The Lake House (37 page)

“I like a little pooch.” He grabbed her midsection. She swatted him, and he pulled her into a long, slow kiss.

The phone rang. Victoria leaned back and grabbed the receiver.

“Victoria’s Kitchen, how may I help you?”

Daniel’s voice came over the other end of the line. “Did you see that your little friend has guests tonight?”

“Actually, Daniel, I didn’t.” Victoria hadn’t had time to check on Heather today. “I don’t see the problem. The girl is allowed to have guests.”

“I don’t want to have to listen to music and loud noise all night. I expect you to put an end to this. She’s your friend.” Daniel’s voice became louder.

Victoria handed Joseph the phone. “You talk to him. No one will listen to me. There’s no reason for them to get their panties all twisted over nothing.
Oh no,
Heather’s having a dinner party. Call the fun police before someone enjoys themselves.”

They ate dinner on the sun porch as they watched the sky turn inky black. Loud music came from the beach as she and Joseph talked and sipped wine. He pulled her into his arms and
played with her hair as she curled into his warmth. They spoke of his children and grandchildren. They reminisced about childhood and playing in the tree house. She told him about Hollywood. They found words they hadn’t been able to speak through the years and it seemed they needed another lifetime to catch up with everything they’d missed.

Victoria heard squeals coming from the beach as Heather and her friends splashed in the water, a roaring bonfire illuminating the waterfront where the girls danced. It was good to see Heather come to life with people her own age. Heather had blossomed over the summer, from a quiet, embarrassed child who seemed apologetic in the face of kindness from her and Molly into a confident young woman who knew what she wanted from life and was ready to make it happen. Victoria began to drift to sleep in Joseph’s arms as he softly snored. Through her dreams she heard someone yelling for the music to be turned off and then the slam of car doors. Contentment continued to flow over her and then suddenly she was awake, panic in her heart. Something was wrong.

She went to the window and saw Heather walking toward the water in a drunken stupor, a wine bottle in her hand. She tripped over the sidewalk and landed on the pavement, then stood, regained her balance, and stepped onto the sand, swaying. Suddenly, her head fell and her body followed.

“Oh, God. Not again.” Victoria banged the screen door as she ran across the beach. Her little girl was in trouble. She had to fix her. Had to help her before it was too late. “Heather!” she screamed. “Heather!”

Heather lay in the sand, her hair covering her face. Victoria dragged her into her lap and held the dead weight of the girl in
the crook of her arm. With her ear to Heather’s mouth, Victoria could hear the girl’s soft inhales and exhales. “Thank you, God,” Victoria whispered.

Joseph stumbled from the house and Molly ran from her place in her nightdress, her hair in pin curlers. Victoria brushed the sand from Heather’s cheeks. “She’s okay. She’s unconscious, but she’s breathing. I think we should take her to the hospital.”

“No. She’s just had too much to drink. Let’s put her to bed and watch her.” Joseph lifted Heather and carried her across the sand. The girl’s head rolled back and her arms fell open.

Victoria stood as Bill joined them. Sarah stood at her door along with Carl and watched Joseph carry Heather into her place.

“Why don’t you go home?” Molly said to Bill.

“This girl’s a menace,” Bill said.

“Not now,” Molly said as she patted his arm. “Come on, Victoria, let’s help Joseph.”

They walked across the road, Victoria’s hands shaking as Molly waved Sarah and Carl to return to their house.

At Heather’s, the sour smell of vomit invaded the upstairs hall, and a yellow puddle had pooled in front of the master bedroom.

In the guest bathroom, Heather coughed over the toilet as Joseph held her hair back. Victoria soaked a washcloth in cold water and placed it on the back of Heather’s neck. Molly wet towels, grabbed soap, and worked on the vile spot in the hallway.

Victoria went into Heather’s office and saw piles of paper covered with red slash marks. On the front of a manila folder were five written lines:

1. Be a better columnist so I don’t lose my job.

2. Get a television deal.

3. Lose weight so they will want me on a television show.

4. Sign a book deal and make it onto
New York Times
bestseller list.

5. Become a popular travel star.

“Victoria?” Molly placed her hand between her friend’s shoulder blades.

“Look at this.” Victoria’s hand shook as she handed her the folder.

“This is private,” Molly said.

“She’s been pushing herself too hard. That’s why she got drunk,” Victoria said. “I didn’t pay attention to how much stress she was under. I need to do something. She could kill herself trying to obtain all of this.”

“She’s not Annabelle,” Molly said in a quiet voice.

“I know that,” Victoria said.

Joseph stood at the door. “Heather’s sleeping. I think we should go.”

“I’m not leaving her,” Victoria said.

Joseph looked to Molly. “You go, Joseph. We’ll stay with her.”

“Why can’t she see that she has everything? That she doesn’t have to push this hard?” Victoria sunk to the chair and her body shook as she cried.

Molly leaned over Victoria and wrapped her arms around her friend.

Victoria whimpered. “She has everything: opportunity, beauty, and success. Why isn’t that enough?”

“I know, honey. I know.” Molly swayed and almost fell. Victoria stood and grabbed her friend. “Are you okay? What happened?”

“Just a little dizzy spell is all,” Molly said. “It’s from being woken so abruptly and then running across the beach. A little too much excitement.”

“Why don’t you go back to bed? I’ll stay with her.”

“No. I’m not leaving you alone tonight.”

