CHAPTER 19
Joe
It was the most beautiful, sunny day, perfect for Cate’s first spin in my boat. I was on a complete high as I showed her all around (and showed off some, too). Then, just when I thought things couldn’t get any better, we anchored in a quiet cove and made love on the water before falling asleep in each other’s arms. When we woke up, I went swimming, burning off nervous energy, because I knew that it was time to tell her. I couldn’t wait another day.
Back in the boat, I finally said it: I love you. Just like that. I could see in her eyes that she felt the same, but I still felt as if my heart might explode in my chest as she said the words back to me.
—
When we got home, Cate and I found Berry on the back porch playing solitaire at a small square table we called our “puzzle table.” Right away, I could tell she was in some sort of a mood, as she barely looked up from her cards, curtly answering my questions about her day (“it was fine”) and my mother’s whereabouts (“she’s resting”). It was very uncomfortable and a little rude.
A few more seconds passed before Cate quietly excused herself, saying she was going upstairs to shower. As she slipped into the house, it crossed my mind to follow her and reassure her that Berry just got melancholy sometimes—and that when she did, she could come across as dismissive. But a small, paranoid part of me worried that I’d done something to upset her. Had I not been appreciative enough about the picnic lunch she’d picked up for me? Should I have asked her to join us on the boat? I sat down beside her, waiting for her to look up.
When she didn’t, I cleared my throat and said, “Are you winning?”
Berry nodded, and in the next few seconds, she finished the game in a flurry of activity. I watched as she swept up the cards and began to shuffle, her eyes still down.
“Okay, Berry. What’s going on?” I asked in a quiet voice. “Did something happen today?”
“Yes,” she said, finally meeting my gaze. “You could say that.”
“And? Do you care to share it with me?” I said, trying to be patient but feeling the first hint of annoyance. It turned into full-on aggravation when she just shrugged.
Berry let out a weary sigh, as if I were the one testing her patience, then motioned for me to close the door. I leaned back in my chair, pushing it shut. Then I crossed my arms over my chest, waiting.
Several more seconds passed before she said, “Did you know that she grew up obsessed with you?”
I stared back at her, completely confused. “What are you talking about? Who’s she?”
“Cate,” Berry hissed under her breath. “She had a poster of you in her bedroom. Up on her wall. She and her mother were both obsessed with you. Still are.”
“That’s nuts,” I said, my voice low and even, though I could feel my heart starting to race.
“Sorry. But it’s true,” Berry said.
“How the hell do you know?” I snapped.
“It’s in the National Enquirer.”
“Are you kidding me?” I said, my voice louder. “The National Enquirer?! When did you start reading tabloids?”
“It’s a quote from Cate’s own mother.”
“And the National Enquirer never makes up quotes?”
“There are pictures, too. Of Cate’s mother with her Kingsley memorabilia. You have to see it.”
“First of all, I’m not looking at that shit,” I said. “Second of all, I’d bet a thousand bucks that they lied or twisted the truth or somehow tricked her mother into saying it. And third of all, even if it’s true, and Cate had a life-size poster of me in her room as a kid, so what? What does that have to do with our relationship now?”
Berry stared at me, blinking, a self-righteous look on her face. “Well, let me ask you this, Joe.”
I stared back at her, waiting.
“Did she ever tell you any of this?” she asked.
“You’re assuming it’s true!”
“I saw photographs!”
“Of Cate’s room when she was a child?”
“No. But of her mother and all the memorabilia. Did she ever mention that backstory?”
“Backstory? You mean that her mother collects shit? Like a lot of Americans? I mean, my father was a war hero, you know?”
“But you weren’t.”
“Yeah, Berry. I got that. Thanks.”
“Oh, c’mon, Joe. We’re not playing that game right now—”
“That game?” I said. “Wow. Okay. Got it.”
“We aren’t talking about your father right now, Joe! We’re talking about the fact that she grew up obsessed with you. And had pictures of you in her room. Did she tell you any of that?”
“No, that hasn’t come up, Berry. We have other things to talk about, fortunately.”
“And you don’t think this is a significant omission on her part?”
“No,” I said. “I really don’t.”
“So you aren’t at all suspicious?”
“Suspicious? Of what?”
