“Well, he heard it. He’s been on the phone with me for most of the game. I was giving him the play-by-play.”
“That’s cool.”
“Yeah, it is.” Sadly, it’s the best he’s going to get right now, but Liam did say he’d be home for Districts and that’s more important.
“Hey Peyton, do you want to come over and shoot hoops or something?”
I watch the exchange between them and the way Noah looks at her. He’s so patient and caring. I know they’re going to grow up and will likely part ways the older he gets, but seeing him with her now shows me how much he’s like Liam.
The late afternoon shines through the windows of Whimsicality adding sparkle to the flowers that are on display. Standing across the street, it’s easy to see the patrons move in and out of both the florist on one side of the shop and the café on the other. As I watch them, I realize that my dreams are coming true, even with the minor detour for construction; I’m living a life that couldn’t be any better. Except for Liam being away - but even if he were playing football, he’d be gone a lot. I think I was destined to have a traveling husband. At least we’re not always moving, or he’s not always being sent from team to team. Having his office in our house is the perfect set-up.
“Hello, Josie.”
I turn at the sound of my name and find Bianca standing behind me. Everything about her seems off. She’s dressed in a 1950’s skirt suit with matching hat, white gloves and is clutching her purse with both hands in front of her stomach. If I didn’t know better I’d say she’s hiding a scandalous pregnancy, but we all know that’s not the case.
She tries to smile, but it’s forced and looks almost painful. “Do you think we could sit for a minute and talk?” Bianca walks toward one of the open benches in the park and sits down. Looking at her, I can’t help wondering if she’s even the person Sterling married anymore, or if her robotic ways were all his doing to create the perfect wife and family. From the outside that’s what he had and was almost able to pull it off until Liam ditched out on Sterling’s idea of life and bailed.
I sit down next to her but keep a safe distance. Everyone knows how the Westburys feel about me, they’ve not kept it a secret, and the last thing I need right now is town gossip. She can stay on her end and I’ll stay on mine.
“You had a very lovely shower.” She speaks without looking at me or taking her hands off her purse. If I didn’t know better, I’d think today was Sunday by the way she’s dressed.
“Thanks.”
“It’s too bad that Liam wasn’t there.”
“He’s working. Besides baby showers aren’t really for guys. If he had been here for it, I’m sure he, Harrison and Jimmy would’ve been doing band stuff.”
“I shouldn’t have come. I upset you on your day.”
I let out a sigh and think about the answers I could give. “You’re right, you shouldn’t have. But my mom invited you and you came. What’s done is done.”
Bianca stares straight ahead, showing no emotion, just holding her purse like it carries her life inside.
“I’m not a very good person.”
I scoff without intending to. She drops her head and continues t
o speak. “Sterling had this fantasy for Liam as soon as he started carrying on about football. He molded him into a copy of himself, but what he thought was a better version. What he didn’t bank on was Liam having a heart and following it, whether it was you or his music career.
“I had a dream once, too, but then I met Sterling. I was destined for stardom. My mother was a beautiful actress and my father a well renowned musician. We lived an amazing life and even after they divorced, my father was still in love with my mother. I started acting at a young age. As soon as I hit my teens, the movie roles started coming in fast and furious. I had my whole world in the palm of my hand until I met Sterling.
“He was this strapping young man who was visiting Los Angeles one summer, working for his uncle who was the President of the bank that we used. He was older, out of college and well on his way to owning his own branch. His uncle convinced my mother that his nephew would make a great escort to a birthday party I had to attend. My mother thought it wouldn’t hurt to give the boys around town a little run for their money.
“And boy did he ever. Sterling romanced me with the best of them. Operas, parties, trips on his uncle’s yacht. He was good looking and all my friends had eyes for him. Plus, he was rich. When the summer ended, we parted ways. But I was pregnant and my parents were livid.”
I cover my mouth to hold in a gasp, but Bianca doesn’t stop talking.
“I was barely sixteen and pregnant. In my era, you didn’t have unwed or single mothers. Pregnancies and children were hidden away. And in Hollywood they just didn’t happen. My father was so angry he withdrew all of our money from that bank and went to a competitor. Back then, it was a status thing for banks to hold celebrities money and my father did the worst thing he could to the bank.
“Sterling, of course, wanted me to move with him to New York. He was starting a job there and would be able to provide for me and the baby. Still, being underage, my parents were adamant that I did not speak to him.
“I was given two options: Have an abortion or go to a home for unwed mothers and give my child up for adoption. I wanted neither, but I also didn’t want to have a child or live in New York. I wanted to make movies and win Oscars. I wanted everything to just go away.
“And one day, it did. I woke up in pain and bleeding. My mother said that it was the best thing to happen to me. I thought she had been right until Sterling came back the next summer. I saw him from across the street and knew right there and then that he was the man I was going to marry. My father had passed not months before and there I was, waiting for my knight in shining armor.
“We had a grand romance and he filled the void of my father passing. That summer, Sterling was the best man ever. He loved me and showered me with affection. We went to party after party, even though he hated them. They were beneath him with the drinking, drugs and sex, and he threatened to leave me if I didn’t stop going. I was in love, so I stopped accepting invitations. My friends, who had once loved him, couldn’t wait for him to leave. I thought they just misunderstood him. He thought Hollywood was going to corrupt me and ruin his image.
“My mother thought he was ruining my career and we’d argue. She found him naked in my bed once and asked if we were being careful. He told her it was my responsibility to make sure a child wasn’t conceived. She was livid and forbade me from seeing him, but I didn’t stop.