* * *
—
As the girls grew up, Jimmy had chosen the right female companion twenty-four years before. He was forty when they met. Juliette had grown up in the Camargue, where the wild horses were in France, in a small seaside town. Juliette Dubré was a young widow, thirty years old, who had lost her husband in a mountain climbing accident, and took a year off to try to recover. She had come to the Santa Ynez Valley on a whim, met Jimmy, and stayed. He was passionate about her, but they were discreet. He let her live in a small guesthouse on the ranch. She was a bright but quiet woman who enchanted him. She never engaged in battle with him, or challenged his sometimes outrageous, very male positions. She was subtle in her influence, and gentle in her ways with him. She was a beautiful young woman with a wild mane of red hair and green eyes. He had fallen in love with her, but never forced her on his children, and she stayed in the background, preferring to be their friend, rather than vying to be their mother. Several local women had been after Jimmy before that, but between the ranch and his daughters, he’d had little time to date, although he was considered a catch, as the ranch grew rapidly in its size and success. Juliette always waited for him quietly in the shadows. They spent hours together, talking, and over time she subtly introduced him to some of the cultural pursuits she enjoyed. She was a good rider too, and knew about horses, which he loved about her.
He didn’t ask her to come and live with him in his house until Caroline, his youngest, left for college. After Kate graduated and returned, none of the girls were surprised to see Juliette living in the main house with him when they came home, and she was so gentle and discreet that none of them objected to her. She didn’t crowd them or force herself on them. Kate was the closest to her because they saw more of each other living on the ranch. All of them were puzzled why he had never married her, but Juliette didn’t seem to care and was satisfied with the arrangement they had.
She was ten years younger than Jimmy, fifty-four now, still beautiful, without artifice or makeup. Even in her mid-fifties there was an undeniably sexy quality to her, and a youthful style. She did the books at the ranch, and helped him run the livestock auctions, with Kate’s help. But he was more inclined to give Juliette credit than his daughter, although Juliette always reminded JT of how hard Kate worked at everything she did for him. He took it for granted since the ranch would be hers one day too, and her sisters’, though Gemma and Caroline wanted no part in the running of the ranch, or even being there. They had their own careers and were happy to be away from it. The ranch was Kate’s career, her passion, her life and great love, to the exclusion of all else, most of the time. She had no opportunity for romance, and didn’t seem to care. There weren’t many options in the Valley and the boys she had gone to school with were all married and had families by now, in their early forties. The girls she had gone to school with had been married for years. Their friendships had fallen by the wayside, as they had less and less in common, once her old classmates had husbands and kids. Her more serious romances in college could never have lasted. She knew they had to end. The men she had dated would have tried to pull her away from the ranch, and she wouldn’t let that happen.
* * *
—
Thad, their foreman, was like a brother to Kate, five years younger than she. They worked side by side much of the time. He was considered something of a player in the Valley, which she teased him about, especially when he looked like he’d had a long night, which happened often, especially after a particularly active weekend. He was classically tall, dark, and handsome, with dark brown hair and warm brown eyes, and looked like a poster of a cowboy. He even looked a little like her father had when he was younger. After nineteen years on the ranch, he seemed more like family than a mere employee, and he felt that way too.
Thad was the son JT had never had, and he treated him that way. He had come to work for a summer at eighteen, after seeing a notice for ranch hands on a bulletin board at the general store and feed store. He had called and had an interview, and after half an hour, JT was confident that Thad could handle the job well as a ranch hand, and maybe one day even as foreman. He lived in a cabin JT had let him build behind the barn. As the foreman, JT thought he deserved a better house now and had offered him one, but Thad insisted that his cabin was still adequate, even once he was foreman, since he was single at thirty-seven and only slept there. Like Kate, he was up before dawn, in one of the barns before six every morning, and outdoors, mostly on a horse, the rest of the time. He had the leathered skin of a cowboy, and Kate had a deep tan, which suited her. Gemma always warned her that her outdoor life would put twenty years on her one day. Kate didn’t care. She never used the beauty products her sister sent her to preserve her youthful looks. Kate laughed when she got them, never opened the jars and bottles. She left them in the boxes they came in, languishing under the sink in her bathroom.
