Chapter 2
Flynn
M y dad has been an actor his entire adult life, but he’s never been a drama queen, nor does he exaggerate. To hear him speak in such dire terms makes my knees weak as I drop into one of the plush chairs in front of his desk. The most serious conversations of childhood took place there, covering every topic from grades to girls to sports to the right thing to do in any situation.
“What’re you talking about, Dad? What does Vivian Stevens have on you, and what’s it got to do with Mom?”
He leans forward, resting his chin on his hands. “A couple of years before I met your mother, I was… I was involved with Vivian.”
“Okay…”
“Your mother hates her guts.”
“What? Mom doesn’t hate anyone.”
“She hates Vivian. She stole your mother’s first fiancé right out from under her nose, as your mom puts it, while pretending to be her friend.”
“Wait. Mom was engaged before you?”
“Yes, to Jonah Street.”
“ What? ” Nothing has ever shocked me more. My mom and Jonah Street ? What the actual hell? He was the star of Thunder Row , the first film I was in as a green twenty-two-year-old, determined to make my way in the business that’d made my parents famous.
“They’d been engaged for a very short time while they shot London Town with Vivian. According to your mother, Jonah was all about her until Vivian swooped in with no respect whatsoever for their existing relationship. Mom said Vivian made it her goal in life to land that man, no matter who she had to steamroll to get him.”
“Damn. And he went for it?”
“Men were positively dazzled by Vivian in her heyday. She was incredibly beautiful and absolute magic on film. Not that your mother wasn’t a stunner, too, because she was—and is. But Vivian had this fearless sexiness to her that made men nearly feral for her. It’s hard to explain what I mean because everything is so different now. Most women are fearless in their sexuality and in command of their own lives and destinies. It wasn’t like that back then, except if you were Vivian Stevens. I learned later that much of her moxie was a facade, but it worked for her. She had the attention of the whole world.”
I’m still stuck on the fact that my mother was engaged to Jonah Street—and that she, who banned the word hate in our home while we were growing up, hates Vivian Stevens.
“Mom was humiliated by him leaving her for Vivian. There was a nasty screaming match on the London Town set that derailed her career for a time. It was ugly, and she’s never forgiven either of them.”
“Is this why she was so opposed to me doing Thunder Row ?”
He nods. “She was outraged that Jonah had advocated for you to be cast. She felt like he was screwing with her by working with you. But she didn’t want to do anything to mess up the opportunity for you, so she gritted her teeth and kept her mouth shut.”
“Wow, the stuff that goes on that you never know about.”
“Yes, exactly, and that’s how I find myself in a terrible spot. This thing with Vivian and Jonah happened before I met Mom. It blew up into a massive story after Mom lost her shit with Vivian on the set and called her a whore. The whole town was still talking about the showdown between them when I met Mom.”
“So you’ve never told her you were with Vivian?”
He shakes his head.
“Dad. Seriously? In more than fifty years together, that’s never come up?”
“I would’ve been afraid to mention her name around your mother. That’s how much she loathes her. Mom believes that Vivian didn’t just steal her fiancé, but she also made sure she was blacklisted in the business. Mom couldn’t get an acting job after that to save her life.”
“Is that why she shifted her focus to music?”
“That’s exactly why. She blames Vivian for ruining her acting career. Believe it or not, that was her first love.”
“I can’t picture her as anything other than a singer.”
“She came to love it, but she never got over the way she lost control of her career or who caused that to happen.”
“I’m sure if you tell her the truth after all this time, she’ll understand why you didn’t tell her then.”
“There’s more.”
I’m afraid to ask what he means.
“I wasn’t just involved with Vivian.”
I’ve gone from afraid to terrified in the span of one sentence. “What do you mean?”
“I was married to her for eight months.”
This must be what it feels like to have a potential scandal threaten the foundation upon which entire lives, including mine, have been built. “ What? ” That’s all I can manage to say. “You’re telling me Mom doesn’t know that, and now Vivian is poised to publish a book that could blow the lid off that secret?” My voice gets higher and shriller as that sentence unfolds.
“Yes.”
“ Oh my God , Dad. How did you keep a marriage between two stars a secret?”
“Our manager at the time, Bobby Scott, was livid that we’d gotten married. He insisted we keep it secret, or he’d drop us. We were fine with that. Vivian feared losing her sexy edge if people found out she was married. I had similar concerns. You may find it hard to believe that your dear old dad was ever a sex symbol, but it would’ve hurt my career, too. It wasn’t like it is now, when you couldn’t possibly keep something like that private. No one ever knew except Bobby and the lawyers who negotiated the divorce.”
Normally, I’d curl my lip up at the reminder that Bobby Scott, who later turned out to be a scumbag, managed my dad’s career for a time. I’d also have something to say about him referring to himself as a sex symbol, but the only response I have to this information is, “Holy shit.”
“I don’t know what to do.”
I’ve never once heard my father say those words. He always knows what to do.
