“Aunt Emma,” Libby gasped.
“He’s a younger man but over seventy. It’s my experience men are too immature before seventy to be much use. Oh, except for lifting furniture. Other than that, pfft.”
Goldie gave Aunt Emma a glass of Chardonnay. She drank it down in one gulp.
Before she took her leave, Aunt Emma looked Goldie square in the eyes. She pulled her in close and spoke quietly. “You’re doing the right thing, making a life here. It’s the best decision you ever made. Well, maybe the second best, according to Viv.”
“You keep in touch with her?”
“Now and again.” Aunt Emma hugged her and said her goodbyes.
They settled on chairs out back and watched boaters lazily motor by as the sun set.
The food was delicious. Goldie didn’t count one single carb or calorie as she ate it.
“So, what was that about the second-best decision?” J.J. asked.
It was a secret between her and Viv, one that no one but them knew. But it was time to tell her sisters, the ones who would also have been there for her, she knew now, if only she had asked.
“I have a twenty-two-year-old daughter.”
“What? Congratulations! I mean, oh my goodness, that’s wonderful!” Hope enthused.
“Look, I know your IMBD bio down to the last comma. You’d have been inPeople Magazine. Not one whiff of this has ever been reported,” J.J. said.
“Yeah, true. Well, a long time ago, I fell in love with a famous man, and I got pregnant. He said it would ruin his career. He was married.”
“What a jerk,” J.J. said.
“I was in a tough spot. It could have ruined my career, too. I had a lot of resources, thanks to my movie paychecks, just not a lot of support. The smartest thing I did, maybe ever, was call an old friend.”
“Oh my gosh.” Libby had started to piece it together. Goldie hadn’t called any one of them, and they were the oldest of friends. “Viv, you called Viv!”
“I did. After I went out to Hollywood, we kept in touch. She was starting her design career, doing some styling. She was having fertility issues, and I was not, turns out.”
“Wow, Viv, I miss her. We need to concoct a reason to get her out here like we did these two,” J.J. said.
“She’s happily divorced, living in New York State, with our daughter.”
“Our daughter?” Hope said.
“Viv left the terms of the adoption up to me, so it’s open. I’m Aunt Goldie, but Siena knows I’m her biological mother. Viv has been generous with their lives. But it was Viv who did the raising. Viv is her mom. I’m Aunt Goldie.”
She was a little sad when she said it. She didn’t mean to be. It had worked out. Siena had a beautiful life. While Goldie had taken center stage in the movies, she was in the wings of Siena’s life. And that’s the way it should be for kids. They should be the star, not the satellite.
Libby stood up and walked over to Goldie. She crouched down and wrapped her friend in a hug. Soon, J.J. and Hope were smashing Goldie with a love bomb.
“Wow, what was that for?”
“First, that you let us hug you now! It’s nice to see your guard down. And second, I’m glad we’re all back in each other’s lives,” said Libby.
“Oh, and third, we didn’t get to back then, when you and Viv did this amazing thing,” J.J. added.
“Okay, I’m opening another bottle of wine. I want to hearallabout Siena. She’s got to be brilliant,” Hope announced.
They finished off another bottle, all the food Goldie had ordered, and even dessert.
They planned what was next for the hotel and how to get the word out about it. Next summer was going to be so different from this summer. If they played it right, Irish Hills and Two Lakes Grove would be packed!
