Daddy's Girls (18)

Gemma had no intention of telling her sisters what had happened. They’d hear about it soon enough, but Kate called her to see how she was doing, and she could hear something in her sister’s voice.

“Something wrong?” She had an uncanny sense of her sisters, which made it hard to hide from her.

    “No, of course not. Just a long week on the set. I had a lot of scenes to catch up on, and well, you know, Dad…” She tried to blame her tone on him to get Kate off the scent. But she didn’t sound sad, she sounded panicked and anxious. In fact, she was so scared, she hadn’t thought of him in several days, except to lament the fact that he couldn’t bail her out this time, as he had in the past. He always came through for her, after a brief lecture about saving her money for a rainy day. But she was a star, and he knew she needed to maintain a lifestyle. She was Daddy’s Girl. He would have been horrified if he’d known what that added up to. She spent more on makeup and her trainer than most people did on rent, not to mention facials. She had a woman fly in from New York to give her facials, with a gentle electric shock machine for two thousand dollars a pop, plus her airfare and hotel. And she hadn’t thought twice about spending it until now. She flew first class everywhere, or chartered planes for the life of a star.

“I just wanted to remind you that you’re coming up to go through Dad’s things. I think it’s hard on Juliette to have it all sitting there. It’ll be nice for her if we can go through it, keep what we want, and give the rest away. We still have his papers to go through. And we agreed to do it before Caroline goes to Aspen for the summer. They’ve rented a house there. And you’re probably going away too. Are you chartering a boat this year?” Her sisters’ lives were on another planet from Kate’s, but she didn’t begrudge it to them. It was what they did, while she worked on the ranch, which was the life she had led, and wanted, for twenty years. She had raced home from college to do it, so now she couldn’t complain, and didn’t.

When Kate asked Gemma about the boat, she felt sick momentarily, remembering what she had spent on it. Seven hundred thousand dollars for a week, which had seemed like nothing to her. But it had been fabulous, and she had invited ten friends to go with her. They’d gone to Monaco, Corsica, and Sardinia.

    “No, not this year,” she said, trying to sound casual. “I haven’t figured out my plans yet. I might stick around L.A. and do some work.”

“Why don’t you spend the summer here?” Kate suggested. “You can drive down to L.A. if you need to, for a day of work, or a couple of days. You have a house here, you might as well use it.”

“It’s a thought,” Gemma said bleakly. She could suddenly see herself living there, trapped in the Valley again, as though the last ten years had never happened. It made her want to cry, thinking about it.

“I remember that we agreed to go through his things.” Gemma sighed and couldn’t come up with a good excuse not to be there. She really wasn’t in the mood to do it now. She had bigger worries.

“Make sure Caroline can still do it too, so we can get it over with.” As long as they would be in the Valley again, she wanted to do their detective work in Santa Barbara, and check out their mother, if they had time. But they’d be busy going through their father’s things. It was a depressing project. Caroline wasn’t enthused about it either when Kate called her. She knew she had promised to do it, but she dreaded going back so soon. And their recent discovery about their mother had really upset her.

“Do we have to do it now?” Caroline complained.

“It’s like pulling teeth getting you two to come here, and I think it’s hard on Juliette having his clothes and papers all over the place. It feels like he’s going to walk in any minute. She’s been very respectful, and she wants us to do it. I think we should. Do you want to bring the kids?”

    “I’ll ask them. They may have plans, and I have to see what Peter wants to do. I’ll ask them tonight, and call you tomorrow to confirm.” Kate hung up, feeling frustrated. Getting her sisters to commit to a weekend in the Valley was like dragging a dead buffalo across the floor.

Caroline brought it up at dinner that night, and Morgan and Billy were lukewarm about it. Morgan thought there might be a party at a friend’s, and Billy wanted to play tennis at their club. But Caroline was touched when Peter said he thought they should go. He told the children that they should be supportive of their mother, and reminded them that they’d have fun, and could go riding. They’d enjoyed their recent weekend there, despite the funeral.

“Do you want to come too?” Caroline smiled at him, grateful for the help. She’d rather take the kids than go alone. They grounded her.

“I can’t. I have to work. We’re in the middle of a big deal. I was going to tell you.” He looked regretful. “Why don’t the three of you go?” The children grudgingly agreed, and Caroline called Kate in the morning, and said she could make it, and was going to bring the kids.

“Thad can take them riding while we sort things out,” Kate said, pleased. She was looking forward to spending another weekend with them, despite their sad mission, putting their father’s things away.

Caroline and her children were going to fly in on Friday, and Gemma was going to drive up from L.A.