"I'm old enough now. No matter what happened, I'd like to hear it."
Frank wondered. "Maybe there's some of it you shouldn't hear."
"I've been puzzled by it most of my life. Some things my grandfather told me didn't add up, and when I asked him pointed questions about it, he always dodged the matter, saying there were things I did not have to know, that what happened was best left in the past for my own sake."
"More likely for his sake."
Conrad gave him a piercing look. "What do you mean by that?"
"I'll tell you my side of it, son. Then you can make up your own mind."
"Just so long as you tell me the truth."
"I'll do that. You've got my word on it. No point now in telling it any other way. Your mother was a good woman, the best woman I've ever known. If nothing more than for the sake of her sweet memory, I'll tell you everything, and then you can be the judge."
"I'd appreciate it. All these years, I've been feeling like there was some dark secret being kept from me."
"It wasn't my idea," Frank said. "Tonight, when we find a place to camp, I'll start right from the beginning, and I swear I won't leave anything out."
They rode side by side down the switchback. Frank knew there would be hard parts of the story to explain ... especially all the years he'd spent away from his only son.
But he would try. If for no better reason than for the sake of Vivian's memory.