Love Next Door (Lakeside 1)

“You know what I mean. Small-town life equates to small aspirations. You were on your way to the top. You can get back there.”

“Is this a good news call, then?” Frankie is a well-known recruiter in Chicago, always looking for the newest hot commodity and then placing them in high-performing companies. He’s excellent at what he does and was the one who hooked me up with my previous employer. I’ve only been out of a job for a short time, but I’m already getting antsy about not having a steady income. I want to get the ball rolling and start applying for new jobs, but with this scandal hanging over my head, I’m not so sure it’s going to be easy to convince anyone to hire me.

Frankie sighs, and I take that as a bad sign. “I’m going to be real straight with you, Van. The situation is fresh, and the media is just getting started, from what I can see. No one wants to touch you right now. It’d help if you could clear your name. People need some distance, time for a new scandal to brew, before they can forget about this one.”

I bristle at his tone. I hate that I’m in this position, and that my character and my integrity have been called into question, especially by my friends. “You believe me when I tell you I didn’t take the money, right?”

“Yeah, man, of course. I mean, it doesn’t make sense for you to go stealing the money from the foundation you helped set up. Unless you’ve developed some kind of gambling problem.”

“I don’t have a gambling problem.”

“That was a joke. You won’t even chip in for lottery tickets, like you’re going to blow your money on slots. I think you need to look at the bright side.”

“You mean the fact that I’m not in prison for stealing money from my mom’s own foundation and I don’t have some bearded, tattooed cellmate who wants to make me his pet? That kind of bright side?” I’m grateful that my dad hired a lawyer to help me manage this entire situation. Jail time for something I didn’t do would be a real kick in the teeth.

“Well, yeah, kind of. I’m just saying, it could be worse, Van. Didn’t you say that they’re not taking you to court, or pressing charges?”

Not yet, anyway, and hopefully not at all. “Yeah, I’m just accused of stealing money I didn’t take. I lost my job, and now I’m being told I should stay where I am because of the media garbage.” And who knows how long that’s going to go on for. It’s like my life was hijacked. In one day everything that was stable is now up in the air.

“You’re a genius at what you do, Van. You have classic taste in architecture, with a modern, contemporary outlook. But the jobs you work on are for big clients, and we’re talking a lot of money. It’s an asset and a liability, you know? You’re too fucking smart for your own good, and that means people don’t know if they should trust you enough to put so much money into what you’re suggesting. They’re worried you’ll be able to pull one over on them too.”

“I didn’t pull one over on anyone, though. And I don’t see how my job and what happened with the foundation are even connected. I’m good with numbers, but I’m not that good. According to what my dad told me, someone has been skimming money for the past five years without getting caught. I honestly wouldn’t even know how to do that, even if I wanted to.” The money has been going missing for years: small amounts that individually would never be missed, but over time they added up to millions in lost donations.

“At least you can escape it all. Take a break from the crazy for a while. Let your family deal with the fallout,” Frankie suggests.

“What’s going on with my family?” My dad has checked in a few times to make sure I’m okay and update me on the legal side of things. Teagan and I have talked every day, but she’s been trying to keep things positive. Bradley was on one of the calls with my dad, but mostly he texts with jokes or GIFs and tells me to “look on the bright side.”

I can hear Frankie drumming on his desk. “It’s not good, Van.”

“How not good is it?”

He blows out a breath. “They’re looking into your dad now too. You know how rumors are.”

“My dad? Why?”

“Because he’s on the board of directors for the foundation, and you’re related. I’m sure it’s just protocol when something like this happens.”

“Right. Yeah, of course. I would’ve thought he’d mention that, though.” I talked to him yesterday, and he seemed calm, reassuring me that everything was going to be okay. It was the most supportive he’s been in years.