“Of her intentions.”
“Her intentions? She loves me!”
“Well, yes, I gathered that…. Clearly she was on a mission—”
“Whatever, Berry! We met randomly. I walked by her on the friggin’ beach. I went up to her…. If anything, I was the one on a mission. She turned me down for the longest time. I flew to Paris to take her out, for goodness’ sakes.”
Berry stared back at me, shaking her head.
“I did,” I said. “That’s what happened. Those are the facts.”
“Well, clearly it was an effective strategy on her part,” she said. “Playing hard to get or whatever.”
“She wasn’t playing hard to get…. She was hard to get…. She was reluctant to go out with me.”
Berry rolled her eyes. “Yeah, right.”
“She was, Berry! She had a boyfriend.”
“She had a boyfriend?” she said, as if this were yet another piece of pivotal evidence. “I didn’t know that.”
“I’m sorry I didn’t fill you in on her entire dating history, along with all the details of her childhood.”
Berry blinked. “Did she cheat on him?”
“No. She broke up with him, and then went out with me,” I said, fudging the time line a bit. “Why are you making such a big deal out of this?”
“Are you actually trying to tell me that you don’t see this poster thing as a red flag?”
“No,” I said, ready to die on the sword. “I don’t.”
“So, this woman—Cate’s mother—has a Kingsley obsession, and she raises her daughter to feel the same. And then, years later, she just happens to fall in love with you…for you?”
“Is that really so hard for you to believe? That someone would love me?”
“That’s not what I’m saying, and you know it.”
“Then what are you saying?”
“I’m saying it’s oddly coincidental that she grew up with this crush on you…and is now dating you…. And for the record, Dottie agrees.”
“Oh, for Christ’s sakes, Berry! You showed my mother a National Enquirer article smearing my girlfriend? Really?”
“We just want what’s best for you, Joe. We just want you to be careful. You can be too trusting—”
“Don’t tell me to be careful!” I shouted at her. “It’s condescending and insulting.”
She started to say something about always having my back and being on my side, but I was no longer listening. Instead, I got up and walked back into the house, slamming the porch door as I went.
If Berry wanted to talk about sides, I could pick a side. In fact, I already had.
—
A minute later I was outside Cate’s door. I knocked once, then walked in before she could answer and saw her standing by the window, wrapped in a towel. She looked so beautiful, and for one second, I forgot my anger. Then she asked if Berry was okay—and I knew in that instant that we had to go. We couldn’t stay here.
I took a deep breath and said, “Not really. But it’s sort of a long story. I’ll tell you everything in the car…. I want to go—”
“Go where?” she said, walking over to me, finger combing her wet hair.
“Back to the city.”
Frowning, she said, “Wait. What? You want to go home?”
“Yeah.”
“Why? What happened?”
“I’ll tell you in the car. Just trust me. We need to go.”
—
About ten minutes later, Cate and I were both changed, packed up, and in the car, with Thursday and our bags in the backseat. Fortunately for my mother’s and Berry’s sakes, I didn’t see them as we left the house. Otherwise, there might have been a scene—which they couldn’t stand. They much preferred to talk shit behind people’s backs.
As Cate and I got on the main road, it occurred to me that in leaving I was ratcheting up the drama. I also knew I was being hotheaded and stubborn. But it felt like my only choice. I had to stand up for the woman I loved. What Berry had implied about her was so unbelievably unfair, and I wasn’t going to hang around and take it.
Several minutes of silence passed before Cate spoke. “Do you want to tell me what’s going on?”
It was the last thing I felt like doing, but I knew I had to tell her the truth. We were a team, and that was how it was going to be.
I gripped the steering wheel, took a deep breath, and said, “Apparently there was a hit job about you in the National Enquirer.”
“Oh, God,” she whispered. “What did it say?”
“I didn’t see it. But Berry said there’s some quote from your mother,” I said, glancing at her.
Cate looked horrified. “My mother?”
“Yeah. But they make stuff up all the time. Including quotes.”
“What did my mother say? What was the quote?”
“Her alleged quote…” I said, glancing over at her face and seeing her expression of pure anguish.
“Joe. Just tell me.”
