Daddy's Girls (63)
They both got an email from Kate a week later. With Gemma leaving the country in December, she wanted to be sure that they would all come home for Thanksgiving on the ranch. It was going to be their first one without their father. But ironically, now they would have their mother with them for the first time, which was not lost on any of them. He had exited, and she had entered. It was a constantly shifting scene. Juliette was going back to France in December, and Kate wanted her with them on Thanksgiving too.
“Your family seems to be on the move these days,” Thad said when she told him about it. He was working on the plans for his house, their house, and Kate was going to freshen up her father’s house and redo some things before they moved in. Everyone had a project and was busy as life continued to happen, and people came and went.
“It’s kind of like a TV series,” he commented, and Kate laughed.
“Yes, it is. Especially with my family.” Caroline didn’t know if she wanted to get divorced, Gemma was leaving for Africa and moving to London after that, and Juliette was going home to France.
“I’m glad you’re not going anywhere,” Thad said, as he wrapped his powerful arms around her in bed that night. At least the ranch was a constant they could all count on, even now that their father was no longer there. But his legacy lived on in each of them.
Chapter 14
Thanksgiving at the ranch was a joyous affair, far more than any of them had expected. It was the first time their father wasn’t there, which they knew would be hard. But it was also the first time that all the girls had been together for the holiday in a long time. Gemma and Caroline had assiduously avoided holidays at the ranch for years, and this year, they were all there, and Caroline had brought her children. Peter was going to have them for a week over Christmas, so he had let her have them for all of Thanksgiving. He was going home to his parents’ in New York.
Scarlett and Roberto were there, which was the most dramatic change of all. Not in their wildest imagination could they have thought a year before that on this Thanksgiving their father would no longer be there and the mother he had claimed was dead for nearly all of his daughters’ lives would be with them instead. She added a happy presence and was thrilled to share the holiday with her daughters and grandchildren. Scarlett had brought all of the desserts, and kept looking at her daughters in wonder, as though unable to believe she was really there. Roberto was a welcome addition to the group, and male company for Thad in a heavily female-dominated environment. It was Juliette’s final gathering with the family before she left for France on Sunday. Her bags were packed, and she was sad to leave, but excited about going back to France.
Kate made a toast to their father at the beginning of the meal, that without him they wouldn’t be there and none of this would be happening. They were enjoying the home he had provided them, and the family, and she warmly welcomed Scarlett, who had turned out to be the best gift of the year. She acknowledged Juliette and how much they would miss her as the woman who had stayed for the longest summer in history, and they all laughed. She wished Gemma well on her exciting new journey and adventures and reminded her to Skype and FaceTime whenever she could. They were going to miss her so much too. They drank to all of it, and the champagne poured liberally through lunch. And everyone said that the pies Scarlett had brought were delicious. They were everyone’s favorites, pumpkin, apple, pecan, and mince. That way there were no hard decisions to make. Everyone had a slice of each with whipped cream or homemade vanilla ice cream, provided by the cook Kate had hired to make their Thanksgiving meal.
“This is the best Thanksgiving I’ve ever had,” Thad whispered to Kate, sitting next to her. He took on the role of host graciously, and Gemma smiled as she watched them. They made a handsome couple and looked happy. They were planning some improvements to the ranch that their father wouldn’t have liked or approved of, but that Thad and Kate thought were necessary. The next generation was in control now, and Juliette agreed that it could never have happened while he was alive. He never would have let anyone run it or make changes, except himself.
Caroline was planning a trip with Morgan and Billy, to visit Gemma in London, and they promised Juliette they would come to France on their next trip. But she was coming back to the Valley in May anyway, for the unveiling of a memorial monument to Jimmy for all to see at the center of the ranch. They were putting it up on the anniversary of his death, and Juliette had promised to be there. She said she’d be starving for some good barbecue by then, and everyone laughed, but she seemed happy to be going home. She was ready, and the ranch no longer seemed like her home without him. His absence was as powerful as his presence had been, and Kate felt it too.
“I used to hate holidays as a kid,” Thad admitted to Kate. “They were so bad in some of the foster homes I was in. People just took in foster kids to work them like slaves. A few of them were nice but not many. They took us for the money the state paid them. I never had a real Thanksgiving or Christmas or a birthday.” But that had changed now, and he finally had the family he had dreamed of all his life, with Kate, not as the foreman, but as her partner in life. They had so many good things in store for them. Gemma was trying to convince them to come to London too, but they said they were too busy on the ranch to go that far and stay away for long. Gemma wasn’t going to give up easily, and intended to harass them until they did. She was going to be back in time for their father’s monument installation too. They agreed to delay it a few weeks until the end of May, so she could be there during her summer break.