Invisible(74)
“Well, I did. And so did Dash when he went to South Africa with you. Boden’s crazy about you, Mom, and I think he’s very cool.” Antonia had thought that no one had noticed, but the kids were onto them, maybe even before they were themselves.
“I guess I’m not as invisible as I like to think,” she said to Boden when he came home from the studio, and he laughed at her.
“You’ve got smart kids,” he said as he kissed her.
He stayed in her bedroom that night, with the kids in the house, and moved his things in the following week. It was as though he had always been there. He was the assistant director on her next movie, and the films she made afterward. She still disappeared when she needed to, into herself, but she was never invisible to him.
Chapter 19
The catering trucks began arriving at noon. They were giving the biggest party Antonia had ever given at the farm. It was a combined celebration of Dash’s graduation from veterinary school and Antonia’s fiftieth birthday. She and Boden had just made their twentieth film together, and had been together for six years.
Olympia’s acting career was booming, and she was in constant demand, with Fred representing her. She was a big name now. And Dash was going to Africa to work on an important rescue project for leopards and cheetahs. If it worked out, he would be spending six months a year there for the next three years.
The guests had been invited for seven o’clock, and the children had added more names to the list. There were two hundred and twenty people on the grounds around the farmhouse by eight o’clock, and two enormous cakes burning with candles were presented after dinner. There was a lively country band Olympia had picked that had a current single in the top ten. She was dating the lead singer, a stunningly handsome English boy. Lara was there and brought the man she had been living with for five years. Brandon had stayed in Palm Beach. He was eighty-three and housebound now, which Antonia knew when she invited him. She didn’t really want him there. She and the children hadn’t seen him in several years.
Boden’s brothers and their wives had come from Montana, but his parents were on a cruise again and sent their regrets. They were older than Antonia’s father and traveled all the time. Jake was in San Francisco and sent his love.
Boden saw her blow out the candles on her cake. He thought she looked uncomfortable when she did. She kissed Dash when he blew his out and then she disappeared. He thought he knew where to find her, and he walked down to the small lake, and found her sitting there, on a big rock, in the moonlight. They walked there after dinner sometimes, on warm nights, when they were in residence between films.
He could see her silhouette in the dark, with the fireflies floating around her. There was an August moon heavy in the sky. He walked over quietly and sat down next to her on the rock. Evenings of revelry where she was the center of attention were not her strong suit, but she had agreed to it for Dash, and the children wanted to celebrate her birthday too.
Boden put an arm around her, and she looked up at him in the moonlight with a peaceful smile. He knew her well now, and they lived their life in harmony. He knew the evening was a lot for her.
“You disappeared,” he said softly and didn’t sound surprised. She nodded and kissed him, happy sitting beside him, pleased that she was invisible to the entire world, but not to him. He always knew how to find her, and where she was hiding, and she knew he always would, as he kissed her again. She didn’t need to be invisible because she was safe with him, just as she had been with Hamish. She still carried Hamish in her heart, like the blessing he had been so long ago, and Boden was to her now.
They stayed at the lake for a while, and then walked back to the house hand in hand, when she was ready. She felt peaceful and loved, exactly where she wanted to be, and where she belonged. Destiny had brought her home and put the right people on her path, one by one, and the wrong ones who didn’t love her or understand were gone.