Daddy's Girls (45)

“Apparently not,” Gemma said, as they sat on Kate’s porch drinking Cokes at the end of the day. “She sent me a text today. It fell through. She wants to come back with the kids till they go back to school. She didn’t tell you?” Kate looked surprised.

“She’s welcome of course, but that’s a little weird. She hadn’t been here in three years and now she can’t tear herself away. Is Peter coming too?”

“She didn’t say.”

“I doubt it. He hates it here. He thinks we’re all rednecks, except you of course. You’re Hollywood Elite.” Gemma laughed. “Did you get work this week, by the way?”

“Not a bit, unless I want to play mother to Miss Frankenstein in a vampire movie. Jerry says he might have something for me in a new British series, but they don’t start casting till September, and it’s a lot of location work. My tenant says he’s going to make an offer on my house any minute. If he buys it, I’ll have to put everything in storage, until I buy something else, smaller, like a condo. I’m in no hurry. It’ll be nice having money for a change. It feels good to be back.” She smiled at her sister. “I missed you this week. This place is addictive. I never realized that before, now that the Big Bad Wolf is gone,” she teased. She loved her father but she didn’t like what she had learned about him since his death and what he had done to their mother. It was hard matching that up with all the moralistic preaching he’d done in his lifetime.

Kate got a text from Caroline that night too. She said she’d be back in the next day or two, and would love to stay for July and August if it was okay. Kate texted back that it was, and didn’t ask about Peter. She had the odd feeling that something was off but didn’t want to ask. That was a major change of plans if she wanted to stay for two months. She wondered how the kids felt about it, and Peter.

    Kate drove to Santa Barbara the next day to see their mother. It was the second time she’d gone to see her on her own. She was enjoying spending time with her. She was a good woman, and loved getting to know her daughters. They talked for hours, and when Kate got back, Gemma said she wanted to go with Kate next time. Scarlett entering their lives took away some of the grief of losing their father.

Even when Gemma was back, Thad continued his nightly visits, staying until ten o’clock after dinner, driving to his cabin, then coming back on foot at midnight and staying until Kate got up in the morning. It made for short interrupted nights, but they agreed that it was worth it. Their affair had taken off like a rocket, and was continuing at a frantic pace with the white heat of their passion for each other. Kate had never had anything like it, and Thad said he hadn’t either. They hadn’t figured out when to tell people, but it still seemed too soon to Kate. He wanted to shout it from the rooftops.



* * *



—

Caroline packed everything she thought she and the children would need for a two-month stay at the ranch, mostly shorts and jeans and bathing suits, some Tshirts and blouses, sweatshirts if it got cool at night. They didn’t need anything fancy, and what they didn’t have, they could buy in town. They didn’t need a wardrobe at the ranch, and neither did she, unlike Gemma, who had to go to L.A. for auditions occasionally, and had to look the part. She had an image to maintain, now more than ever, since she was trying to find work.

    The children were shocked when their mother told them that the house in Aspen had fallen through. She said the owners were planning to use it themselves. But they were even more surprised when they realized very quickly that their father wasn’t coming home at night. That was harder to explain.

“Where is he, Mom?” Morgan asked her pointedly over breakfast on the third night of his banishment. Caroline hadn’t talked to him, they had emailed and texted, and he said he wanted to see the children. She told him to take them to dinner if he wanted, but he hadn’t called them yet to set it up. Caroline guessed that he was embarrassed, and probably terrified about what she had told them. So far, she had said nothing, and didn’t intend to about what had really happened. They weren’t old enough to know, and shouldn’t.

Caroline took a deep breath when Morgan pressed her again. Billy was at the table too, so it was a good time, but he wasn’t paying attention. He was watching something on his iPad.

“Dad and I have decided to take a little break, till the end of the summer. We need to think about some things, and work out some problems.” It was the official line she had decided on.

“What kind of problems?” Morgan looked panicked.

“Grown-up stuff, husband and wife stuff. We haven’t been getting along so well lately. We haven’t said anything, because we didn’t want to upset you.” Billy stopped what he was doing and looked up.

“Are you getting a divorce?” he asked her.

“No, just a break, for now. A time-out.” He nodded and went back to his iPad. The details didn’t interest him at eleven, just the end result.

“Is that why we’re not going to Aspen?” Morgan asked her and her mother nodded. She didn’t want to lie to her more than she had to.

    “We didn’t think it would be a good idea, and the summer seemed like a good time to do this.”

“So what are we supposed to do all summer? Everyone’s going away. All my friends are going east or to Europe,” she said plaintively.