The Virgin’s Bucket List – Episode 34
Mike read the suspension notice twice before setting it on the table. The accusation alleged that he had diverted charitable funds while recruiting student athletes. Grant’s name did not appear, but his influence filled every line.
Wayne offered to speak to the team. Mike refused to let his players turn the investigation into a protest that could jeopardize their season. Even suspended, he was still thinking like their coach.
Lindsay asked whether he regretted choosing the family over silence. Mike answered no. Losing football frightened him, but losing his daughter’s respect had frightened him more once he finally understood it.
Julie contacted an attorney, while Lindsay returned to the Starlight Foundation records. Public filings showed every dollar entered and left within forty-eight hours. The recipient was Mara Bennett’s community center, labeled as emergency housing assistance.
Nothing indicated personal theft. The problem was authorization: Mike’s signature approved the transfer, though he did not remember signing that form. A handwriting expert might prove forgery, but Grant could keep the suspicion alive through delay.
Jamie overheard the discussion and blamed himself. The money had protected him, and now Mike was paying for it. Mike told him that adults made the choices; Jamie’s existence was never the crime.
Evelyn remembered Catherine storing copies of important documents in places Grant would not search. She favored ordinary objects—cookbooks, sewing boxes, children’s games. The blue boxes might not be the only archive.
Lindsay searched the kitchen with Julie. Inside their mother’s oldest recipe binder, they found an envelope taped behind a page for blueberry pie. It contained the original foundation authorization bearing Catherine’s signature as secretary.
The document also included a witness signature from Grant’s former attorney, Victor Hale. If Hale confirmed the transfer’s purpose, Mike could be cleared. Public records showed Victor living in assisted care outside Cedar Ridge.
Wayne and Lindsay drove there with the attorney’s approval. Victor was elderly but alert, and Catherine’s name brought immediate recognition. He admitted preparing the foundation paperwork under Grant’s instructions.
Grant intended the payment to persuade Catherine to reveal Evelyn’s location. Instead, Catherine redirected it through a legal charity to support James without disclosing where he lived. Victor admired her courage and secretly witnessed the authorization.
He had kept copies because he expected Grant to retaliate. When no accusation came, Victor assumed the danger had passed. He agreed to provide a sworn statement and the original ledger.
On the drive home, Lindsay allowed herself to hope. Wayne reminded her that clearing Mike would not automatically free the trust or restore his university offer. Grant could create another obstacle.
Lindsay replied that they no longer needed a single victory to solve everything. Each truth reduced the space in which Grant could operate. Wayne smiled at the reporter she was becoming.
They stopped at Starlight Lake before returning home. Near the twin oak, Wayne admitted he was considering rejecting every university connected to his grandfather, even if it meant accepting a smaller program.
Lindsay asked whether that choice came from freedom or fear. Grant should not control Wayne’s future by making him accept the offer, but he should not control it by driving him away either.
Wayne kissed her beside the empty hollow where the first box had waited. He promised to choose a school based on the life he wanted, not the man he feared. Lindsay made the same promise about journalism.
When they returned, the suspension had already been reported online. Beneath the article, Grant issued a public statement expressing sorrow that his grandson had been exploited by Coach Johnson’s family for financial gain.