She grabbed her basket of cleaning supplies and opened the narrow door that led up into the attic. It was a space she seldom ventured into, but it was insulated and not entirely infested with spiders or anything else that might make her scream. Still, she was careful to turn the light on before she went up the stairs. She could always hear the wind whistling in the eaves when she was in the attic, and when she was up there by herself, she found it all a bit spooky.
She reached the top of the stairs and looked around the attic with a faint smile. She remembered her children playing there when they were little, putting on puppet shows using the old trunks or fingerpainting the far wall when they weren’t supposed to. The handprints and splotches of bright colors, like messy flowers, were still there. Although the children had been disciplined for being disobedient, Vivian had never had the heart to paint over their “artwork.”
Her eyes roamed over the walls and floor as she contemplated what she would clean. There was a fair amount of dust on the floor, but not too many spider webs on the walls. She grabbed her Swiffer and got to work, swishing away the thin, silvery film of dust.
Once the floors gleamed cleanly in the light, she took her duster and pulled down the spider webs. It didn’t take long, and once the task was over, she glanced around her, feeling the satisfaction of a job well done.
Her eyes landed on one of the wooden chests resting against the wall. It was filled with old picture albums and family keepsakes. The trunk itself was a gorgeous old antique she had inherited from her grandmother.
Feeling a sudden urge to rummage through it, Vivian set down her cleaning supplies and walked over to the trunk. Almost reverently, she lifted the lid and inhaled the warm, dusty scent of cedar and old papers. Half the trunk was filled with photo albums and old books, and the other half was filled with keepsake items such as Julia's first baby hat that had been knit for her by Frank’s aunt.
Feeling a twinge of sentimentality, Vivian lifted one of the photo albums up and sank down to the floor. She set the album in her lap and opened the cover. She saw her own handwriting on the first page, inscribing a love note to Frank. “Here's to all the memories we are going to make,” the note said. Tears sprang to Vivian's eyes when she read it.
We did make a lot of memories together,she thought, letting the tears fall from her eyes.
She turned to the first page of the album and her heart ached with nostalgia when she saw a photograph of herself and Frank on their wedding day. They were holding on to each other and laughing, their heads held close together and their eyes shining with happiness.
“Oh, Frank,” she whispered. “I trusted you with my whole heart then. I never could have imagined that you would do what you did.”
She wiped away more tears, shaking her head as she thought about Frank’s secret gambling habits and the debt that he had hidden from her all throughout their marriage. His lies had nearly cost them The Lighthouse Grill, and that had almost felt worse than the betrayal itself. If her children hadn't rallied together to raise the funds to save the pub, they would have lost it. She knew Frank never would have wanted that for any of them, but she still felt betrayed by the fact that he had lost so much of their money and never told her a word about it.
His passing had been extremely difficult for her because she’d felt as though she had lost him in two different ways. She had lost her husband and her life partner, and she'd realized that the man she'd loved and trusted hadn't been who'd she thought he was. She'd wished she had a chance to sit down and talk with Frank about everything. If she'd been able to have a conversation with him about his secrets, it would have been easier for her to process. Finding out about his reckless misuse of their funds after he was gone had nearly broken her.
But she had held together, bolstered by the love of her children and their strong support. Alexis and Julia had both moved back to Rosewood Beach after Frank's funeral, and having her family reunited had been an incredibly sweet blessing. In time, her heartache and grief had faded, and she was still able to enjoy all of life's sweet moments.
She touched the tip of her finger fondly to Frank’s arm in the photograph. She thought of all the good times they had shared together and felt a surge of love for her husband. He hadn't been perfect, that was certain, but he had loved her and the children and worked side by side with her for many years. Nothing could take that away, not even the revelation of his double life.
She sat quietly for a few moments, staring into space and thinking about her life. Lately, she had felt more healed from Frank's passing than ever. She knew that a major part of that healing came from her partner, Terrence Rawlins. Terrence was the local health inspector, and although they had initially butted heads over his persnickety insistence that the vents at The Lighthouse Grill be fixed right before their big Christmas party, she had soon learned that there was a heart of gold underneath his somewhat bristly exterior.