Kate’s small house was hardly bigger than Thad’s cabin, and she didn’t mind either. Her father wanted to build her a better house, but she didn’t want one. For the daughter of an important rancher, she was surprisingly modest. She and Thad enjoyed a warm friendship, which had built over many years while they worked together. She could have been jealous of him, because of the amount of attention he got from her father, but she respected Thad too. They worked well side by side, when they took on projects together. Thad was always willing to help her whenever he could.
After she had a piece of toast, half a banana, and a second cup of coffee, she showered and dressed, and walked into the barn at five-thirty A.M. to check on the horses. Everything looked fine. Thad had just come in when Kate got there, and they saddled up their respective horses, chatting about a fence near their grazing pastures that Thad said was down and she was going to look at. The fields were still green, but would be dry later in the summer, when fire often became a risk. There were professional firefighters nearby, and a large volunteer force of firemen who jumped in when needed. She knew all of them. She knew everyone in the Valley and they knew her. She was known as JT Tucker’s daughter, more than as herself. She was an accessory to her father, which was how he liked it, with the attention on him, and she accepted it.
Her father came in as Kate tightened the saddle on her favorite horse, Bear, and the barn seemed instantly filled with JT’s presence.
“What are you up to today?” he asked her, and smiled at Thad. They had a kind of unspoken understanding, born of two men who respected each other. JT understood men better than women and found them easier to be with, except for Juliette.
“I’m going to check on some fences Thad was just telling me about. Out past the south pasture,” Kate told him.
“Why don’t you let the ranch hands do that?” he said, pouring himself a cup of coffee from the pot she had just made.
“They say we need a new fence out there. I want to see it for myself. Saving you money, Dad,” she teased him. She was scrupulous about watching their expenses, which he expected of her.
“I like that.” He smiled at her and winked at Thad, and then went to saddle his own horse. He loved riding around the ranch, and keeping an eye on things himself. He had an eagle eye, and a sixth sense for anything that might be wrong. He wasn’t a casual rancher or landowner, but a diligent, dedicated one, which was why the business was in such good shape. He delegated almost nothing, except to Thad and Kate, and their ranch hands were closely supervised. It had taken years for him to trust Thad to the extent he did, and he still questioned Kate about everything she did. He left nothing to chance and assumed nothing. He wanted to know about everything that went on, who had done it and why, and what it had cost him.
He was still a handsome man, tall and powerfully built with strong shoulders, long arms, and long legs. Kate and Gemma came by their height honestly, since both their parents were tall. Caroline was more delicate, and blond like Kate.
Thad followed Kate out of the ba
rn on horseback. They rode down a familiar trail as the sun came up, and then took separate forks in the road. He had grown up in the state system, in foster care, south of L.A., and JT was the first important male influence he’d had in his life. He was deeply grateful to his patron for giving him a chance to shine. He had worked for him now for slightly more than half his life. He took none of the advantages he’d been given for granted. He’d gotten an education by taking college classes online, after a GED to give him the high school diploma he hadn’t had time to get before he left school. Working on a ranch, around horses, had been his dream and he was good at it. It was natural instinct since he was an inner city kid and had had a hard life, for the first half of it. Both Kate and her father respected him for how far he’d come. He was a wholesome, honest, hardworking, ambitious guy, who gave as good as he got, and then some. He was loyal to a fault. He considered JT his mentor as well as his boss, and would have died before he let him down. Kate felt the same way about her father, so they had that in common.
The sun was bright as it came over the mountains and warmed them. It was going to be a beautiful day, and they were both looking forward to it.
“See you later,” he said, as he rode off, his battered straw cowboy hat low over his eyes. Kate wore hers the same way, and it suited her with her blond hair tied back. She was wearing a checked shirt and jeans, and the well-worn cowboy boots she’d had for as long as she could remember. They were the staples of her wardrobe, and whenever Gemma invited her to L.A., Kate reminded her that she owned only one dress, which her sister said was pathetic.
