Daddy's Girls (64)

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    Everyone was so full they could hardly leave the table at the end of the meal, and the weekend went by too quickly. It had seemed sad to Morgan and Billy at first not to have their father there. But Thad and their aunts kept them so busy that by the day after Thanksgiving they were in good spirits and having fun. Peter had called from New York, and had finally admitted to his parents that he and Caroline were separated. He told them that he was entirely to blame and didn’t go into detail. He called Caroline and the children on Thanksgiving, and they talked to their grandparents.

They left on Sunday morning to go back to San Francisco. Gemma left shortly after, to go back to L.A. and finish packing. The movers were coming that week to remove the furniture she was keeping and put it in storage with her art, and she was leaving for Zimbabwe in two weeks to start work.

That afternoon, Juliette left to catch her flight to L.A. and then Paris. It was a deeply emotional moment when she left the ranch, as she and Kate clung to each other with tears running down their faces.

“Take care of yourself,” Kate said through her tears, “and come back if you’re not happy there. We love you. You always have a home here.”

“And you too. Come to visit me.” She patted Kate’s face as the two women cried. “Be happy, Kate. Your father didn’t understand many things and he was a stubborn man, but he loved you, and he wanted all of you to be happy. I don’t think he ever knew what he did to you, telling you that your mother was dead.” Kate nodded. She thought that too, and wasn’t as angry as her sisters about it. “Be happy with Thad. There is nothing more wonderful than the love of a good man.” She smiled through her own tears then. “I have no regrets with Jimmy. It was everything we wanted and needed. He was my world,” she said softly, “and my sun and moon. I wish that for you and Thad.” In a way she had been Kate’s role model for how to love a man, with gentleness and loyalty and pride, and forgiveness for his failings. They had been good for each other, and she hoped that she and Thad would be too.

    Kate stood and waved as the car drove away with Juliette, with Thad standing next to her with an arm around her shoulders. Kate hoped that she would be happy now, even without Jimmy, and that his love would carry her into the future, with the years they had shared.

“I’m going to miss her so much,” Kate said, still crying when the car was gone. Her quiet presence had been a blessing to all of them, not only to her father. He had been a lucky man to have her.

“I’m here for you, Kate,” Thad said gently. And they walked slowly back to Kate’s house. They were moving into her father’s house in a few weeks, after they gave it a fresh coat of paint. They would be officially living together then, until they moved into his house in a year, when it was ready. They had much to look forward to. And Juliette’s warmth and daily presence on the ranch would be long remembered.



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Gemma’s arrival at Harare international airport in Zimbabwe, after a thirty-six hour trip from L.A., with stops in London and Johannesburg and a switch of airlines, was more rigorous than expected. It took them an additional hour to find one of her bags, which had mysteriously gone in with the freight. The customs officials were astounded by how many suitcases she had brought and she had to explain that she was not selling clothes, she was planning to wear them. Finally, in frustration, she told them she was a movie star, and luckily they believed her. They were fascinated by her. She had an armload of bangle bracelets on, and they wanted to know also if she was a jeweler. She knew that someone from the crew was coming to meet her, to take her to another flight which would bring her closer to their high-end camp where they would be shooting among elephants and other animals in a national park.

    She came through customs feeling a little deflated and disoriented. The trip had been endless, and she suddenly realized that she was on the other side of the globe in a totally unfamiliar world. There were people in elaborate costumes, riotous colors, exotic sights and smells, friendly looking locals, and African dialects being spoken around her. She was fascinated by all of it and felt a little lost too. She looked around to find someone holding a sign with her name, not sure whether to laugh or cry or scream when a man holding a monkey smiled at her, and the monkey leaned out and patted her face.

“He friendly, ma’am,” the owner said, and she whispered to herself with a grin, “Toto, I have a feeling we’re not in Kansas anymore.” Far from it, as three porters struggled with the eleven suitcases she’d brought. She wasn’t sure what the dress code would be at night or when they weren’t working, so she brought everything she could think of, including an entire suitcase full of PowerBars, bug-bite medicine, and insect repellent. She glanced around and saw Rufus, the director, leaning against a post, smiling at her, looking relaxed, as though meeting her at the airport with her mountain of bags was the most normal thing in the world.

“You came to meet me?” She was deeply touched. No director had ever met her at an airport before, but she’d never filmed on location in Africa before either.

    “It was on my way to the supermarket to pick up a loaf of bread, so I thought I’d swing by.” He grinned at her. He was even taller than she remembered, and his beard was neatly trimmed. He was wearing a safari jacket, khaki pants, and heavy work boots, and had a jaunty look about him, totally at ease in the exotic setting. “How was your trip? Other than ridiculously long? It took me forty-two hours to get here when I came, with delayed flights.”