T
he breeze fluttered the curtains around Heather’s bed as she curled into a fetal position. A sour taste covered her swollen tongue. It should’ve been raining: a big, dark storm with ominous clouds that bent the trees and stirred the lake. Weather to match her life. She wore her M&M’s pajamas, but couldn’t remember changing her clothes. Her mind reached for memories from the night before.

The evening had started out wonderfully. Gina had invited over a few friends, and they’d sat on the deck drinking wine and eating Michard’s tortellini primavera with heirloom tomatoes. The conversation turned to travel and Heather took the spotlight as she gave out tips and told stories from her adventures. For a few hours, she felt normal, young, and part of a crowd. Then worries about her conversation with Charlie had crept in and she drank her wine a little faster than usual. She recalled swimming and a bonfire . . . and Carl, then Daniel, yelling at her to be quiet.

The rest of the night was a blur. When everyone left, she wanted the carefree feeling to continue and poured another glass of wine. The last thing she remembered was walking toward the beach thinking that she should take a dip in the lake.

How could I have been so stupid?

Heather roused herself and stood. The room swirled and the migraine felt like a bomb exploding in her head, with the pain
radiating up her neck and mushrooming into her skull. Her stomach felt like it had been sucked dry, and she returned to her curled-up position on top of the covers. A platter with blueberry muffins and an insulated coffee mug sat on the nightstand. Molly had visited. Was she the one who had changed Heather into her pajamas?

The screech of circular saws and the old men yelling came through the window. Heather looked and saw Victoria, asleep on the chaise. The memory of Joseph holding her hair while she vomited returned. “Oh, God,” she moaned in embarrassment.

“Well, good morning,” Victoria said, stretching. “How are you feeling?”

“Like death,” Heather responded.

Victoria moved over to the bed and sat with her back against the headboard, she reached out and combed her hand through Heather’s hair. “I can’t imagine what they’re building out there, but they’re making quite the racket.”

“I think they’re probably trying to torture me for keeping them up last night,” Heather said. “I’m kind of mortified by the way I acted.”

“Oh, darling,” Victoria murmured, “we’ve all had those moments in life. I’m just a little worried about what caused it. You said you weren’t a big drinker.”

“It was a rough day, and with the stress of late I needed to blow off steam.”

“What happened?” Victoria asked as she continued to pet Heather’s head.

Heather pulled the sheet closer. “Charlie called and said he couldn’t use any of the pages I sent him for the book proposal . . . they weren’t sexy enough.”

“That man again?” Victoria said. “For someone who is supposed to be supporting your career, he seems to tear you down more than build you up.”

“Without him I wouldn’t have my career, and I need him to take me the rest of the way,” Heather said.

“You’re already a successful columnist. Why do you need to accomplish more?”

“They want someone famous and I’m not.” Heather looked up at Victoria. “I’m not like you. When you showed me your modeling photos and movies, I could see how confident and sexy you were. When a camera is on me, I’m uncomfortable in my own skin.” She bit her bottom lip. “I might lose my column. They told me last spring that I was in danger of being replaced.”

“Oh, Heather, I didn’t realize what you’d been going through.”

Heather sat up with her back against the headboard. “Tell me what’s going on with you and Joseph. I saw him walk over to your house last night.”

“Is that your delicate way of saying you don’t want to talk about your career anymore?” Victoria asked.

“Yep. Plus, you’ve been a little busy the last couple of days,” Heather said as she watched Victoria’s face flush.

“Well, would you like all the dirty details?” Victoria teased. “I was actually thinking of using that tip you gave me.”

“My stomach can’t handle that right now. I’m still a little queasy.” Heather put her arm around her midsection.

Victoria laughed. “Let’s just say that life can surprise you with the way things work out. Who would’ve thought that after all these years we’d share this love?”

“Victoria, that’s wonderful. I’m happy for you.” Heather
stood. “I’ll be right back.” A horrid stench assaulted her nose in the bathroom. She walked into the hallway and the smell burned her eyes as she came to the top of the stairs.

Victoria came up behind her with a coffee mug in hand.

“Does my house smell like garbage and rotten eggs to you?” Heather asked.

“I think your septic tank’s sewage line might be backed up,” Victoria said as she covered her mouth and nose.

“Great, another thing I need to deal with today.”

I
t had been the kind of day that made Tom long to be a kid again. The temperature stayed in the high seventies, and the lack of rain in the past month made the humidity tolerable. It reminded him of summer days when he lay on the beach, his mouth smudged with chocolate ice cream, creating pictures out of shifting cumulous clouds as the sun reflected off the lake, making wavy light patterns on the leaves.

It had been weeks since he’d visited Nagog, and he felt homesick. He needed a day to fish with Bill and Carl while they told him their crazy stories. The thought of a meal at Molly’s made him salivate. He’d eaten too many meals in restaurants and at his desk lately. He wanted to lie on the beach, take an afternoon nap, and then have a beer with his grandfather and Bill around the campfire. The last time he’d spent a full weekend in Nagog had been before Annabelle died. Since then, he hadn’t made time for lazy days with his family.

Tom loosened his tie and pulled it from under the collar. Instead of sitting in the grass enjoying the beautiful day, he’d spent ten hours in meetings that concluded with a three-hour dinner with the developer from the West Coast, who had highlighted hair and manicured nails, sucking down oysters and telling
Tom he wanted twenty distinctive home designs with all the bells and whistles.