Daddy's Girls (30)
“Are we going to call and ask to see her?” Gemma inquired. Kate had been debating about that herself.
“I’d rather not. Why don’t we just drive by her house and get a feeling for where and how she lives? We can always call her if we want to, and ask to see her. If she looks like a total mess, or is falling down drunk in the street, we may not want to see her, and let it go at that. That would at least explain why Dad kept her out of our lives. Or maybe she kept herself out of our lives. Maybe she didn’t want to see us, and Dad was trying to protect us from that rejection. I know he wasn’t an easy person, but this can’t be all Dad’s fault. She has to have played a part in it too. Maybe she abused us, or neglected us, or just didn’t want to see us for all these years. She could have shown up by now. That’s all I really want to know. What happened and why did she leave? And why did she never come back later? Why he lied is his part of the equation, and he’s not here to tell us. Maybe we can figure it out ourselves from her side of the story, and then we’ll feel better about it now that we know about her. I’d never have gone looking for her. It never occurred to me to check it out, or doubt what he told us. Now that we know there’s a discrepancy, and she’s less than an hour from here, I want to go and find out what I can,” Kate said.
“So do I,” Gemma said, nodding at Kate. She agreed with everything she’d said. Caroline didn’t.
“Well, I don’t have that kind of curiosity. She wasn’t here, and I don’t need her anymore, so I’d rather let sleeping dogs lie.”
“And let us do the dirty work,” Gemma reproached her again, and Caroline stood up.
“You don’t need to do anything for me, Gemma. I don’t need to know about her, and don’t even want to. If it’s what you need, fine. But leave me out of it. And if you decide to meet her, don’t bother to include me. I won’t go.” She had made herself clear and Kate respected it, and didn’t want to push her. She could see that her younger sister was way out of her comfort zone, and they were crossing her boundaries, and Kate didn’t want to do that and make her feel ganged up on. Gemma had a powerful personality, like their father, and Kate didn’t want to add to its impact on Caroline. As always, she was the peacemaker, and enjoyed that role, which suited her personality.
“That’s fine, Caro. Don’t stress about it. Gem and I will go, and fill you in later, IF you want us to.” She turned to Gemma then. “What about tomorrow?” Gemma nodded agreement. “We can leave around ten?”
“Works for me. I have nothing to do here.” The dinner lasted a few more minutes, and then Caroline left, with the excuse of checking on her children at her house. Gemma stayed to help Kate put the dishes in the machine.
“Wow, she is sensitive. I forget how fragile she is sometimes.” Gemma looked surprised.
“So did Dad. He didn’t know how to handle her, so he ignored her. I’m not sure what was worse, bullying her, or ignoring her. He never knew how to handle people like her.”
“I don’t think I do either,” Gemma admitted. “She just crawls right into her shell, and refuses to engage.”
“It’s who she is. I think Peter is more like Dad than she realizes. He makes most of her decisions for her, and she lets him. But she’s stubborn once she makes up her mind.” Gemma nodded agreement. It was the opposite personality from hers and her father’s. Kate was kind of a hybrid between the two. She wasn’t forceful, but she had her own opinions, and confronted things head-on, but in a gentle way. Caroline had been in hiding for most of her life. And Peter’s early criticism of her hadn’t helped. He loved her, but had been vocal about not liking where she came from, and his parents had added to it. They had wanted their only son to marry a debutante. Caroline was smart and loving, but not that.
“Are you nervous about tomorrow?” Gemma asked her. Kate thought about it and then nodded.
“Yeah, I am. What if she turns out to be a weirdo or a creep, or a really terrible person?” Kate responded.
“That would be sad, but at least we’ll know. Now that we’ve found her, I’m dying of curiosity. We don’t need her anymore, but she’s still our mother. I wish she’d turned up a long time ago. I could have used a mother then. Having just a father wasn’t enough. He tried to cover all the bases, but he was all guy, and pure testosterone, and Juliette didn’t really get deeply involved with him until we were in college. It was too late by then, and she was careful not to step on Dad’s toes and get too engaged. It was smart of her, because he wouldn’t have liked it if she had, but it didn’t do much for us. I’m past needing a mother now, unless she’s fabulously wealthy and would like to pay off all my debts.” Kate grinned. She worried about Gemma and the pinch she was in.
“How’s that going?” Kate asked her.
“Okay. The rent I’m getting for the house will pay my mortgage, but I’ve got a lot of debts, more than I realized. I’m going to need to take all the money jobs I can get for a while, to try and make up for the show getting canceled. I hate to do it, but I may need you to buy out my share of the ranch by the fall.” Kate nodded. She didn’t like it, but she wasn’t surprised. Gemma needed money, and soon, if she didn’t find another big job. She had an expensive lifestyle, and wasn’t shy about running into debt. Their father had complained about it to Kate before.