Chapter 14 - Vivian Turned Seventy-Seven
We held no ballroom.
No chandeliers.
No two hundred guests.
Vivian’s seventy-seventh birthday happened in our backyard.
Twenty people.
Barbecue.
Paper plates.
Rachel ordered the cake.
That made everyone nervous.
Vivian looked at it.
Then at Rachel.
“Should I stand farther away?”
Rachel smiled sweetly.
“Probably.”
Everyone laughed.
Even me.
Especially me.
Vivian blew out the candles.
Mara Rose slept against my chest.
I looked around.
Samuel.
Grace.
Rachel.
Vivian.
People connected by truth now instead of performance.
Not perfect.
Better.
After dinner, Vivian approached me.
“I’ve updated my will.”
I groaned.
“Please don’t start.”
She smiled.
“No manipulation.”
“What then?”
“Everything remaining goes to the foundation.”
I stared.
“Why?”
“Because I spent most of my life using money to keep people where I wanted them.”
She looked toward Mara Rose.
“I would like the last of it to help people leave places they shouldn’t be trapped.”
That was probably the closest Vivian ever came to peace.
Not forgiveness.
May you like
Purpose.
Sometimes that is enough.
