weekend, and he was whining about how lonely he was going to be, so I thought I’d surprise him and fly over and keep him company.”
Her brother laughed and could guess the end of the story. “And you ran into him with one of his tarts on the boat, I assume.”
“How do you know?”
“Because it’s happened to me. The first time when I was about sixteen. I’ve run into him a few times in other places too. Most of the time with girls closer to my age than his. I think he’s been doing that for years.”
“What do you think came first, the chicken or the egg? Do you think he screws around because Mom shut him out? Or do you think Mom shut him out because he cheats on her?”
“I’m pretty sure he’s been playing around for years. I ran into a woman years ago in London who got all dewy eyed and said she had an affair with my father. But when I figured out the time frame, I was about three at the time. I think Mom just got fed up with it. Who wouldn’t?”
“Why do you think she stays with him? The money?” Kendall was always more practical than her brother, and harsher.
“Why do you always assume the worst about her? I think she probably stayed for us at first, and then she just got stuck there. I think she’s too depressed to leave by now.”
“Well, she can’t use us as an excuse anymore,” Kendall said coldly.
“Maybe after a while you just don’t care. I don’t know why they bother to stay married. They hardly see each other and they never talk to each other. I wish she’d leave him,” he said sadly. “She deserves a better life. She doesn’t care about the money.”
“Maybe she’d be happier if she did leave. How are you, by the way?” Kendall asked her brother.
“I’m fine.” He was expecting the usual diatribe about how he was wasting time making furniture, but he loved what he was doing and was a true artist. One of the royals had recently commissioned one of his pieces, but he didn’t bother to tell his sister. She never understood. She was just like his father. It didn’t matter to either of them if he loved what he was doing. All that mattered was making billions of dollars and becoming a legend.
“How’s Sophie?”
“Also fine.” They called her flight then, and she had to leave.
“Call me sometime,” she said, sounding friendlier than she had in years.
“Yeah, sure,” he said as though hell would freeze over first. She had been too unkind to him too often. She thought about it all the way back to California, and about their mother. Kendall knew she had been hard on both of them. She always defended her father.
She slept part of the way back, had lunch, and watched a movie. They arrived on time, and when she got to her apartment to change, she decided not to go into the office. It was Friday. She got her car out and drove to Tahoe instead. She arrived at eight o’clock. It was already dark, but her mother was coming back from her garden. Her hands were dirty and she looked relaxed. She was startled and jumped when she saw her daughter. Kendall didn’t know where to start, so she got right to the point.
“I just saw Dad on the boat, and I wanted to come and see you.”
“Why?” Her mother looked instantly suspicious and guarded. Kendall was usually tough on her, and never kind.
Kendall took a deep breath and decided to be honest. They were standing outside the house and it was chilly. “He had someone with him, and it made me realize that I haven’t been fair to you. I talked to Nick and he said Dad’s been doing that for a long time, maybe forever.” Her mother didn’t comment. She never complained to her children about their father.
“Do you want to come in for dinner?” her mother asked her.
“I’ll have a cup of tea or something. Anyway, I just figured that I’ve been wrong blaming you for the way things are with Dad. I guess he has a part in this too.” After all, they were still married, and she had never seen her mother with a man and was sure there had never been one. Her mother was an honorable woman.
“Your father and I haven’t gotten along for a long time. There are a lot of reasons