As I withdraw my phone from my pocket, I realize shock and fear have me truly shaken, which is something else that almost never happens. I send a text to Natalie. My dad needs me. Can you do the school pickup? I hate to ask her, because she’ll have to take the baby, which is a lot for one person to manage, but I can’t leave now.
While I wait for her to reply, I text my friend Emmett Burke, the chief counsel at our company, Quantum Productions. I need you to come to my parents’ house right away. 911-level legal emergency.
Nat replies first. No problem. Is everything ok?
Yeah, but he needs me. I’ll explain when I get home.
Take your time. I’ve got the kids and will do the foundation meeting by Zoom. No worries.
Thank you. Love you.
Love you, too. Call if you need me.
I will.
“I’ve asked Emmett to come here,” I tell my dad.
“What’re you thinking?”
“I don’t even know yet. I’m still processing the last fifteen minutes.”
“I’m so afraid your mother will leave me.”
The thought of my parents as anything other than blissfully happy together strikes fear in my heart. “She won’t, Dad. She loves you.”
“She’ll say she never knew me at all.”
“She’ll understand why you didn’t tell her.”
“Will she? Would you? If Natalie didn’t tell you she was married before she met you, would you forgive her for keeping that secret for years?”
“If she’d done it to protect my feelings, I suppose I’d try to understand.”
“Your mother, who’s the most reasonable person any of us has ever met, is positively un reasonable when it comes to Vivian Stevens. She’s like a bull seeing red when the woman’s name is mentioned. She won’t be able to get past this.”
All I can think of is the massive party my sisters and I have planned for this weekend to celebrate their fiftieth anniversary. Everyone who’s anyone in our lives will be there, a total of more than five hundred guests coming to Hayden and Addie’s home, where a tent is being erected in anticipation of the big event.
We told them it’s a birthday party for Hayden and Addie’s daughter Lily, but they know the truth. My mother despises surprises. We learned that lesson the hard way when she turned fifty, and we threw a party she wasn’t properly turned out for—in her opinion, anyway. We’ve never made that mistake again. “I can’t believe you didn’t tell her you had a first wife.”
“To be honest, I’d mostly forgotten about it. It’s not like we talk about Vivian or what went on all those years ago. I never give that woman a thought until someone mentions her name, or she’s on Extra or Access Hollywood or something, which doesn’t happen much these days. Otherwise, she’s not part of our lives.”
My phone buzzes with a text from Emmett. I’m on my way.
Let me know when you’re here. I’ll let you in.
“Emmett’s coming.”
“Will I have to tell him this?”
I stare at Dad, incredulous. “If you want his help in figuring out what to do about it, then yes, you have to tell him. And I hate to say it, but you have to tell Mom, too.”
He’s shaking his head before I finish the sentence. “I can’t.”
“Dad… You’re sitting on a live grenade. If the woman has written a book, people already know about you and her. There’re editors and marketing people reading it, not to mention excerpts probably going live at any minute if the book is out in January.”
He goes pale. “The people working on it must be under NDAs.”
“Probably, but my point is people already know. You have to tell Mom before she hears it from someone else.”
“I can’t tell her this. I simply cannot.”
“You have no choice, unless you want to wait around for the grenade to explode in her face with no warning.”
He drops his head into his hands and moans. “She’ll never forgive me.”
“You two have had a wonderful run together. Surely she’ll understand why you kept this from her back in the day.”
“Will she? I’m not at all certain of that.”
“She loves you. I’m sure of that. You’ve built an amazing family and life for yourselves. I can’t imagine one of you without the other. You have to tell her, Dad. You absolutely must.”
He rubs his chest as he grimaces. “I might be having a heart attack.”
I sit up straighter in my chair. “For real?”
“I don’t know. My chest feels tight all of a sudden.”
“Should I call the paramedics?”
“No. Don’t do that. I’m sure it’ll pass.” He continues to rub his chest. “I can’t… I can’t lose her, Flynn. She’s my whole world.”
“And you’re hers. Don’t forget that.” Even as I reassure my father, I’m terrified of how my mother might react to learning her husband kept this massive secret from her for decades.
“You don’t understand how she gets on the topic of that woman. To this day, after fifty years in a happy marriage and family, hearing Vivian’s name sets her off like nothing else ever has.”
I’ve never known my mother to behave about anyone the way he’s describing. She’s a make-love-not-war kind of gal, always encouraging us to see the good in others and to steer clear of unnecessary drama and strife. Maybe she hammered that home with us, wanting better for her children, because of what she went through.
“It reminds me of how angry she was after Julian dumped Aimee.”
Dad nods. “That’s one of the few other times I’ve seen her so angry with someone.”
Julian Remington’s parents, Corbin and Kate, were close couple friends with my parents. My sister was crushed by Julian’s sudden decision to end their years-long relationship, and it took a long time for her to bounce back from that disappointment. Mom and Dad were outraged by the way Julian treated their daughter.
“Mom will hire Kate Remington to represent her when she hears about this,” Dad says, his expression as glum as I’ve ever seen it.
