Liv Constantine - The Last Mrs. Parrish

“Shall we go out a little farther?” Daphne broke the silence.

“I guess so. Is it safe?”

“Perfectly.”

Amber worked to keep up with Daphne’s sure strokes, breathing hard as she exerted herself. She was impressed with Daphne’s stamina. As they moved farther from shore, the water took on an entirely different aura. The first time a boat passed them, she thought she would be swamped by its wake, but the second time it happened, she got an adrenaline rush riding the small swells.

“I love this, Daph. I’m so glad you made me come.”

“I knew you’d like it. I’m glad. Now I’ll have a partner. Jackson doesn’t really enjoy kayaking. He’d rather be on the boat.”

Well, Amber thought, the boat would be good too. She hadn’t been on his Hatteras yet, but she knew it wouldn’t be long before she got an invitation.

“Don’t you like the boat?” Amber asked.

“Oh sure, I like it, but it’s a completely different experience. It needed some work before going back into the water. Should be sometime in late June. We’ll all go out together. Then you can make your own judgment.”

“What’s the name of it?”

“ Bellatada ,” Daphne answered, her smile holding a touch of embarrassment.

Amber thought for a minute. “Oh, I get it. The beginning of each of your names. Jackson’s three girls.”

“A little silly, I guess.”

“Not at all. I think it’s sweet.” Inwardly she was choking on her words.

“Shall we head back? It’s almost ten.” Daphne looked at her watch and adjusted her visor.

It didn’t take long to reach the beach in front of the house and deposit the kayaks. As they walked up the path to the house, the sounds of laughter and girlish squeals reached them. Bella and Tallulah were splashing around in the swimming pool with their father.

Amber turned to Daphne. “I thought Jackson was coming back tonight.”

“Me too,” Daphne said and picked up her pace.

He looked up and ran a hand through his wet hair. “Hello, you two. Been out kayaking?”

“We have. When did you get home? I’m sorry I wasn’t here, but I thought you were coming in tonight,” Daphne said, sounding strained.

“We finished up last night, so I decided to fly home this morning.” Bella was holding on to his back and splashing with her feet. He turned to grab her, and she squealed with delight as he tossed her back into the water. She pushed up through the water and swam to him. “More, Daddy.”

But he began walking to the shallow end of the pool, wiping the water from his face. “That’s all, sweetie. Time to take a break.”

For once there was no obnoxious complaining from Bella. It had to have been a first.

Jackson handed towels to the girls and started drying himself with his own. It was impossible not to look at his body, wet and glistening, as he stepped closer to Daphne and kissed her. “It’s good to be home,” he said.

Daphne had asked Amber to spend the day, but now that Jackson was home, Amber knew she had to deliver the obligatory I-don’t-want-to-be-in-the-way speech. “I had a great time kayaking, Daph. Thanks a bunch. I’m going to let you have your family time now.”

“What do you mean? You can’t leave yet.”

“I really should. I’m sure Jackson would like to be alone with you and the girls.”

“Nonsense. You know how he feels about you. You’re like family. Come on. We’ll have fun.”

“Absolutely,” Jackson said. “You’re more than welcome to stay.”

“Are you sure?”

“Of course,” Daphne said. “Let’s go inside and make lunch. Margarita is off this weekend, so we’re the cooks.”

They worked together in the kitchen, but when they finished loading the tortillas with refried beans, veggies, and cheese, they didn’t end up with neat and beautiful burritos like Margarita’s.

“They look pretty sad, don’t they?” Daphne said with a laugh.

“What the heck. They’ll taste good, anyway.” Amber washed her hands and tore off a section of paper toweling while Daphne reached into a cabinet and pulled out two trays. “Here we go. I think everything will fit. We’ll eat outside by the pool.”

“Oooh, yummy,” Bella called as they carried the food out.

They sat, the five of them, under the large umbrella, the reflection of the sun on the turquoise pool water making shimmery diamonds and triangles. A slight breeze sliced through the warmth — a perfect late-spring day. Amber closed her eyes a moment, pretending this all belonged to her. If anything, the last few weeks had shown her that Daphne now considered Amber her closest friend and confidante. Last night, after the girls had gone to bed, she and Daphne had sat at the kitchen table and talked late into the night. Daphne had told her all about her childhood, how much her parents had tried to make their lives seem completely normal despite the illness that crouched in the background, ready to pounce without warning at any moment.

“Mom and Dad encouraged Julie to do everything healthy kids can. They gave her the freedom to live her life the way she wanted, to try all the things she wanted to,” Daphne had said.

At first, when Daphne talked about all the hospital stays, the hacking coughs that brought up gloppy mucus, the runny bowels and trouble digesting food, Amber had begun to feel sympathy. But when she compared her own childhood to Daphne’s, and even Julie’s, her resentment returned. At least Julie had grown up in a nice house with money and parents who cared about her. Okay, she was sick and then she died. So what? A lot of people were sick. A lot of people died. Was that a reason to make them saints? How about Amber and what she’d gone through? Didn’t she deserve a little sympathy too?

She looked around the table at all of them. Bella, lazing back in her chair and swinging her legs back and forth, taking distracted bites out of her burrito without a care in the world, the pampered and indulged child of wealth. Tallulah, sitting up straight and concentrating on the lunch before her. Daphne, sun-kissed and casually beautiful, making sure her brood had refills and napkins and anything else they needed. And Jackson, the master of it all, sitting like a knighted lord watching over his vast domain and faultless family. Suddenly the terrible emptiness inside Amber was a physical gnawing, as if the very life were being squeezed from her. This was no time to go soft. She would win this time.

Things were so busy at work that Amber hadn’t seen Daphne in two weeks, since their kayaking day. But Jackson was out of town again, so she’d called Daphne to see if she’d like to see a movie, and Daphne had invited her to the house instead.

She had started fantasizing about the day the house would belong to her. She wanted to leave her mark on it everywhere. On one occasion, when Daphne left her at the house alone to go pick up the girls, she’d tried on every pair of Daphne’s underwear. Sometimes she’d go upstairs and use Daphne’s bathroom, brush her hair with Daphne’s brush, apply a little of her lipstick. They almost looked the same, she would think as she looked in the mirror at herself.

She arrived right at seven. Bella opened the door a crack and peeked out.

“What are you doing here?”

“Hi, sweetie. Mommy invited me over.”

Bella rolled her eyes. “We’re watching The Wizard of Oz tonight. Don’t try and change it to some boring adult movie.” She opened the door, then turned her back on Amber.

Now Amber rolled her eyes. The Wizard of Oz . If she had to listen to Dorothy keep saying “There’s no place like home,” she might kill herself.

“There you are. Bella said you were here. Come on in the kitchen.” Daphne appeared, looking perfect in a romper that looked very much like a Stella McCartney Amber had seen in a recent Vogue .