Read Online The Secret Keeper by Dorien Grey - Free Book Online Page B

state was.” He paused, looked at me, and grinned. “See what I mean about dysfunctions?”
    “I think I’m getting the picture,” I said. “But I gather there’s more.”
    He nodded. “Oh, yeah. My sister Pat is a librarian at Mountjoy College in Carrington. I love her dearly, but she’s borderline autistic and pretty much a recluse when she’s not working, although, other than being painfully quiet and shy, she’s a sweetheart. She loved Grandpa B almost as much as I did but had a harder time showing it.”
    “And your dad?”
    He took a deep breath. “Oh, Dad’s okay. Like Pat, he never says much about anything. His accounting firm handles the family money, and it isn’t easy. Dad’s own family was poor as church mice, and I think that’s helped him to be a better financial manager for the family. When you’ve always had more money than you know what to do with, you have no idea how hard it is for those who don’t. God knows Uncle Richard and his kids haven’t a clue. I don’t think even Grandpa B really realized it. He had always supported a few major charities, but it was Dad who encouraged him to expand the scope and amount of his donations.”
    “It must have been a little hard for someone who came from a nonwealthy background to fit into a really rich family,” I observed.
    “Probably harder than he’d ever admit. I don’t mean to sound unkind when I say that one reason I think he’s stayed with Mom all these years is because handling the family money is the vast bulk of his business. He might have felt that, if he were to divorce Mom, Grandpa B would look for another accountant. I’m sure that wouldn’t have been the case, but I can’t say I really blame Dad for having it in the back of his mind. The Bements don’t do divorce gracefully. He’s devoted his entire career to watching over Bement money, and I don’t know if he’d be able to start over if he lost the accounts.”
    “I gather your parents’ marriage was not one made in heaven.” 
    Again the wry smile. “Other than the schizophrenia, you mean? Yeah, you might say that. My grandmother was vehemently against the marriage, but she couldn’t do much to stop it. But she never hid her displeasure.”
    “That must have been rough on you and your sister.”
    “Not really. Grandmother sees things the way she wants to see them. Pat and I are our mother’s children as far as she is concerned, not our father’s. And Mom’s schizophrenia has really been tough on Dad, though he tries not to let it show. It’s hard to love someone you don’t know half the time. It’s like tamping a cigarette in an ashtray. Eventually the flame goes out, but a little smoke hangs around. Dealing with Mom’s been hard enough for me and Pat, but I can imagine what it must be like for him. He’s stood by her, even though she moved out on him a year or so ago. He seems a lot happier now.”
    He glanced over at the coffee pot and said, “Maybe I will have a cup of coffee, if you don’t mind.”
    “Sure,” I said, hastily getting up. “Cream—well, the powdered stuff, since I don’t have a refrigerator here—and sugar?”
    “Both.”
    When we had our coffee and I’d sat back down, he picked up his story where he’d left off.
    “So, let’s see…Ah, yes. Uncle Richard’s side—there’s him, his wife Pauline, who died several years ago, and his three kids, George, Alan, and Stuart. They’re all crazy as bedbugs, and they all hate one another. A set of winners if there ever was one. Aunt Pauline was the glue that held them all together, but once she died, that was it. 
    “Uncle Richard is Grandma’s favorite, and thanks to her he’s never worked a day in his life. She was hell-bent on seeing that he ‘married well’ and all but arranged his marriage to Pauline, whose family had made a fortune in retail. Aunt Pauline was pretty sensible, and she tried her best not to spoil their kids, but it didn’t work. They all took after