The Remingtons are legendary Hollywood divorce attorneys and weathered one of the most epic splits this town has ever witnessed about twenty-five years ago. It went on for close to a decade as they battled over the firm they’d run together and custody of their six sons and three daughters, most of whom have since gone into the family businesses or are on their way there after law school. Mom has stayed close with Kate, who runs her own boutique firm with her daughters and nieces, while Dad kept in touch with Corbin, who works with their sons. He’s the senior partner at the firm his father founded.
My parents went out of their way to remain neutral amid the ugly battle that provided endless headlines, but they strongly disapproved of the ordeal their friends put their children through. They say it’s not for nothing that none of the nine Remington kids has ever married.
“Mom isn’t going to hire Kate or any other divorce attorney.”
“I wouldn’t be so certain, son. This’ll be bad—as bad as it gets.” He looks up, brightening ever so slightly when he seems to have a thought. “How can we find out whether Vivian mentions me in the book? I mean, it’d be a shame to bring this up to Mom if there’s no need for it.”
I grimace. “What reason would she have not to mention it? And I hate to say that our family’s profile has never been higher than it is these days.”
“Thanks to your incredible success.”
“And yours—and Mom’s.”
“But mostly you.”
I hate that he’s right. If there’s a bombshell related to our family in Vivian’s past, she’d be crazy not to include it if she wants to sell as many books as possible.
“We’ll see what Emmett has to say and go from there.” My phone buzzes with a text from him. “He’s here. Be right back.” I walk out to let my friend in through the breezeway door. He wears an exhausted but happy look about him, three months after he and his wife, Leah, welcomed their first child, a son named Holt in homage to his wife Leah’s former last name. He was born six days after Benny. “Thanks for coming, man.”
“Of course. What’s wrong?”
“I’ll let my dad fill you in.”
I lead him through the kitchen, down the hallway to Dad’s office, bringing a surreal feeling with me. It’ll take a minute to fully process the things I’ve learned about my parents today. Right when you think you know the people closest to you as well as you possibly can, you find out otherwise.
Dad stands and leans across the desk to shake Emmett’s hand. “Thanks for coming, Emmett.”
“Anything for you, Max. You know that.”
Dad sighs as he returns to his seat, seeming diminished by the shock of the day’s events. That scares the shit out of me. My dad is never diminished by anything, but the thought of real trouble with his adored wife has him terrified. I know how that feels after coming all too close to losing my own beloved once upon a time, after I kept something important from her.
Fortunately, we were apart for only a short time and were able to work it out. I learned my lesson early on, and my only goal in life is to make her blissfully happy so she’ll never have reason to leave me again. There’re no secrets in our marriage, and there never will be.
Apparently, Emmett is also unsettled by my dad’s uncharacteristic aura of defeat. “You’re not sick or anything, are you?”
“No, nothing like that.” Dad continues to rub his chest.
If that keeps up for much longer, I’m calling the paramedics. Maybe if he’s in the hospital when he tells Mom this news, it’ll go over better. I’d find that thought funny if I wasn’t so rattled and scared.
“I learned something today that has the potential to rock my marriage and, well… my entire life.”
As Dad lays out the details of the story, I can tell Emmett is almost as stunned as I was to learn these things about my parents. They’re extra parents to all my friends, many of whom had difficult or nonexistent relationships with their own parents. Mom and Dad are a huge part of our close group. We look up to them in every possible way.
In our found family, what happens to one of us happens to all of us, and I’m sure Emmett is already twelve steps ahead of us, thinking about the potential fallout. That’s his forte in situations like this.
“Dad’s wondering if there’s any way to get an advance copy of Vivian’s book so he can see what’s said about him. It may be possible to spare my mother from this information if he’s not mentioned.”
“I can reach out to some of our contacts in New York to see if they know anyone at the publisher who might be able to help us out, but we’d need to be careful. It wouldn’t take much to bring the trail right back to Quantum and to you, Max.”
“We can’t let that happen,” Dad says. “My goal is to keep this under wraps by any means necessary.”
“Are you willing to sue to stop the publication?” Emmett asks, sounding hesitant.
“Wouldn’t that mean he has something to hide?” I ask.
“There might be a way to protect your identity, but I can’t promise that.”
“Let’s try to find out what’s in it before we discuss legal action,” Dad says.
“Max, you know how much we all love you and Stella, right?” Emmett asks tentatively.
“I do, and we love you all like our own.”
“Family takes care of family, and I’ll do my very best to protect you in this, but…” He leans forward. “You must tell Stella about this if there’s any chance of it leaking and becoming public ahead of publication.”
“That’s what I said, too. Because of who we are in this town… you, Mom, me… a lot of people would take great pleasure in this story, especially if it caused obvious trouble in a marriage that’s long been considered a rare Hollywood success story.”
“Yes,” Emmett says. “Exactly that.”
“I’ll talk to her.” Dad looks tenser than I’ve ever seen him. He’s still rubbing his chest, which adds to my considerable anxiety. As far as I know, in fifty years there’s never been a serious threat to their marriage.
Until now.