True Colors: A Novel

Aurora convinces her sisters and Dallas to head to Outlaw on a Friday night. Luke is the first person to approach them, congratulating Vivi Ann while she in turn apologizes for not having been honest. Dallas watches Winona closely and warns her that he has not forgotten her betrayal of Vivi Ann. Shaken, Winona later heads to the police station to look up whether Dallas has any previous criminal record and discovers past charges and convictions for theft and assault.

On Christmas, Dallas decorates the cabin as a surprise for Vivi Ann. As they talk about family, Dallas reveals his father shot his mother dead one day after years of beating her. Vivi Ann comforts him and reveals she is pregnant; Dallas is thrilled. They announce it to the family later that day, and Winona feels numb that her sister will have a baby on top of all the happiness she already has.

Winona tells Luke about Vivi Ann’s pregnancy, and Luke considers leaving town for a while. Winona tries to convince him to stay, confessing her feelings for him. He gently lets her down, and Winona feels hurt and embarrassed. She later hears from someone else that Luke has moved to Montana.

As Vivi Ann’s pregnancy progresses, she feels more in love with her husband each day. She and Aurora discuss their respective marriages, with the latter acknowledging that she is not entirely happy with Richard but doesn’t want to leave him for the children’s sake. They also discuss Winona and how hard she tries to please Henry; Aurora asserts that Henry is a different father to Vivi Ann than he is to the older two. As they are talking, Vivi Ann goes into labor.

Vivi Ann gives birth to a son six weeks early, and her family rallies around her. The doctors are worried the baby won’t make it, and a scared and frustrated Dallas gets into a fight at Cat Morgan’s. When he comes back to the hospital bruised, Vivi Ann tells him he cannot beat up people when he is afraid but reassures him he is not like his father. They name their son Noah Grey Raintree after Dallas’s grandfather.

After six weeks, Noah is finally ready to be taken home from the hospital. On the drive home, Vivi Ann discovers that Dallas keeps a loaded gun in his glove compartment. She reiterates that Dallas’s life is no longer what it used to be and makes him promise to get rid of the gun.

Over the next couple of years, the gossip about Vivi Ann and Dallas dies down. However, on Noah’s second Halloween, Myrtle Michaelin, who runs the ice cream shop, warns Vivi Ann that she has seen Dallas frequent Cat Morgan’s place. Vivi Ann brushes this off, reiterating that Dallas and Cat are just friends and that she trusts her husband.

On Christmas Eve that year, Dallas feels unwell and stays home while Vivi Ann and Noah spend the day with the rest of the Greys. Dallas feels better the next morning and gifts Vivi Ann a diamond ring to make up for not being able to afford one when they married. They spend the day with the rest of the family at Water’s Edge, but Sheriff Al Bailor’s arrival interrupts dinner. He reveals that Cat Morgan was murdered the previous night and says that he has come to question Dallas.

The newspaper runs an article about how Cat Morgan was shot dead at her house. Vivi Ann convinces an unsettled Dallas to attend Cat’s funeral. Dallas reveals that he gave his gun to Cat, which is why he believes the police will come after him. Dallas challenges Vivi Ann to ask him whether he did it, but she doesn’t, as she firmly believes he is innocent.

During the funeral, Al arrives and takes Dallas away for further questioning. A frantic Vivi Ann is taken to the police station by her sisters. Vivi Ann is enraged when Winona claims she always knew Dallas was trouble, and she yells at Winona to leave. Aurora stays with Vivi Ann. Hours later, Al reveals that Dallas has been arrested for Cat’s murder.

Vivi Ann and Aurora head to Winona’s, where Vivi Ann begs Winona to be Dallas’s lawyer. Winona initially says that as a civil lawyer, she doesn’t have enough experience for a criminal trial, but she then reluctantly reveals that she believes Dallas is guilty. Hurt and insulted, Vivi Ann leaves immediately.

Vivi Ann meets with six different private attorneys for Dallas, but none of them will take the case on for free. She asks Henry if he will take out a second mortgage on the ranch to finance the legal retainer, but to her shock, he refuses. Vivi Ann heads to Clem’s stall for comfort, like she used to in the years after her mother’s death.

Vivi Ann goes to visit Dallas in prison, where he reveals he has already accepted a court-appointed attorney. He is cynical and scared about what will happen to him, especially because of his past record, but Vivi Ann reiterates her belief in his innocence and promises she will never give up on him.

Gossip about Dallas dominates town for the next few months, with most people believing him guilty. They also know the issue has divided the Grey family, with Henry and Winona pitted against Vivi Ann and Aurora. Winona misses her sisters, but neither of them deigns to speak or listen to her anymore.

The trial begins, and Sara Hamm, the prosecutor, explains how Cat was shot with a gun that had Dallas’s prints on it, along with unidentified fingerprints. Dallas’s attorney, Roy Lovejoy, argues that Dallas was sick and stayed home that night and notes that there was not enough DNA evidence left at the scene of the crime to test and match with Dallas. Myrtle testifies for the prosecution. From her ice cream shop, she saw a man leave Cat’s house. Although she couldn’t see his features clearly, she saw his profile and recognized the tattoo on his arm underneath the streetlight. Once the trial concludes, the jury deliberates and finds Dallas guilty; he is sentenced to prison for life.

Vivi Ann wants to appeal Dallas’s conviction, but he is broken. Although Vivi Ann unfailingly visits him in prison every week, he refuses to let her bring Noah, not wanting his son to see him behind bars.

The appellate court upholds Dallas’s conviction. As Roy prepares more petitions for review, Vivi Ann begins to take Xanax to get through the days. Aurora tries to cheer her up by forcing her to go to Outlaw with her. However, Vivi Ann spots Winona approaching her and bolts immediately. She spends the night in Clem’s stall, the way she did the night her mother died.

Winona spends Christmas Eve alone with Henry at Water’s Edge. Luke calls unexpectedly to check on her, and she feels a little heartened. She decides to make up with Vivi Ann and visits her at the cabin. Vivi Ann answers the door drunk and refuses to accept Winona’s apology. She is furious when Winona once again insists Dallas must be guilty, and Vivi Ann tells her sister to get out; they are done talking for good.

Years pass with Roy filing all the motions he can, Vivi Ann surviving on pills and alcohol, and the sisters not talking to each other. Vivi Ann misses a number of important milestones in Noah’s life, spending hours every Saturday at the prison. Four years in, she returns from the prison to find Clem dead in her stall, and it breaks her.

Roy finally tells Vivi Ann there is nothing more he can do. As a parting gift, he schedules a contact visit for Vivi Ann with Dallas at the prison. During the visit, Dallas tells her they are not good for each other, and Vivi Ann realizes he has lost hope. He leaves without taking the picture of Noah she brought for him.

Vivi Ann continues to visit the prison every Saturday, but Dallas never comes out to see her again. He eventually files for divorce, and the day the papers arrive, Vivi Ann takes some pills with alcohol and crawls into bed. She is woken up by Noah, who reminds her he has a birthday party to attend. Still not fully conscious, Vivi Ann begins driving Noah there but loses focus and crashes into a truck.

Shaken and grateful that neither of them is seriously injured, Vivi Ann drops Noah off at the party, reiterating her love for him and deciding to do better. She heads to Winona’s and breaks down crying in her sister’s arms. Winona finally tells her the truth about her own feelings for Luke, and Vivi Ann is understanding, seeing how love has led her to do irrational things too. Winona tells Vivi Ann to “stop being Dallas’s wife and start being Noah’s mother” (228). She promises Vivi Ann that the family will help her get over this heartbreak, although Vivi Ann is sure she will never fall in love again.