Fading Starlight Part 13

Alice, in her defense, did continue to come around for a while. She kept inviting Charlotte to the same youth group, and the leader there was nice to her. The other kids, though-well, the whispers grew louder and louder. Until they weren't even whispers anymore. The leader had to hear them, he had to see what was going on, and yet he did nothing. He chose to ignore it, turn a blind eye, and pretend that nothing was amiss. Looking back, Charlotte wondered if he simply hoped to avoid a bigger controversy and thought if he waited, it would fizzle out. At the time, she could only conclude that the reason for his silence was that he agreed with them. She left that group and never returned.

Alice had tried to visit a time or two after that, but Charlotte shut her out. She was done with people who only wanted to put her down. That turned out to be just about everyone.

On Thursday evening, after attending rehearsals at the school, Lauren allowed herself the luxury of soaking in a long, hot bath. When the water had cooled to little more than tepid, she finally climbed out, put on her comfy flannel pajamas, and went to sit in front of the TV, looking for a little mind-numbing distraction before heading off to bed. Tomorrow she would drive down to Los Angeles and begin the festivities for her best friend's wedding on Sat.u.r.day. At least she had a nice diversion to look forward to.

After yesterday's tea, it was pretty obvious that she was about to be kicked out of here. And as much as she wanted to blame the circ.u.mstances, blame Kendall, and blame Miss Montgomery, she knew she deserved it. One of the rules clearly spelled out from the beginning was that the homeowners valued privacy and that privacy was to be respected at all times. There could be no arguing the fact that Lauren had broken that rule when she showed Kendall the picture. Although she still couldn't believe that Kendall had acted on that small amount of information, she had. And it wouldn't have happened if Lauren hadn't shown it to her to begin with.

She thought of one of Rhonda's favorite Robert Anthony quotes and spoke it aloud. "'When you blame others, you give up your power to change.'" Then she knelt beside the couch. "G.o.d, please help me to gracefully suffer the consequences that I deserve, in spite of the fact that they are so overwhelming. Give me the strength I need to change. Thank You, Father."

The cla.s.sic movie channel was showing To Catch a Thief. Cary Grant and Grace Kelly in all their old Hollywood glamour. The costumes in this movie were absolutely amazing. The first sight of Grace Kelly, in a long chiffon evening gown, caused Lauren to think about Miss Montgomery's blue silk. She supposed there was no reason to continue working on that now. Lauren likely wouldn't live here long enough to finish it.

Just then her phone rang. "h.e.l.lo?"

"Lauren, it's Ralph Edwards. How are things going there?"

This was it, then. The call from the landlord to tell her to start packing her things. "Things are going all right."

"Great, just great. Hey, listen, my wife and I are going to be up your way in the morning. Mind if we stop by? Say ten o'clock?"

"I'm driving down to LA for a wedding tomorrow, but I can still be here at ten if you need me to." As if she had a choice.

"That would be great if you could make that work. We won't be long."

"All right. I'll see you in the morning."

Lauren crumpled in despair for only a few seconds. She thought back to her resolution, to her prayer. She would change herself in the way that she needed to change and leave the results up to G.o.d. She hoped those results would somehow include a place for her to live. Otherwise, she didn't know what she was going to do.

twenty-six.

It was half past ten before the white Lexus pulled into the driveway. Lauren had spent some time that morning doing a little extra cleaning. Her palms felt sweaty as she grew suddenly fearful that they wouldn't like what she'd done with the place. At the time it had seemed like anything would be an improvement, but now . . . well, she wondered. What if they hated it? She could not bear the thought of it.

She opened the front door and went to stand on the porch, waving a greeting to them as they emerged from the car. Ralph Edwards's wife was a very attractive fifty-something-year-old. There could be no doubt that there had been some work done on her face, but it was to a lovely effect. Her white-blond hair was artfully curved around her face, and she wore large designer sungla.s.ses. Lauren remembered his earlier comment about his family being the type that preferred a hotel and spa. Her appearance seemed to testify to the truth in that.

Mr. Edwards approached, wearing a finely woven short-sleeved shirt and navy trousers. "May I present my wife, DeeDee? DeeDee, meet Lauren."

