking things in the house, and she wouldn’t have noticed.

  She could hear Peter. He sounded angry. Alexis started to turn and head upstairs to her mother’s room, but then she heard Peter say, “Face it, Michael. We’ve been caught. Nora knows that Kevin was the real creator of our app, and she’s refusing to complete the sale unless we add his name to the design.”

  “How did she find out?”

  That was Michael’s voice, and Alexis was absolutely shocked. She had expected Michael to say something like, “You know I designed that app. Nora doesn’t know what she’s talking about.” But instead, he wanted to know how the woman discovered this information.

  “You probably don’t remember this, because you were so busy with the swim team back then,” Peter was saying. “But Kevin and Nora dated for a few weeks during our senior year.”

  “So why is she busting our chops about this now? She knows Kevin is dead.” Michael sounded as if it didn’t matter that he’d ripped off a friend. Kevin was dead, so all’s well that ends well.

  “Nora says that their firm will not take on this liability. I told her about Kevin’s kid, and she wants this matter taken care of.”

  “You told her about the kid?” Michael exploded. “How dumb can you be?”

  “Hey, you can lie all you want, but Media Matters Inc. is not going to drag me into court and strip me of what I’ve worked hard for because we didn’t disclose everything upfront.” Peter sounded as if he’d had enough of Michael.

  “And how are we supposed to find this kid? It’s not like either of us kept up with her,” Michael said.

  “We should have. This could blow up the whole deal.”

  “So what is Nora’s final on this? Is she really prepared to pull out?”

  “She’s worried that Kevin’s app might turn out to be a PR nightmare,” Peter said.

  “Stop calling it that,” Michael said angrily.

  Alexis had heard enough. She opened the door and glared at her husband. “Why should Peter stop calling it Kevin’s app? Kevin created it, right?”

  All the blood drained from Michael’s face as he turned toward his wife. “Alexis, what are you doing in here?”

  She sat her mother’s snack on his desk. “More secrets, Michael. Secrets, secrets, secrets. Everything has to be hush-hush with you.”

  “What are you talking about, Alexis?” Michael looked tired.

  She hoped he was tired of keeping secrets. Alexis turned to Peter. “Did you know that he won’t let me tell anyone that my mother has a mental illness? He also wanted to cover up the fact that I caused a kid to be paralyzed because I was reaching for my phone while driving.”

  Frustration rang in Michael’s voice. “Alexis, it’s enough already.”

  But she wasn’t finished. She swung back around to Michael. “And now we have another secret. So, my accident didn’t hinder the sale of your company at all. It was your secret that did it.”

  Peter stood up. “I’ll call you later so we can finish our discussion.”

  Michael barely acknowledged Peter’s abrupt exit. He was focused on Alexis. “You don’t know what you’re talking about, so just stop.”

  “I know exactly what I’m talking about.” Her arms flailed in the air. “You’ve had me so stressed out all these years that if someone discovered my mother’s secret it would ruin this make-believe world you created for us. But it’s not my secret that’s going to do you in, is it?”

  “No one needs to know about your mother’s illness.”

  Her eyes narrowed on him. “Would it be so bad if we decided to tell the truth in this family, once and for all?”

  “I am always truthful with you. You’re my wife, Alexis.”

  Her hands flailed in the air. “You’re not even truthful with yourself, Michael. How could you steal your college roommate’s app and claim it for yourself all these years?”

  “That’s not what happened.”

  She gave Michael an I-don’t-believe-a-word-you-say look as her lips pursed. “Oh, really, then how did it happen?”

  Michael’s shoulders slacked. He shook his head and turned away from her.

  Slamming her palm against his desk, raising her voice. “Don’t turn your back on me. Not this time!”

  He turned around as she commanded. “Sit down, Alexis. I’ll tell you the whole story if you want to hear it.”

  He almost looked defeated, except the Michael she knew had never let anything defeat him. “What’s the deal here, Michael? You made me feel like if I stepped out of line, I would tear down everything you’ve built for our family. I’ve kept so many secrets, and now I find out there is yet another secret.”

  “I know. I know. I should have told you about this, but Kevin died a few months before I met you.”

  “Why didn’t you tell me that the app had been created by your friend? All these years I thought you created that app. Both you and Peter led me to believe that.”

  Michael sat down next to Alexis. “You have to believe that I was devastated when Kevin died. We were young and so ready to take on life. I thought that he and I would build a business together. And to tell you the truth, our business would be much more successful if Kevin had survived that car crash.”

  “You have your faults just like the rest of us, but I don’t believe you wanted Kevin to die.”

  “Thank you for that,” Michael said, then continued. “After Kevin died, I brought Peter on to handle the financial side of the business while I went to market with our offerings.” Michael looked pained as he added, “Kevin’s app has been our most successful product.”