I slowly inhaled, filling my lungs to capacity, before blowing out. “She allegedly said that you had a poster of me in your room when you were a kid…and that she collected stuff about my family….”
“Shit. Unreal,” she said, under her breath, as if talking to herself. She turned to look out her window so that I could no longer see her face.
“I know,” I said. “It is unreal. That’s what I told Berry…that I don’t believe any of it.”
“Actually,” Cate said in a small voice, still staring out her window. “It is true. I did have a poster of you in my room. A long time ago.”
My heart sank—not because I saw this as a red flag, but because I knew so many other people would. Hell, my own best friend and my mother did.
“I’m sorry,” she said. “I should have told you.”
“It’s okay,” I said, though I did wish that Cate had told me about it first. I hated learning anything about her secondhand like this. “This doesn’t change anything.”
“I feel like it does,” she said.
“No, it doesn’t. It really doesn’t. You were just a kid…. And anyway, I’m flattered. You had good taste.”
“Stop it, Joe. You’re not flattered. It probably seems so creepy—”
“No, it doesn’t. I swear—”
I kept glancing at her, but she wouldn’t look my way, so I suddenly veered off the main road, turning down a side street. I pulled over to the curb in front of a random house and parked the car.
“Please, Cate,” I said, shifting in my seat to stare at her. “Please look at me.”
It took a few more seconds, but she finally met my gaze. Her cheeks were bright red, and she looked like she was on the verge of tears.
“Oh, honey,” I said. “Don’t be upset.”
“I can’t help it, Joe.”
“Okay. But can you just…talk to me?”
“I don’t know what to say.”
“Tell me how you’re feeling….”
“How do you think I’m feeling?” she said, her voice breaking up. “How would you feel if your mother talked to the National Enquirer about you?”
“Awful,” I said. “I’d feel awful.”
“Yes. That’s the word for it.”
“But I’m sure she didn’t mean any harm. I’m sure she thought she was just sharing a cute story,” I said. “And it is cute.”
“Stop it,” she said, closing her eyes and pressing both hands to her temples. “It’s not cute. It’s mortifying. And it gives the totally wrong impression.”
“Not to me.”
“It does to Berry. And your mother.”
“Who cares?”
“I care. And so do you. I know you do.”
“I care about you way more.”
“What did Berry say?” she asked.
I shook my head and sighed. “She’s just protective of me. That’s all.”
“Tell me what she said, Joe. Please.”
I sighed again, then said, “She called it a ‘red flag.’ ”
“Shit,” Cate whispered, biting her lip. “She thinks I’m some kind of star fucker—”
“Don’t say that—”
“Gold digger—”
“Stop. No.”
Cate closed her eyes and shook her head.
“Look, Cate. She doesn’t know you,” I said. “She’ll come around. I told her it was a load of crap. And honestly, I probably should have stayed and talked through everything. But I just got pissed—”
“Did your mother see the article?”
“Yeah,” I said. “Berry showed it to her.”
“Does she think it’s a red flag, too?”
“I don’t really know. I didn’t see her before we left.”
Cate nodded, then asked a question that broke my heart. “Are you embarrassed to be with me?”
“No!” I said as forcefully as I could. “I’m proud to be with you. So proud. And I couldn’t care less what the tabloids say. I left to make a point. I’m sick of Berry and my mother getting involved in my life, and I’m not putting up with this crap anymore. These stupid concerns about my name and reputation and appearances and what people think…It’s all just nonsense…. I just want to be happy. And you make me happy.”
Cate hesitated, then stared into my eyes, and said, “You make me happy, too, Joe…. But—”
“But nothing,” I said. “Please don’t let this affect us. Please.”
“Okay,” she said. “I’ll try not to.”
I took off my seatbelt and leaned over to give her a big hug. She hugged me back, but whispered in my ear that she was sorry.
“Don’t be, baby. You didn’t do anything.”
“Okay,” she said as we separated. “But I’m going to kill my mother.”
I shook my head and said, “No. It’s not her fault, either. The tabloids manipulate people all the time. We just need to talk to her and explain, so that this doesn’t happen again…. We need to protect her.”
“I’ll talk to her,” Cate said.
“No. We will,” I said. “We’re in this together, Cate. Me and you.”