"It's nice to meet you." Lauren shook the extended hand, then looked back and forth between the two of them. "I've been doing some work on the inside of the place. I hope that you are happy with it."

Ralph Edwards had taken to turning in a 360-degree circle on the front porch. "Yes, Derek told me you had a nice touch when he called to tell me they were going to finish the work early. I can tell by looking at the lawn that he did not misspeak. It looks lovely."

"I'm glad you like it." She opened the front door and waited for the two of them to precede her. "I refinished the kitchen cabinets. I tried to retain the original stain and texture as much as possible."

Ralph Edwards walked over to the one cabinet front that Cody had replaced. "Wasn't this piece broken? What did you do here?"

"Some friends of mine who are gifted in that sort of thing found a piece of wood that would match. We had a little work party and replaced that piece altogether."

"I haven't seen any bills for this coming through my contractor."

"Well, no. This was just something I did to make the place a little more aesthetically pleasing. Since you're allowing me to live here rent-free, I felt I owed you that much."

Ralph Edwards's face went pink. He pulled at his collar and looked toward his wife. "That is very . . . kind of you." He continued his little walk around the cottage, making appreciative comments about the fresh paint and the new roman shades Lauren had sewn from a heavy tan-and-blue-striped fabric.

Lauren noticed DeeDee nudging him and signaling toward Lauren with her eyes. Finally, Mr. Edwards said, "We have had contact from an interested buyer for the place. They are willing not only to jump through the extraordinary hoops to get qualified by the homeowners' a.s.sociation, but they are willing to pay cash and close quickly. The only problem is, they need to move in by the middle of next month. That is right at three weeks from now, so we'd need you out before that."

Lauren felt what was left of her hope breathe out through her lungs. It wasn't like Ralph Edwards owed her anything, and she wondered at his giving this explanation, when clearly Miss Montgomery had called to have her kicked out. She supposed he was trying to ease the embarra.s.sment. In truth, it did help a little to know that he was thinking of her feelings, and it helped that she would have a few weeks to find another place to live. Lauren bit her bottom lip in an effort to keep her composure. "Of course. I understand." Her words came out thick.

"I am dreadfully sorry to do this, especially seeing how much you've done with the place. Please send me your receipts for the supplies. The least I can do is reimburse you for that."

Lauren shook her head. "There's no need. I did it to repay you for your kindness."

"And now that I'm behaving in a less-than-kind way, it's only fair that you get some credit for that. Please. I insist." He looked toward his wife then, clearly uncomfortable. "We do have to be going. We have a couple more stops to make."

"Okay. Thanks again for letting me use your beautiful cottage. I can't begin to tell you how much I've enjoyed it." She nodded toward DeeDee. "Nice to have met you."

"Likewise. Good luck on your hunt for a new place. I'm sure something fabulous will turn up."

"I'm sure you're right." Although Lauren was anything but. Her savings account, small to begin with, had dwindled to almost nothing. She knew that, with her salary, affording anything in Santa Barbara was going to be almost impossible, but her job would keep her here for the next two months. She'd just have to find something short-term. And perhaps add a second job?

She watched the Lexus pull out of the driveway and waved. She waited until they were out of sight before she allowed herself to sit down on the front porch and burst into tears.

"Frances, what's going on across the street?" Charlotte called the words down the stairway as she slowly made her way down. "Frances?"

"Yes, ma'am?" Frances appeared from somewhere at the back of the house.

"I want you to find out what is going on next door. Ralph Edwards and his wife just paid a visit over there. They were all smiles and friendly, until they pulled out and left. Then that Lauren girl collapsed into a crying fit on the front porch."

"Really?" Frances walked toward the front of the house and looked out the large window. She shook her head. "I have no idea."

Charlotte wondered if they'd found some other reason to kick that girl out. While she would be glad to have her gone, she'd wanted to have the pleasure of being the one to deal the blow, so she purposely had not yet made the final call. Whatever this was, it wasn't from her. She knew that Neil Winston had not yet contacted the Edwardses about anything. "Find out for me, will you?"

"Yes, ma'am."

"Good." Charlotte climbed back up to the third-floor turret and picked up her phone. There were a couple of calls she needed to make.

