“Why don’t you try what we said? Maybe give it a time limit. Till the end of summer, when school starts. That gives you two months to figure out what you want to do. And he can make other living arrangements for eight weeks.”
“He’ll probably move in with her,” Caroline said, sounding depressed.
“Caroline, if that’s what he wants, you can’t stop him, and it’s best to know. If he’s in love or obsessed with this girl, you can’t win. So he either fights like a dog to get you back, or he’s made his bed with her, and that’s it. You don’t want to be looking for her underwear under the bed every time you leave the house to drive the kids to school. That’s no way to live.”
“You’re right. I’ll tell him we’ll decide at the end of August. Can I take the kids away?”
“You can do whatever you want. You don’t have a formal agreement. If he complains, or they do, you can negotiate it on a time-by-time basis. Where were you thinking of going?”
“My family ranch in the Santa Ynez Valley.”
“Sounds terrific. It’s not on the moon. He can drive down, or fly down if he wants to see them. Let him make some effort to redeem himself, that’ll tell you something too.”
“Thank you, Charlie. I’m sorry to tell you all this.”
“I’m sorry it’s happening to you. I’m going to charge you a dollar for this consultation by the way, to protect the attorney-client privilege.”
“Thank you.”
She felt better when they hung up. She had a plan. And a lawyer. She sent Peter an email, and told him they needed a break, or she did, until the end of August, and he needed to stay somewhere else in the meantime. She didn’t mention the children or the ranch, and wouldn’t until he did. She wanted to give them a few days to see their friends in Marin, which she had promised, and then she wanted to go back to the ranch until the end of the summer. She was happy she had it now. It was hers too. And this time, when she left, she wouldn’t be running away, as she always had before. She would be going home. There was a difference. And she wasn’t going to let Peter get away with this. He couldn’t cheat on her and lie, and not be accountable. She wasn’t going to be the silent, invisible wife anymore. Those days were over.
Chapter 9
Shortly after Caroline and the children left the ranch for San Francisco on Sunday afternoon, Gemma’s agent called her. He had an audition for her in L.A. He wasn’t overly enthused about it, and didn’t want to get her hopes up, but she had said she would try out for anything, and he took her at her word.
Walking into the audition, Gemma had a shock. Most of the girls trying out were half her age. None of them had appeared in anything worthwhile, and it was a second-rate made-for-TV movie for a less than stellar cable network. They were auditioning her for the part of the star’s mother. She had no idea what they were going to pay her if she got it, but whatever it was, it wasn’t enough to humiliate herself to that degree. She was profoundly depressed when she left the audition, called Jerry on his cellphone, and got him in his car.
“Okay. Uncle. I give up. I said get me anything, maybe we should notch that up a little.” Knowing that Thad was going to buy out her share of the ranch, and her summer tenant was promising to make an offer on her house and wanted to buy some of her art, she felt a little less desperate than when her show was canceled. “They wanted me to play some little hooker’s mother, and I think it was a vampire movie. Either that, or the starlet I auditioned with needs to see her dentist immediately and get her eye teeth filed down.” Jerry laughed at her description.
“I’m sorry, Gemma. I took you at your word. I’ve actually got something interesting cooking right now. They’re not ready to cast it yet, but you’d be perfect. It’s being put together by a brilliant British producer/director who’s had nothing but hit shows. He does quality period dramas, and there’s a fantastic role for an American in it. It spans both world wars, and you’d play an American doctor who left the