Unvarnished
In the strictest sense, it wasn't a lie.
Not really.
That didn't necessarily make it true, though.
Walt Longmire had always thought of the truth as an absolute. It was something that could be proven or disproven with facts. Or, so he thought. That idea was being challenged more and more lately.
Could you really prove beyond a doubt that certain things were true?
Some you could, of course. It was true that the earth was not flat. That could be easily proven in this day and age. A person's age was another truth that could be verified with little effort. That's what records were for. Paternity could be proven with a simple blood test.
Not everything was that black and white. Not all truths were so easily backed up with facts.
"Did your recent divorce have anything to do with your relationship with the ethical Walt Longmire?"
The urge to throttle Tucker Baggett when he stressed 'ethical' was damn near insurmountable.
To her credit, Vic answered him decisively.
Was it the truth, though?
Could it be supported, or not, by evidence.
Baggett seemed to think a report of Vic kissing him was that evidence. But, it wasn't that simple.
Only Vic was in a position to answer that with any real definition. Even he wasn't privy to all the reasons for her divorce. From the outside looking in, no one would have been surprised by the fact that Vic and Sean ended their marriage. There had been problems for as long as he had known her. Since he hired Vic, her complaints about her husband were not all that uncommon.
They fought.
They made up.
They fought some more.
It was a well established pattern. Anyone who worked in the office with them could back that up.
It still wasn't that simple.
Vic and Sean had been through something traumatic when they were held by Chance Gilbert. An experience like that had the power to either bond a couple together or tear them apart for good. In Vic's case, it seemed to be the final nail in the coffin. Not immediately. But, the incident led to a series of choices that culminated in Walt handing Vic divorce papers in his office.
While she'd been taken off guard, she clearly hadn't been surprised. Not after Sean had given her an ultimatum. Their marriage or her job. One could also translate that as Sean forcing her to choose between him and Walt. That was likely the way her ex-husband saw it in his own mind. His insecurity and jealousy of the time she spent at work with Walt were factors.
It was moments like this one that reminded him that the truth was not always easy to decipher. Truth was more often colored in shades of gray.
It was in that same moment, the one where he gave her the papers, that he told Vic he wanted her to stay. It was probably one of the most sincere moments in his recent memory to pass between them. He'd meant it. In more ways than one. Not that he expressed those thoughts to her. That part was left characteristically unsaid. But, Vic was perceptive.
She made her choice. It wasn't Sean or her marriage.
She signed the papers in his office, not giving them much more than a cursory glance. Just like that, she legally severed her marriage and freed herself.
Technically, he wasn't the other man.
Nothing inappropriate had ever happened between them while she was married. They hadn't kissed or slept together. There was no affair in spite of what Sean accused them both of. Not a physical one.
There was a tender moment in a hospital room where he held her, just for a moment. It was an encounter driven by raw desperation more than anything else. Once it passed, Vic went home to her husband.
An argument could be made that there was an emotional entanglement. Emotions couldn't really be proven, though. That didn't mean there was no truth there. So, was the truth really absolute?
If only it were that simple.
Tucker Baggett didn't believe her. They all knew what he was insinuating. Walt used his position as Sheriff to hire her after what happened in Philadelphia. In exchange, she gave him her unquestioning loyalty and whatever else it was he wanted from her.
The assumption pissed him off.
It sold them both short.
The truth was he didn't ask her why she left Philadelphia. He didn't know about that until later on when the mess with Ed Gorski started. Walt hired Vic based on her experience and education. He hired her because she seemed capable and he liked her. There wasn't anything remotely tawdry about their initial encounter. The idea of having sex with her didn't even occur to him in the state of mind he was in back then.
Not that Tucker Baggett would know that.
No, Tucker Baggett wanted to erroneously oversimplify it. Tarnish it.
The truth was she was loyal. Far more loyal than he deserved. That was for sure. But, that was who she was. It wasn't something he asked for or attempted to extricate from her for his own benefit. It was an unexpected thing she offered him when he needed it the most.
It was the gift he wasn't aware he needed until he destroyed it.
Even then, she never really turned on him. She was angry at him, justifiably so. The bond they once shared was strained to the max. But, she never really stopped backing him up when he needed her the most.
That was a hell of a lot more than he could say for himself.
He wasn't angry at Tucker Baggett for himself. He was angry at the man for trying to cheapen what Vic brought into his life, for trying to make their friendship seem like something that was wrong and dirty.
It was anything but those things.
Even now.
Back in his Bronco, she was quiet. With Vic, that was never a good thing.
She apologized when there was nothing to be sorry about. And, for a split second when she looked his way and their eyes met, he felt the connection with her that had been missing lately. Just as quickly, it was over.
He retreated back into his own thoughts. Some of those thoughts included this whole mess. And, it was a mess. Others wandered back to the truth.
Tucker Baggett was wrong.
That was true.
Walt wanted to reconnect with her, but didn't know how.
That was true.
Vic was beside him just like she always was.
That was true.
Did he have anything to do with her divorce.
That was a question only Vic could truly answer. Right now, she wasn't talking.