Teenaged Charlotte watched out her bedroom window as the Bentley limousine pulled up to the curb in front of the house. It was mostly silver, polished to the highest shine, with black on just the top portion. The chauffeur exited and quickly made his way to the front door, looking rather silly, Charlotte thought, in his dark suit and cap.

Her mother's voice could be heard from down the hall, issuing some sort of instruction Charlotte could not make out from here. She heard footsteps moving toward her just seconds before she saw the chauffeur struggling with the weight of her mother's trunk as he carried it toward the car.

There was a quick knock at her bedroom door before her mother entered. "The driver is here." Even from across the room, the strong smell of stale liquor was overwhelming.

This was wrong. All of this was wrong. There had been a mistake. Her father hadn't died, it was some other man and they'd just thought it was him. He was so strong. So confident. So necessary. How could they go on without him? Of course they couldn't, and he knew that. He wouldn't have left them, this Charlotte believed with all of her heart. And since she and her mother had not been allowed anywhere near the funeral, how was she to know for sure? She didn't. She refused to believe it. Grief wrapped its long fingers around her neck and squeezed until she could barely breathe. "I don't want to go. I want to stay here for when Daddy comes back."

"He's gone, baby. The sooner you get that through your head, the better off you'll be." Mother had taken a deep drag of her cigarette, then taken a couple of steps into the room. "That's why we're going to start a new life. You like our house in Santa Barbara. It will be nice to stay there. Won't it?" She walked directly up to Charlotte and took her face between her hands, her voice growing firm. "You listen to me. I paid a lot of money to hire that car. We are not going to be seen leaving this place with our heads down like we're some sort of criminals. No, we are not."

She dropped her left hand, took another puff of the cigarette, then used just her right hand to squeeze both Charlotte's cheeks. She drew her face to within mere inches. "Do you hear me?" Her teeth were gritted as she spat out the words.

Charlotte tried to nod, but her mother's grip was tight. Tears flowed freely down her cheeks. Her mother let go, looked down at the moisture on her hand, then raised her hand back up and slapped Charlotte full across the face. Hard.

From her mother's perspective, the gesture worked, because Charlotte did stop crying from the shock of it. She looked at her mother's vacant eyes, unable to believe what had just happened. "Now, that's better," Mother said. "Here's what we're going to do. When we walk out of this house, I want your head up, your shoulders back. We are leaving here with our pride and dignity, you understand me?"

"Yes, ma'am."

"Good. Now, let's get going. We're paying the driver by the hour."

And then Charlotte and her mother had walked out of their Hollywood bungalow for the very last time. The two of them took the long walk down the cobblestone path side by side, shoulders back, heads up, eyes straight ahead. Charlotte did chance a quick look around and saw that several of the neighbors were out in their yards. They were all simply standing there, watching. Enjoying the show.

The chauffeur opened the back door. Charlotte and then her mother climbed in.

As the car pulled away from the curb, Charlotte had the strongest urge to turn around for one final look. But she would not allow herself the luxury. She knew at that moment that two things were true. She had no one she could depend on but herself. And there was no good in looking back. Ever.

twenty-seven.

Lauren dragged herself back inside, thankful that no one had come by to see her outburst on the porch. At least her pride had been spared that much. She sank down on the couch and tried to form a prayer. Nothing came out. Soon she found herself facedown on the floor. "G.o.d help me. Show me what to do." There were no other words she could say.

She took only a second to get herself calmed before pulling herself up and out to her car to drive to Los Angeles. She was not going to let this ruin one second of Chloe's special weekend. Time to be strong and push through.

By the time she pulled into Rhonda's driveway a couple of hours later, she had worked up every bit of her strength to put on a good front. She would keep silent and act happy. No one needed to know anything.

Rhonda came out the door and hurried down to meet her. "There you are, my sweet girl. I'm so glad you're here."

Lauren hugged her back, so thankful for the love Rhonda had always shown her. "I'm glad I'm here, too."

Rhonda drew back and held her at arm's length, her eyes squinting. "What's wrong?"

"Wrong? Nothing. My best friend is getting married tomorrow, and I am so excited I can't stand it."

Rhonda shook her head. "Nope. Not buying it."

"What makes you think something is wrong?"

"I know you too well. You're in one of your 'acting brave' modes. In fact, I'd say this is about as strong as I've ever seen that. What are you trying to cover up?"

