Walter shook his head and sighed. “I’ve never seen you like this before,” he said. “I see the glint in your eye. You have a feeling about this.”
“I do, Walt, I really do.” She ran her fingers along the top of his hand and down the side of his pinky finger, the one that had been broken and had healed at a slightly imperfect angle. “It’s our last chance to keep the club and stay on the island.”
“I just want you to be realistic. Even if we can pull this off, it’s highlyunlikely that we’ll raise enough money to save the club. Adele said herself that she doesn’t even play matches anymore. Playing is very different from coaching. The chances of her winning are slim.”
“I know,” she said. It was an almost impossible feat, but she wanted to at least try, to give it everything she had. “Let’s do this, you and me together,” she said. “What do we have to lose? And at least if we go down, we go down fighting.”
Walter exhaled. “All right,” he said. “Let’s do it together.”
The front door swung open. “Mom?”
Sylvia tensed, ready to face the fury that seemed to have overtaken Judith ever since they moved. Everything was Sylvia’s fault; she was taking the brunt of all of it, and she was trying to do it with grace. It wasn’t fair for Judith to unload all of her misery onto Sylvia, but it was hard to be a teenager too, even without all the change and upheaval they were going through.
“Jude?” Walter called out. “Judith, can you come in here for a moment? Your mother and I would like to have a word.”
Sylvia looked to Walter, perplexed. “It’s time we start treating her like the young lady she is,” he said.
Judith walked into the kitchen and slung her satchel over the back of the chair, looking annoyed.
“Sit down, sweetheart,” Walter said.
“I’m meeting Margaret at Jolly Roger in five minutes; I have to get ready.”
“Sit down, Judith,” he said.
Judith looked from Walter to Sylvia and frowned, slowly sliding into a chair. “Oh my God, are you getting a divorce?”
“What?” Sylvia said.
“No, Judith,” Walter said. “God no. What on earth gave you such an idea?”
“It hasn’t exactly been peaches and cream around here lately,” she said, looking down at her hands and picking at her cuticles.
“That’s true, it hasn’t,” he said. “And that’s what we wanted to talkto you about. Listen, Jude.” He sighed deeply. “I made a big mistake recently. Really big.” He looked up at her and she was staring at him expectantly. “I got caught up in some gambling. That’s why we lost the house and it’s why we’ll likely lose the club too. It’s all my fault and I’m so sorry.”
Sylvia looked from him to Judith, shocked. She’d expected to take this to her grave, to shield Judith from her father’s wrongdoings. She couldn’t believe he was relieving her of that burden. She felt the weight of it lift immediately and was able to take what felt like the first real deep breath she’d taken for days.
“Your mother has been working really hard to keep this family together, to put on the beauty contest and maintain our family’s legacy, to move us from our house to here, and to be a support for all of us during this really difficult time. So it’s time to stop sassing her.”
Judith looked up at Walter as if she’d been caught red-handed.
“I mean it, Judith. She is the reason this family is still functioning.”
Judith nodded slowly, then turned to Sylvia. “I’m sorry, Mom. I didn’t know.”
“Of course you didn’t, and this is a lot to take in.” Sylvia put her hand on Judith’s and squeezed.
“My mistake,” Walter continued, “is that I didn’t come to your mother and confide in her right away. But we’re working together now to make things right. If there’s one thing that I’ve learned from this nightmare, it’s that you don’t have to go through the hard times alone.”
“Your father’s right. If ever you have problems,” Sylvia said, “and you will at some point in your life, please know you can come to us; we can support you, we can help you.”
“OK,” Judith said, looking slightly lighter herself, her shoulders less slumped. Maybe it was the not knowing that had caused her to act out. “I’m glad you told me,” she said. “I was really worried when I walked in here that you were going to tell me you were getting a divorce. Then my life would really be over.”
“Dear God, no,” Walter said. “We’ve realized now more than everthat money isn’t what matters; what matters is that we are together as a family.”
The following morning Jonathan and his TV crew, as well as Adele and Milly, joined Sylvia and Walter at the club for their first meeting.
“We have good news,” Jonathan announced once everyone was seated in the empty club restaurant. “We were able to reach Margery, and she’s agreed to the rematch.”