  She put a hand on his thigh. “Oh, Michael, I wish you didn’t think you have to be so perfect all the time.”

  “But I’m not perfect.” His jaw clenched as he admitted the truth. “Kevin’s app was better than mine.”

  “So what? You’re the one who took it to market. Who’s to say that Kevin would have been able to handle that side of the business? You don’t do Peter’s job, do you?”

  Looking as if it almost killed him to admit another weakness, Michael confessed, “I suck at math.”

  “Exactly, that’s why your son is so bad at math.”

  “It’s not funny, Alexis.”

  “No, Michael, it isn’t funny. It’s actually very sad that you can’t see how wrong you’ve been all these years.”

  “Hold on a minute.” Michael stood up, paced the floor. “I’ve done pretty good by this family.”

  “Yes, you have, but you failed Kevin’s family.”

  The pacing stopped. Michael turned back to Alexis. His eyes begged her to see it his way. “I didn’t know what to do, Lexi. All I had was a photo with the baby’s name on the back. How was I supposed to find her?”

  Now it all made sense to Alexis. “The photo in your desk . . . She’s Kevin’s child, isn’t she?”

  He nodded.

  “Why did you keep her photo all these years?”

  Ringing his hands together. “Just couldn’t throw it away.”

  No longer caring about the secrets her husband wanted to keep, Alexis rushed over to his desk and opened the top drawer and began searching through it. “Didn’t you say there was a name on the back of the photo?”

  “You don’t have to look for it. I remember her name.”

  Alexis glanced over her shoulder at her husband. “Do you have some other secret in this drawer that you don’t want me to see?”

  “No, I don’t. You can search the drawer if you want, but her name is Kee Kee. Kevin told me about her when she was born, and the name is on the back of the photo. I could never forget a name like that.”

  Closing his desk drawer, Alexis practically snarled as she confronted him. “If the child’s name is etched into your memory, then why haven’t you tried to find her? You owe that girl money.”

  “It’s complicated,” was all Michael could say.

  “Then uncomplicate it.” Michael was a real piece of work. It’s always about the money with him. “You had the audacity to stress me out about what my accident could do to your company. Think about the PR nightmare you would have if it got out that you cheated a black man who was supposed to be a friend.”

  Alexis picked up the snack she fixed for her mother and stormed out of his office. For the first time since she laid eyes on Michael Marshall, she felt shame in being associated with him. She felt like he didn’t deserve her. How could he have pretended that he developed that app and never bothered to compensate his friend’s family?

  She needed distance from her husband. She knew he was a bit selfish when she married him, but she never imagined that he was also a liar and a thief. She still loved him. Alexis didn’t think anything could change that, but she was not happy with who and what he turned out to be.

  When she arrived at her mother’s door, Alexis heard the kids. She cracked the door and saw Ethan and Ella on their knees on either side of her mother’s bed. Their hands were steepled.

  “Okay, now repeat after me,” Vivian said. “Now I lay me down to sleep. I pray the Lord my soul to keep.”

  The kids repeated the words of the prayer.

  “If I should die before I wake, I pray the Lord my soul to take.”

  The kids repeated again.

  Then Vivian said, “Now you can ask God anything that you want Him to do for you.”

  Ethan looked at his grandmother. “Mom and Dad have been arguing a lot lately. Can I ask God to make them like each other again?”

  “You sure can,” Vivian said as she glanced over toward the door where Alexis stood.

  “Thanks, Mom,” Alexis mouthed. She waited outside the door to allow the kids to finish their prayers.

  When Ethan said, “Is it okay if I ask God for another Nerf gun? My best friend has one with a rip chain and it holds twenty-five darts,” she knew it was time to go in.

  “I thought you might like a snack.” She put the plate on her mother’s night table.

  “Thank you.” Vivian smiled at Alexis. “I was just teaching my wonderful grandkids the prayer my mother taught me when I was a child.”

  “I appreciate that, Mom. But I don’t remember you letting me add gifts for myself in those nighttime prayers.” Alexis pointedly glanced at Ethan.

  Holding her stomach and laughing as if she was enjoying life, Vivian said, “You can’t blame me for having such cute grandkids.”

  “Well, it’s time for these cute kids to go to bed.” Alexis shooed them out.

  “Ah, Mom, do we have to go?” Ella asked as she stood up.

  “Yes, hon, you have day camp tomorrow, so please go straighten your room and then get some sleep.”

  Alexis sat down in the chair next to Vivian’s bed. She marveled at how Ethan and Ella lingered, even as they took their time giving their grandmother a kiss before leaving the room. When she was their age, she dreamed of being away from all the drama. She would have given anything for someone to take her away.

