Chapter 67
We were heading backto Providence tomorrow. Today, we were hosting Vivian’s dad, Minh, and his girlfriend, Rose. Kaylee hitched a ride with them.
After lunch, the girls sat on the back deck chatting while I took a strollwith Minh. He had salt and pepper hair, a kind face, and sharp eyes, standing about five inches shorter than me. He wore a baby blue polo T-shirt with jeans.
“Is she really doing okay?” He glanced over his shoulder at the deck. “I know she hides a lot from me because she doesn’t want me to worry.”
“Vivian is doing fine. I promise.”
He looked up at me. “You love her?”
“I do.”
Nodding, he looked out at the lake. “That girl has gone through so much. I wish I could have taken her pain away.”
“She’s the most exceptional woman I know. Her past has strengthened her.”
“So you know everything?” I nodded, trying to be careful of what I said to him.
He didn’t know that Ghost was still alive. Vivian had kept it from him because of his weak heart. I changed the subject to something more lighthearted as I bonded with my girlfriend’s father.
After a couple more hours of quality time, Minh and Rose said their goodbyes. They were returning to Vietnam in two weeks and planned to stay there for a few months. They’d also invited us to visit anytime.
While Kaylee was on her phone checking out all the new members who had joined Heartstrings, I helped Vivian sort through the box of her mother’s belongings. Her father had found it in the back of his storage.
Vivian created a stack of books she would donate to the used bookstores. I dusted her photo albums. One album with a floral design caught my eye. I opened it and saw adorable pictures of Vivian as a baby.
“Look at your cute little butt.” I smiled, pointing at two pictures of her in diapers.
“What? Let me see!” She grabbed the album from my hand, looked, and gasped. “Oh my God. I’d forgotten about this album.” Her cheeks flushed the prettiest pink.
“I want to see all the pictures.”
“No.” Laughing, she shifted so her back faced me as she continued flipping through her life.
“Gimme!” I clasped her shoulders. “I’ll fight you for it.”
Vivian gave me an amused look. “Every time we fight, we end up . . .” She trailed off as she glanced over at Kaylee, who wore a contemplative expression, probably missing Aimee.
After a silent moment, we sat reviewing all her baby pictures, Vivian providing context whenever she was able. I got to see the woman I love from the very beginning.
“When will I get to see yours?”
“I don’t have this many pictures of me, but you’re welcome to look through my one album.”
When she closed the album, I held it in my hand, focusing on the design that had gotten my attention.
“Do you know what this is?” I ran a finger over the floral metal design.
She lifted a shoulder. “No. It’s just a medallion design.”
I shared what Ghost’s accomplice had told me during the interrogation.
“So it’s not a regular key?” She yanked on the medallion, and it popped up. At the back of the metal emblem was an address and a set of numbers.
“It’s . . . a code.”
Nodding, her hands shook. “What was my mom protecting?”
I wrapped an arm around her. “Let’s see where it leads.” I punched the address into my phone, and it showed a storage place in Woonsocket, Rhode Island, which wasn’t far from Providence. “We can make a trip there.”
Vivian sighed. “What did my mom die for?”