“Daddy, do you want to guess where we are going?” Anna asked.
“Uhm…” I was coming up blank for ideas. I had nowhere to go… all my properties had been seized in the investigation, along with everything but my half of our house and the first million dollars I had earned before greed sank its claws into me.
“Great Grama’s house,” Anna announced with a whoop of joy. My eyes shot to Mel’s, and she nodded.
“Parole approved of the transfer.” She confirmed.
“Transfer?” I hadn’t requested a transfer.
“We will talk more later. First, let’s go get something to eat.” Melanie’s smile lit up her whole face as she looked at our daughter, and I was temporarily stunned by her beauty. Ten years hadn’t aged her even a bit.
In the beginning, she used to supervise my visits with Anna and would spend a few hours twice a month with me in one of the visitation cottages, but by the time Anna was fiveyears old, she had started staying overnight, and Melanie was comfortable leaving her with me one night a month. Most of the time, I would only see her long enough to witness her hugging our daughter goodbye and wiggle her fingers in a polite wave to me.
Griffin patted me on the back firmly with a warning glint in his eyes and said I could ride in the back with Anna. I felt my ears heat up, embarrassed that he’d caught me ogling my ex-wife.
It turned out that because I had turned witness, the feds thought it would be a good idea if I spent the first year of my release far away from Los Angeles, while they kept an eye on whether my release got any attention.
I doubted it would, I had been a very small fish in the ugly pond I had somehow found myself trapped in. My only connection was that a couple of my clients had ended up being players of interest to the feds. All I had given them was access to any investments and records I had regarding the clients in question and the locations and dates that I had met with them. From that, they were able to pull footage that put them in the area during specific auctions. Which I guess was beneficial enough to knock a decade off of my sentencing and qualify me for the family reunion program that allowed me to be a part of my daughter’s life.
Other than Melanie and Anna, no one had shown any interest in me while I was incarcerated. None of my old friends or distant relatives had written or visited; it was like I had just disappeared.
Angela had shown up once, the day after my divorce was finalized, to gloat about her role in my demise and then had written to ask for money, a year later, when her sister had finally had enough of her nonsense and kicked her out. My lawyer had kept tabs on her for a couple of years, and the last time he mentioned her, she was married to the manager of a supermarket, who liked to sleep with the cashiers, while Angela was at home raising his three kids from a previous relationship and had one of her own on the way.
Don said her life finally matched her insides—bleak, ugly, and insignificant.
When the Feds had told Don about their concerns, he had reached out to my ex-wife. Something that, apparently, they did anytime there was an update, in my case. I vaguely remembered giving him permission to do so back when I was first sentenced, for Anna’s sake, so I couldn’t actually be mad at him.
Melanie had arranged with her parents for me to stay at Grama Barb's house. She said that it wasn’t getting the love and attention it needed because her parents rarely went toNorth Dakota anymore, preferring warmer environments as they aged.
When I argued that her Gram wouldn’t want me there, she had scoffed and looked at me like I was a moron.
“Gram loved you.” She insisted.
“Until I hurt you.” I argued, and she rolled her eyes, “that’s where our daughter gets it from…” I commented, and she narrowed her eyes at me as Griffin chuckled loudly.
“Shut it. Both of you.” She warned, “she was disappointed that you hurt me, but obviously she still loved you, because she kept your secret and gave you a chance to come clean on your own.” She waved a dismissive hand, “more importantly, she would be proud of who you’ve become. This is the man she always wanted to see you be.”
“You’d be doing our parents a favor.” A deep, terse voiceadded. I hadn't been expecting anyone else to be here and I felt my stomach clench as I turned to face my former best friend. Kyle had aged well; a decade had given him a few greys but barely any wrinkles.
“Kyle.” I dipped my chin in acknowledgement but kept my eyes on his movements.
“Ben.” He strolled into the room and leaned against the far wall with his arms crossed. Melanie's best friend, Lily, who hadalways hated me, swept into the room after him and pointedly ignored me as she squeezed herself in between Griffin and Melanie with a devious little smirk. Griffin rolled his eyes and groaned as he slid over enough for Lily to fit comfortably.
“Your parents are okay with this?” I asked cautiously.
“It was their idea,” Melanie replied. “Anna loves that house and spends at a few weeks every summer there, so she’ll be comfortable there during any visits. You’re familiar with the area but its also been long enough where you won’t run into too many people that you know and it’s affordable while you get your feet underneath you.”
“If you actually maintain the property and do repairs while you’re there, you’ll even be paid for your time.” Kyle grumbled. “Our parents have been hiring a property management company to take care of everything for the last few years, but they haven’t done a great job.”
“I could do that…” I said slowly, “what needs to be done?”
“Nothing crazy.” Melanie assured me, quickly, “structurally and functionally everything is in solid shape. We made sure because the kids love it there. Cosmetically, it could use some work.”
“We would go with you for the first week. To help you get settled and let you spend time with Anna. Then if she wantedto, we’d let her stay for another week.” Griffin looked at Melanie, and she smiled softly. “Our boys would be going for the first week as well, so it would be a full house.”
“Anna talks about her brothers all the time.” I said easily. The pain that used to come when I thought of Melanie having another man's children had faded years ago. My girls were happy and healthy and loved by the man who had picked up the pieces I left behind in the wake of my destruction.
“So, it’s decided.” Lily chimed in for the first time, “family vacation to North Dakota.”
