Daddy's Girls (46)

“I thought we’d stay at the ranch for a while,” Caroline said cautiously, wondering what they’d think of the plan. Morgan thought about it for a minute and nodded. She didn’t seem to object and Billy didn’t comment.

“Will we see Dad?”

“He can come down to see you, or you can fly up here to see him. I don’t know what his plans are.” Or Miss Ashton’s, she thought. She wondered if he was going to use the house in Aspen with her. It wouldn’t surprise her. She was still furious at him, and he had done nothing to repair it. She suspected he was having a major affair and had lost his mind in some kind of midlife crisis. He was twenty-one years older than Veronica Ashton.

“When are we going to the ranch?” Caroline was relieved that they seemed to have no serious objections to spending the summer at the ranch. They were more concerned about their parents taking a break and what it meant.

“This weekend,” Caroline said with a sigh about when they were leaving Marin.

“Do you think Kate would pay us for the chores we do?” Morgan asked her.

“I don’t know. She might. You should talk to her about it.”

“Do you think you and Dad will get back together?” Morgan asked with frightened eyes, and Caroline looked at her seriously.

“I don’t know. I hope so.” Morgan nodded. A lot of her friends’ parents were divorced. It wasn’t unfamiliar to her, and Billy’s too, but it worried them anyway. He chimed in then.

    “Arnie Rivers’s parents took a break. His father had a girlfriend. They got divorced and then he married the girlfriend,” he supplied, and Caroline’s stomach turned over when he said it.

“Thanks, Billy, that’s really helpful,” his mother said sternly.

“Dad doesn’t have a girlfriend, stupid. He and Mom are just having problems,” Morgan said to him in a fury, and then looked at her mother.

“Does he?”

“I hope not” was all she was willing to say on the subject. Less was more in the circumstances. But the fact was he did, and maybe he would marry her, if she didn’t mind marrying a man twenty-one years older than she was. It still made Caroline feel sick when she thought about it, and the photographs, especially the one of his penis with the heart drawn around it. That used to be hers. Now it belonged to Veronica Ashton, with the fancy Goyard datebook. Maybe he had bought it for her. She thought of them constantly, which only made things worse.



* * *



—

On Saturday morning, Caroline and the children flew to Santa Ynez, and Thad picked them up with the truck, and drove them to the house they had recently furnished. It looked homey and cozy when they walked in and Gemma and Kate arrived a few minutes later to welcome them.

Gemma could see immediately that something was wrong. Caroline was pale, had deep circles under her eyes and looked like she’d lost ten pounds.

    They helped them settle in, and the kids took off with Thad half an hour later. He and Kate exchanged a look, which no one saw, and his hand gently swept hers as he walked by, which made her whole body thrill at his touch.

As soon as the kids had left, Caroline sat down on the couch and looked at her sisters.

“Peter’s having an affair with a twenty-three-year-old trainee at his office.” She told them what she’d found when she went home. Kate looked shocked, and Gemma disgusted.

“Oh, for chrissake, what a jerk. That’s so juvenile, dick pics yet,” Gemma said, familiar with the concept.

“He tried to claim that he got her from an escort service, which is bullshit. She works for him. I haven’t seen him since the night I got home and told him to leave.”

“What are you going to do?” Kate asked her.

“I don’t know yet. I don’t know if I can forgive him, and he lied to me on top of it. I don’t know how long it’s gone on or if it still is.” Since she’d thrown him out, she was sure he was still with Veronica.

“That kind of thing usually burns itself out pretty quickly. She’ll get tired of him. Let’s face it, he’s not a very exciting guy,” Gemma said, and Caroline nodded. He wasn’t exciting but she loved him, and their marriage. Her sisters had always thought him too uptight and conservative, and a snob in some ways, but he suited Caroline and he was her husband. She didn’t want to lose him, but it felt like she already had.

“I love him. I thought we had a good marriage. And the whole time I was here, he was screwing her. I don’t think I could trust him again.” She looked miserable, and her sisters felt sorry for her.

    “What have you told the kids?” Kate asked her quietly, deeply sympathetic to her.

“That we’re taking a break for the summer.”

“Is he going to see them?” Gemma asked.

“He hasn’t asked yet. Maybe he’s too busy with her. I think he’s embarrassed and doesn’t know what to say. Neither do I.” Caroline looked devastated and exhausted, but it was good to be back with her sisters, and the kids would be busy on the ranch. It was the best she could hope for right now. She knew he wouldn’t stay away from the kids for long. But she wondered if their marriage was over. It seemed like a distinct possibility. She wasn’t sure what she wanted. She was still too shocked and upset to make up her mind. She kept going back and forth between wanting a divorce and wanting him to fix it. But how could he? Her heart felt broken forever.