“All right. I admit it’s perfect for you.” She tried to hand him back the phone, but he wouldn’t take it.
“You didn’t see the guest house.”
Sandra scrolled a little further and came to the pictures. Also made of logs, it had large windows, and the next photo showed the view from them. Pines surrounded three sides of the parcel, but the fourth opened to a meadow with a spectacular view of the Teton Mountains.
“Oh, wow. What a view!” It really was a dream property. “How much is it going to ding you?”
“It’s gotthree timesthe acres of my Malibu house for about the same price.” Walt looked positively smug. “You won’t mind living there, will you? This is the part Linda says I’m being presumptuous about. I’m not your father, so I can’t insist you live close. But you always have.”
“Because the traffic in LA is terrible.”
“Well, it can get pretty ugly here during tourist season. See why it would be so much better to have you living on site?” Walt accepted the phone back.
“And Linda’s okay with having me so close?”
He looked at her like she was an idiot. Over the years, when she would observe him at cast activities which included family members, Sandra hadn’t missed how hungry he’d been for what others had so easily.
A stab of jealousy pricked her, making her feel small. She loved her parents, and she knew they loved her. They just didn’t understand her. Not that her father had tried. But her mother had one vision of the world, and it was a narrow one of being a wife and a mother. Sandra had once tried to fit into it and been thrown to the curb.
Rubbing her chest at the ache above her heart, she wondered what to say in response to Walt’s kind offer. She glanced at him and found him still watching her expectantly.
“Fine. I’ll move into the condo and if you buy this property, I’ll live in the guest cabin.” She gave an overly dramatic sigh. “It’s a tough thing to do, but I’ll take one for the team.”
“That’s my girl. I’ll let Linda know to schedule the moving company.”
“What?”
“You already said you’d begun packing your things. I hired a company to finish it for you and move your stuff to the condo. Assuming you agreed. Which you now have.” He grinned, way too satisfied with himself.
Sandra grunted in disgust. “Leave me alone so I can get some work done. You should get a nap. It’s going to be a late night.”
“I’m not an old man,” Walt mumbled.
“I never said you were.” But he was already softly snoring.
She snapped a picture of him and texted it to Linda. It didn’t take long for her response.
Linda
That man can sleep anywhere.
Sandra hesitated but then replied.
Sandra
He told me about the condo and his dream property.
Linda
And I’m sure he told you he wants you to live in the cottage.
When she sent nothing else, Sandra took a breath. In the last year, she’d come to love Walt’s new family too.
Sandra
Are you sure you’re okay with it?
The answer took longer to come.