"Rhonda, I am not going to unload my burdens on Chloe or you this weekend."

"Well, maybe not Chloe, but you tell me and you tell me right now. Maybe I can help carry a bit of your load, and it will give you more strength to make it through this weekend with your chin up, since that's obviously what you're trying to do."

"I really don't-"

"Eh-eh." Rhonda held up her hand. "A mother does not tell her daughter to keep her problems bottled up so that she can enjoy the weekend. So you tell me what's wrong right now. Don't hold back a thing." She nodded toward the house. "No one else is here right now. They've run out for some last-minute errands. We've easily got a half hour. Now go."

"I'm getting kicked out of the cottage." Lauren sobbed out the words.

"You are? Why?"

"The owners say they have found someone who wants to buy the place, and they need me out in less than a month."

"That's not right. How could they treat you like that? I thought the deal was that you could stay there until next summer. Surely there is some way to fight this."

"We didn't sign anything when I moved in, and they were letting me use the place for free, so it's not like I can claim unfair treatment. He even offered to pay me back for the materials I've put into the upkeep and seemed to feel truly bad about it."

"As he should. It seems the least he could do." She paused, as she always did when she was collecting her thoughts. "It seems so strange, doesn't it? That place has been sitting empty for all these years, and now all of a sudden he's going to sell in a hurry. It's ridiculous, that's what it is."

"Here's the thing, though-that's not the real reason, and I know it."

"What do you mean?"

"Miss Montgomery. I went to tea at her house on Wednesday, and I told her everything about Kendall Joiner. Everything. Including something that you, and even Chloe, don't know."

"Which is?"

"I'm too ashamed to answer that question. Needless to say, it does give her a valid reason to get rid of me. I deserve it. And I've totally failed at being the light I was trying to be to her. I'm leaving in shame, and she will never know that I really, really did want to help her. She's always going to believe that I was just like everyone else in her life who wanted to use her. I won't get the chance to prove anything different."

Rhonda nodded thoughtfully and stared at the roof of her house for just a moment. "Well, listen, here's what you need to do. I want you to finish making that new dress for her that you told me about, and I want you to make it your best job ever. This is actually perfect timing, as far as it could possibly be at a time like this. When you give that gown to her, you will have absolutely nothing to gain from it. Fact is, you've already lost anything she could do for you. This will be a true gift. Even she will have to see that."

Just the thought of putting in so many hours of work for a woman who would likely not even accept it, much less appreciate it, made Lauren weary. Would it even matter? Miss Montgomery would likely just toss the thing in the trash.

But something about what Rhonda said was right, and Lauren knew it. This was the point where the gifts of the heart were separated from the gifts of convenience. Where what she professed she believed collided head on with what she felt like doing.

"You're exactly right, Rhonda. I'm going to get back to work on that dress as soon as I get home Sunday evening." She sighed. "And then I'll go in search of another place to rent."

Sat.u.r.day dawned as a beautiful Southern California September day. The sun was out, the temperature was warm but not hot, and there was not a hint of humidity. It was the perfect day for a perfect wedding.

Lauren helped her best friend into the wedding dress she had designed and sewn for her, and tears filled her eyes at just how right Chloe looked in it. The silk chiffon dress had a ruched waist and a tiered, flared bottom, giving it something of a 1920s look. The bodice was shirred across the top for a strapless look, with a single layer of transparent chiffon making up the sleeveless top. So simple. So elegant. So Chloe.

She twirled around and around. "Never in the history of the entire world has there ever been a dress this perfect." She twirled again, then came over to hug Lauren.

"I'm so glad you like it."

"It's absolutely amazing." There were tears of joy in her eyes.

Those tears remained as she made her way down the aisle on her father's arm, then looked into Jasper's eyes and recited the vows that she'd written herself. It was a beautiful moment, a beautiful day, and for just a little while, Lauren forgot every single problem in her life and lost herself in the beauty of it.

After the ceremony, each of the thirty or so attendees picked up his or her folding chair and moved it back so the tables could be carried into place for the dinner. After dinner, again the attendees helped clear the tables and chairs so the small backyard was transformed into a gra.s.sy dance floor. The sun set, and the lights strung all around twinkled. It was magical.