Closing her laptop with a thud, she gets up and settles herself down in my favorite armchair. “It was fine,” she says tonelessly.
“What do you mean, it was fine?” I counter. “It was great. The cast is electric, and Ellie’s ideas were incredible.”
“Yes, yes, Eloise is indeed a revelation.”
All the excitement drains from the room as Juliette’s mood instantly casts a cloud. Before I can question her about it further, my phone rings, and I see it’s my dad.
Crap. I was supposed to call him yesterday for one of our scheduled biweekly catch-ups.
“I have to take this. I’ll be right back.” I quickly get up and walk down the hallway, stepping into the spare bedroom that was originally intended for me.
“Hey, Dad,” I say as soon as I pick up. “I’m sorry I missed our call. Everything was thrown off with the time difference, and things have been really hectic ever since. Wonderful, but hectic.”
In my defense, I did text him when I decided to come to London, but Dad’s never been much of a texter. If anything, he’ll shoot me back a one-word answer at best.
“It’s alright, Winnie. I’m glad you’re having fun.” He sounds older than I remember. I thought he’d be more relaxed since retiring a few months ago, but maybe not.
“So, what’s new with you?” I ask. “How’s Cassie?”
“Cassie’s good. She has some minor allergies, but nothing too serious. I suggested an antihistamine twice daily.”
My dad has always preferred discussing treatment plans to small talk. If it wasn’t for Cassie, his longtime and only girlfriend, I doubt he ever would have stopped working.
“Listen,” he goes on, “part of the reason I’m calling is because I have some news. I’m going to be putting the house on the market this week.”
His words hit me like a sudden punch to the jugular.
“Putting the house on the market?” I ask. “Why?”
“Cassie’s been ready to leave New York for some time now. You know Becky still lives in Arizona, and she’s having a baby in the fall. Cassie wants to be there for that and then to help her after. She moved out here to be with me for sixteen years, and now it’s time I did this for her. Plus, I don’t really get to see you that much, anyways.”
Guilt swarms me in a thick, unforgiving wave. I know I haven’t been visiting my dad as much as I used to, but I never expected him to move. That’s the house I grew up in. The house my mom lived in. The house we were a family in.
My throat feels tight, but I force myself to speak. “No, I get it. I’m just surprised.”
“I know, Winnie. I should have told you in person, but you’ve been so busy lately.”
I nod my head even though I know he can’t see me. “As soon as I get back from London, I’ll come see you guys. I promise. I’ll be there the very day I land.”
“Okay, Winnie. That’ll be nice. We really miss you.”
His voice is as calm as ever. If he’s feeling even a little of what I’m feeling right now, he doesn’t show it.
“Bye, Dad,” is all I can muster.
“Bye-bye.” He hangs up, and I’m left reeling. My dad and I have always had an unconventional kind of relationship. We’re polar opposites, really. He was a spinal surgeon, and I was this theater creature that existed around him. He’s all facts and figures, and I’m a charging torpedo of words and emotions.
He encouraged me plenty, in his own way. Since I was young, he took me to tons of shows, signed me up for any theater program or class that was available. He held the VHS recorder for any at-home productions I set up in our living room and always took me to community theater auditions when his schedule allowed. He’s attended every opening night performance I was ever in and presented me with two dozen white roses each time. He was dedicated to his career to a fault, but even the hospital staff knew that opening nights were untouchable for him. He was never particularly verbal with his emotions, but he constantly showed me he cared.
He started dating Cassie when I was thirteen. They reconnected at a college alumni function, and with her daughter, Becky, being away at college, she uprooted and moved in with us soon after. She was always nice. A bit of a hippie, which struck me as odd, since my dad is so straight and narrow. He’s all about schedules and science and having his clothes hung up in the closet just so. Cassie is big into gardening, constantly tracking soil with her everywhere through the house. She makes her own soap and prizes sustainability above all else. But she loves my dad, and that makes me happy. And I know she cares for me, too. I wish we connected more than we did, but she always felt more like a quirky aunt-in-residence than a mother figure.
And now her daughter is having a baby, her daughter who’s only a handful of years older than me. Drawing Cassie back to Arizona and taking my dad with her.
I exit the spare room still in a daze and am no better off as I enter the living room. Everyone is where I left them—Juliette in the armchair and Roshni on the couch. Roshni looks up from reading her script notes as I sit down a couple of feet from her.
“You okay?” she asks.
I place my cell phone down softly onto the coffee table. “I don’t know. I just found out my dad is selling our old house.”