Although she never would have expected herself to be attracted to someone as strait-laced as Terrence, their friendship had blossomed into something more after only a few months. He had been incredibly kind to her, not pursuing her romantically in any outward fashion, but making it clear how much he cared about her and how supportive of her he wanted to be. He had helped her find a delicious new brand of coffee for The Lighthouse Grill, and he had stood up for her against Judd McCormick, a local brewery owner who had created a one-sided rivalry against The Lighthouse Grill.
Terrence made her feel seen, and he made her feel special. She had never considered herself to be a particularly beautiful woman, but Terrence thought she was lovely, and he often told her so. He often complimented her eyes and her smile, and she could tell from the way he looked at her that he admired not only her outward appearance but also her heart and the way she treated the people around her. She had helped him become more laidback, and he was now one of the loudest laughers at their family dinner nights. She had never expected to find love a second time in her life, but Terrence had shown her that it was possible. She got butterflies when she thought about him, and she always looked forward to their sweet and simple dates.
She continued to flip through the photo album for a while, walking down memory lane at a leisurely pace. When she wasfinished looking through it, she turned back to the trunk, eager to look at something else that would remind her of the past. She was just about to pull out another photo album when something caught her eye. It was a small cardboard box, probably an old shoe box, that was nestled in the gap between the books and the keepsakes.
Curious, Vivian lifted the box out of the trunk and opened it. When she saw what was inside, she gasped audibly and clapped her hand to her mouth in shock.
“Money,” she gasped out. “So much money. Where on earth did all of this come from?”
She thumbed through it, noting with shock that most of the bills were hundreds and fifties. She couldn't believe they had that much money sitting in the attic. Had it been Frank's? Was it from gambling?
As if in response to her thoughts, a folded-up piece of paper caught her attention. It was nestled behind the rows of cash. She pulled it out of the box and unfolded it curiously, feeling her heart thump in her chest.
She recognized Frank’s handwriting as soon as she saw the note. He’d had a scrawling cursive, charming in its own way—big and bold, like he had been as a person—but difficult to read. She squinted as she tried to decipher the words.
“Almost everything I owe,” she read aloud slowly, her heart thumping in her chest. “Need a few thousand dollars more. Be careful with getting it—no more gambling loss.” She bit her lip, seeing that those words had been underlined. She wondered how much guilt and stress Frank had hidden from her over the years. The revelation, rather than making her angry, softened her heart toward him. She wished he’d known he could have come to her with his faults as well as his qualities.
She shut her eyes and let the paper fall to the floor. The realization that Frank had been saving up money, hoping tomake up for his gambling debts, touched her deeply—but it also made her feel frustrated and helpless all over again.
Frank, Frank, Frank,she thought, shaking her head.Why didn’t you tell me any of this? If I’d known about the money, it would have spared me so much fear and heartache when we lost you.
She wondered how close he’d been to paying back his debts just before he died. She pressed her lips together, feeling an ache in her chest as she wished that so many things had been different. Most of all, she wished her husband had trusted her enough to tell her about his secrets.
Feeling a tangle of emotions, most of which were negative, Vivian stood up, brushing dust from the photo album and box off her pants legs. She realized vaguely that she was getting the floors that she’d just cleaned dirty again, but she hardly cared. She picked up the box, tucking the money and the note back inside it. Then she closed the lid of the trunk slowly, feeling as though she was closing the door on the past again. That trunk held only things that she could remember, nothing that was part of her current life.
Except for the money. She looked down at the box in her hands, feeling a buzz of uncertainty and excitement. It was so much cash. Now that they’d had to strategize to raise money for The Lighthouse Grill, she didn’t know what to use the money for. She felt a little bit as though she’d just discovered a magic wishing lamp and she had absolutely no idea what to do with her three wishes. Part of her almost wished that she hadn’t gone up into the attic at all, so that she would still be ignorant about the money—and the knowledge that Frank had kept even more from her than she’d thought previously.
She made her way downstairs and took down the painting that covered her small safe, which was hidden inside the wall. She opened it, having to think carefully before she couldremember the combination, and she tucked the shoebox filled with cash inside. She knew she would have to tell her family about it, but she didn’t know where to begin, or when she should tell them.
