Once Upon a Friendship

“Wait, what? What story?”

“My father. Connelly Investments. The truth. A father’s journey as told through the eyes of his son.”

“You don’t know the truth.” Was there doubt in her voice?

“That’s why I was at Connelly Investments today. To get my father to agree to let me help him.” He told her about his idea to present the good sides of Walter Connelly. To tell the truth. In the hope that if an indictment came back, his father would get a fairer trial than if he’d been completely harangued by the media.

“You thought he’d just confess his guilt and leave you to get him a lighter sentence?”

Maybe. Something like that. In part. But there was so much more to it. “I’m hoping to preserve his reputation in the event that he doesn’t get prison time and still needs to support himself,” he said.

She studied him. Nodded. “I think it’s a good idea.”

Was there no end to the shocks that were hitting him that day? “You do.”

Sitting back in his chair, looking like a professionally dressed waif siren, she crossed her hands in her lap and said, “While my natural inclination would be to stay silent, I think, in this case, silence would be more like an admission of guilt. The media is going to believe what they choose to believe, and spin whatever fodder they can find to fit their version of the truth. If you put your truth out there, at least people will have a different version to believe if they choose to do so. If nothing else, the media will have a harder time building their case against your father because they’ll have to refute your facts rather than just making stuff up.”

He liked having an attorney on staff.

“There’s only one problem to all of this.”

Maybe he liked having an attorney on staff.

“What’s that?”

“Getting your father to agree. Especially after we’ve just agreed that you’ll stay away from him in return for his dropping the trespassing charges.”

There was that. “So I’ll start the series by telling the truth that I know without his help. I can talk about where he came from and how he built his empire. He did that with hard work and integrity, Gabi. I’m certain of that.”

“There’s another issue you need to be prepared to deal with, Liam. Two of them, actually, if you hope to build any kind of trust in your integrity as a reporter—your father’s gambling and Missy. And, as a result of Missy, Tamara.”

The sincere concern shining from her eyes pinned him. And had him wanting to kiss her all over again.

“My father gambled when he was young,” he told her. “It’s not something we ever talked about.”

“But it’s why you took up the sport in college...”

“Yes.”

“I can write about what my mother told me about the situation, how she told me and why,” he said now, saying out loud some of what he’d already clarified in his mind regarding the article, or series of articles, he’d proposed. “That way if his current gambling comes to light, we’ve already, in a sense, dealt with it.”

“But you won’t bring his current gambling to light.”

“Of course not. How would that help Dad?”

She nodded. Didn’t let him in on her thoughts.

So he moved on. “I’m not sure what to do about Missy and Tamara. It’s not my story to tell. And I have no intention of doing anything that will bring any harm or discomfort to that kid.”

His sister. His little sister. Every time he thought about her it was like discovering the best present under the Christmas tree was for him.

“You’re right, it’s not your story to tell, but you might not be able to do anything about a disruption to Tamara’s life. The FBI knows about Missy’s offshore account. It’s only a matter of time before someone else finds out. Look how easily that account led us to Tamara. Others are bound to get there eventually.

“And while I know your father kept a low profile whenever he was with them in Florida, it’s still possible that someone might recognize him with his photos being plastered all over the media.”

She was right, of course. Always. It was maddening. And comforting.

“I suggest you call them,” Gabi said, still drowning in his oversize office chair. “Decide between the three of you how you’re going to handle that part of it.”