Page 17 of Hard Rain Coming
“She’ll be a bit.”
Again, she nodded but said nothing.
For a few moments, the only sounds were the low nickers from the barn and the faint sound of Nora singing a song.
“What’s going on with you, Viv?” Benton’s voice was rough. “I know we’re not close. Hell, maybe we never were. But we’re family. We share blood. History. Some of it good, I think.”
Vivian blinked away tears, unable to face her brother. She remained silent because she didn’t trust herself not to break down. And the thing of it was, she didn’t even know why she was feeling so damn low. It was more than Dallas or this house or the past. It was the wake of destruction she left wherever she went. It was her inability to connect with anyone in a way that was healthy.
She was broken, and she had no idea if she’d ever be put back together again.
“I don’t even know what it is that you do up there in Alaska.”
She stared out at this beautiful piece of heaven and felt something break away. Felt it give and loosen. Some small chunk of the darkness inside her. It allowed her to breathe again. She cleared her throat.
“You’ll never guess in a million years.”
“Tiger tamer.”
“Nope.”
“Sheep herder.”
She smiled and turned back to him. “Definitely not.” She saw the emotion in his eyes, the concern on his face, and another piece of her armor cracked. It slipped away without resistance. There was no turning back now. All she could do was be honest. “I write. I talk. I pretend to be something I’m not.”
“Really.” She saw the surprise.
She nodded. “A column, actually.”
“Like in a paper?”
Again, she nodded. “Yes. It’s nationally syndicated with the Times and the Post and a bunch of others. I’ve got a weekly podcast as well.”
“Maybe I shouldn’t be surprised, but I am.” He paused, and she saw that he was genuinely curious. “What’s the column and podcast about?”
She met his gaze squarely. “This is the part you’ll never guess. The part that’s going to make you laugh.”
“Promise I won’t.”
“You will.” She sighed and rolled her shoulders.
“Tell me.”
“Advice. Life stuff.”
“Yeah? About what?”
Vivian waited a beat. “Relationships. Family shit. Some pop culture, but mostly, I talk about screwed-up humans and how to fix them.”
Benton’s eyes widened, then crinkled as he began to laugh. She joined in because saying it out loud was so ridiculous. The two of them laughed until they cried. And then they laughed some more. And when the laughing finally stopped, Benton gave her the side-eye.
“For real?” he managed to say, voice a little rough from all the laughing,
“For real.”
“Huh.”
“Right?” She stopped laughing and whispered, “I’m the biggest fraud on the planet. If my listeners and readers knew the real me, I’d be canceled by tomorrow.”