  Now, all she wanted to do was spend as much time with her mother as possible. Vivian had experienced so much pain in her life, all Alexis wanted to do was bring her mother joy for the rest of her days. “How are you feeling tonight, Mom?”

  “My body feels drained, like I ran the Boston Marathon. I’m hoping that I’ll feel better by tomorrow.”

  “Your visit with Uncle Douglas must have worn you out.”

  “It did, but I won’t complain because I had so much fun talking to him.” Smiling as her head rested against her pillow, Vivian then said, “Thank you for calling my brother.”

  “I was happy to do it.” Alexis leaned back in her seat. Not sure what else to say, she just wasn’t ready to leave her mother’s room. She especially wasn’t looking forward to going to her bedroom tonight.

  “Sweetie.” Vivian’s voice was low, like she was falling asleep, but had something she wanted to say.

  “Yes?”

  “You’re finding your voice with Michael, aren’t you?”

  Chapter 26

  Trish sat at the kitchen table with Jon-Jon across from her. It amazed her that her son had wheeled himself out to the kitchen and right up to the table.

  “Whatcha working on?”

  Looking up from her computer, Trish told him, “The schedule for the distracted driving events I told you about.”

  “So you’re really going through with this?”

  “You want a sandwich?” Trish got up and went to the fridge.

  “We got any of those salt-and-vinegar chips left?”

  Trish checked the pantry and came back with a bag of chips. “Got them. You want a turkey sub or an Italian?”

  “Italian. And thank you. One day I’m going to make you a sandwich and grab you some chips so you can get some rest.”

  Trish closed her eyes and slowly inhaled, as though she was breathing in good, clean air after months of taking in smog and smoke-filled clogs of polluted air. Her son’s words danced around her ears like a shimmy-shimmy, drum-beating song. “Yeah, well, you just remember that I don’t like mayo. Your father has been bringing me subs with mayo for twenty-five years. I just don’t understand it.”

  Jon-Jon laughed. “But you know why he forgets, right?”

  She handed him his plate and then sat back down. “Please enlighten me.”

  “He likes mayo and lots of it. Every time I’ve gone to the sub shop with him, he makes sure they slather that stuff on his sub.”

  Trish’s eyes rolled heavenward. “I know. That’s why I don’t ask him to get me a sub.”

  “Yeah, but Mom, you have to give him some credit. He at least picks up a sub for you when he gets one for himself.”

  “Whatever.” Trish went back to working on her computer while Jon-Jon ate his sandwich. So far she had only received two confirmations for speaking engagements. One would be at Southwest High School and the other would be at the community college she worked at.

  It seemed to Trish that most people didn’t think distracted driving was such a big thing, despite the fact that one out of every four accidents in the United States was caused by someone texting and driving. If it was the last thing she did, Trish was going to make sure that people understood just how wrong-headed it was to text and drive.

  Jon-Jon finished his sandwich, then rolled his wheelchair to the other side of the table. “I thought you were just working on your schedule.” His eyes widened with surprise. “Did you create a whole website about distracted driving?”

  “I sure did. I even have some of your football photos on the site. I hope you don’t mind. I’m trying to get reporters interested in these events. It’s important to me to reach as many drivers as possible.”

  “No, Mom, I don’t mind. You are really serious about this, huh?”

  Trish turned to her son and put her hand on his chin, feeling the stubble beneath her fingers. He still had a long way to go in his recovery. He wasn’t allowing her to go with him to his rehab appointments anymore. Marquita took him. Her son wanted more independence, and that was okay. “I’m very serious, son. You are finally finding your way, and I’m thrilled for you. Still, this was and is the hardest thing this family has ever gone through. If I can stop one family from experiencing tragedy because of some inconsiderate texter, then that’s what I’m going to do.”

  “Tell you what, count me in, Mom. When you go to speak to these kids, I want to be there to show them the dangers of texting while driving.”

  “That makes me happy, Jon-Jon. But if it’s going to put you into another depression, then I’d rather you not attend.” Jon-Jon had completed three video visits with Dr. Vance. Things were going well. Her son was no longer talking about not wanting to live, and she wanted to keep it that way.

  “I’m good. I’m free any day except this coming Friday. I’m going out with Marquita to celebrate her two weeks on the job.”

  Grinning at Jon-Jon, Trish nudged him. “Boy, when that girl first came into this house, I wondered what in the world you had been thinking, but I like her.”

  “Marquita’s not perfect, but she’s good people. Oh, and we both wanted to thank you for helping me babysit Marcus while she’s at work.”

  “Anything to help that girl get to work on time, and I love having my little Moochie here.”