Family Money(36)

“That must’ve been a whirlwind.”

She smiled again. “Those early years were definitely a wonderful whirlwind. Joe was so charming and such a free spirit. We moved around a lot the first couple of years. We went all over, never staying in one place for very long. Joe only wanted to rent for a while so we were never too tied down.” She kind of chuckled. “We even moved overnight one time.”

This caught my interest. “Why?”

“Joe came home one day and just said it was time to go. He told me he found this cute little place to rent in a town about two hours away. He really wanted it. But we had to go the very next morning, or we’d probably lose it.”

“Why the rush?”

“I don’t know. He was just urgent about it. We spent all night packing up our things and were on the road by sunup the next day. It was crazy back then but exciting. There was always something new around the corner. But then two things happened around the same time that made us settle down. I got pregnant with Taylor. And my mom, who had come down to Texas with her loser boyfriend, got really sick. We made the move here so I could care for my mom. Joe didn’t really want to move back to Texas, but he did it for me. My mom probably lived several more years than she would have without me here with her. So I felt blessed by that.”

I decided to probe more aggressively. I didn’t have all night to dance around this. I knew Taylor would be hollering down for me shortly.

“Carol, when y’all were in Canada, did you know a guy named Daniel Gibson?”

I watched her very closely to see if there was any hint of recognition. Had Joe told her about his other life? But Carol didn’t flinch. “No, that name doesn’t sound familiar.”

Joe had kept that secret from Carol for more than thirty years. Why? It seemed cruel to me. But did my father-in-law have a good reason?

“What about someone named Greta Varner?”

This time I got a definitive response. A quick flash of her eyes that let me know Carol recognized the name. “I haven’t heard that name in a long time.”

“Who is she?”

Carol sighed, took a glance down the hallway toward the stairs, as if she was making sure no one else could hear our conversation. “Just someone from Joe’s past.”

“Carol?”

“Greta was Joe’s first wife.”

I tried to feign surprise, even though I’d already made this discovery. “Joe was married before you?”

Carol nodded. “Just briefly.”

“Did you know that before you got married?”

She shook her head. “No, I found out a few years later. I was cleaning out his dresser one day when he was at the office, and I found a wedding band in a small jewelry bag with a date engraved inside. When I confronted him, he admitted it was his and said it was all a big mistake. And he was too ashamed to tell me about it.”

So Carol was not completely in the dark. But she didn’t seem to know that Joe was married to Greta under the name Daniel Gibson.

“Did you ever meet her?” I asked.

“No. Joe never brought her up again. He said he didn’t even know where she was. I was curious, of course. But back then, you couldn’t simply jump on the internet and search for someone. So this is the first time I’ve heard her name since that day. How did you find out about her?”

“She was listed in one of Joe’s old financial papers,” I lied.

“Does Taylor know about Greta?” Carol whispered.

I shook my head. “No, I just came upon the name today.”

“Please don’t tell her, Alex. I don’t want her to think any less of her father.”

“People get divorced, Carol. It’s not a scarlet letter.”

“I know. But if she finds out now, after all this time, she’ll probably wonder why her father never told her in the first place. For some reason, Joe just didn’t want her to know about his first marriage. And I don’t want her thinking he wasn’t always honest with her. Honesty was a really big deal between them. Okay?”

“Okay. I’ll keep it to myself.”

“Thank you.”

I wanted to say, But he wasn’t always honest—with any of us. To lengths none of us could possibly fathom. Instead, I kept my mouth shut. But I could see now how family lies could spread like a destructive virus through generations. Which made my current position with Taylor feel even more excruciating.





TWENTY-TWO


After getting the girls down for bed, I told Taylor I was going over to her parents’ house to grab a few framed photos to use in the presentation. Instead, I drove straight to the storage facility where my father-in-law kept his old boxes of legal files. I pressed in the code at the security gate and then parked in a spot outside of the two-story building. It was after dark, and the parking lot was empty. I pressed more codes at the building door to get inside, took the stairs up to the second level, and once again found myself standing in front of the various stacks of boxes. I knew right where to search this time.

I found the two boxes labeled Bruce Gibson & Daniel Gibson, Attorneys-at-Law, and popped open the lids on both. First, I searched for the thirty-five-year-old letter from Greta in the back of the second box. I read it again and stuck it in my pocket. Then I began pulling out the files from the boxes. They were all from the same client: Grande Distributors. I found a file labeled Company Info and discovered that Grande Distributors had been based out of Mexico City with a distribution center in El Paso. The company mostly stored and transported appliances and electronics to and from Mexico. I did a quick Google search on my phone. The company still existed all these years later and appeared to have grown massive in size and in scope.