“How do you expect to get laid if you dress like one of the ranch hands at your age?” Gemma chided her. “We’re not twenty anymore. You have to make an effort, or you’ll wind up a spinster forever,” she teased.
“Is that what I am?” Kate laughed whenever Gemma said it. “A spinster?”
“Yeah, we both are.” Gemma didn’t seem to mind. She had an active sex life with some of the best-looking men in Hollywood, and wound up in the press with them regularly, much to her father’s delight. She’d been out with many of the biggest stars, though seldom for second dates. There was a lot of movement and shuffling on the Hollywood dating scene, which Gemma seemed to like. Kate wouldn’t have, and she had given up the idea of kids and marriage somewhere along the way. She was too busy working for her father, and told Gemma she didn’t have the time, the wardrobe, or the inclination. “I’m going to drag you down to L.A. again one of these days,” Gemma threatened her. Kate had a good time when she went, but she always felt like a fish out of water. Her sister’s world couldn’t have been more different from her own. They were each doing what they wanted. When she visited, she enjoyed watching Gemma on the set of her TV show, though. It still felt strange knowing that her sister was a star, and people asked for her autograph wherever she went. It was a popular show. Gemma’s celebrity was nothing Kate had ever aspired to, but Gemma had had her nose plunged in movie magazines from the time she was twelve. Hollywood had always been her dream. The ranch was Kate’s.
It took Kate half an hour to find the fence that had fallen. She took pictures of it with her phone, and sent them to Thad, so he could assign a detail to repair it. It was as bad as the men had reported. Then she gave Bear his head, and flew back to the barn at a gallop. She knew the property like her own hand, and could have ridden back blindfolded.
She was in good spirits when she got back to the barn, and her father rode in at the same time. He sat in the saddle for a minute, looking at her. He didn’t notice her often, or how beautiful she was, or even mention it. She had a deep tan and her eyes were bright as he started to say something and she saw him wince, as though he was in pain suddenly. He pressed his chest with one hand, as she hopped off her horse and went to him.
“Are you okay, Dad?” she asked as she reached him, and he slumped forward, and then slid off his horse in her direction. She caught him, and lowered his powerful body to the ground. His eyes fluttered for a minute and then closed. He lay on the barn floor and she knelt beside him. She saw him stop breathing. She felt for his pulse and there was none. She gave him a few quick breaths mouth to mouth, and he still wasn’t breathing as she shouted to one of the ranch hands to call 911, and told him to call Thad after that. Her father was lying completely still, and she gave him a few more puffs of air, felt his pulse, and there was still nothing. She started chest compressions then, as the ranch hands gathered around and watched her as she fought to save her father.
She kept up the steady rhythm of the breaths and chest compressions for what felt like hours before she heard sirens in the distance. As soon as she did, Thad ran in and knelt next to her.
“What happened?”
“I don’t know. I think he had a heart attack,” she said and continued CPR. The paramedics arrived in force then, and took over. The head paramedic was a man she’d gone to school with. Caroline had dated his younger brother in high school. He asked her for the details, as one of his men continued giving Jimmy CPR, and another took out a defibrillator. When the defibrillator instructed them to, they administered a shock, as Kate and Thad stood near, watching what was happening. Kate clutched Thad’s hand. She could tell the defibrillator hadn’t worked. They’d been working on him for an hour, when Kate’s old schoolmate turned to her and shook his head. He stepped away from JT then and came over to her. They had done everything they could, and Kate and Thad had seen it. None of it had worked.
“I’m sorry, Kate. Sometimes you just can’t bring them back. I think he went instantly. Did he have a history of heart problems?” She shook her head and had told them that in the beginning. It was just his time, with no warning. Kate looked as though she was in shock.
“How can that just happen? He was fine when I left him this morning.”
“It’s terrible to say, but sometimes it’s better like that. He led a great life and was a terrific guy.” They covered him then, put him on a gurney to take him to the ambulance outside, as the ranch hands stood staring, and Kate cried in Thad’s arms. He was crying too.
“Oh my God, Thad…he was sixty-four years old, in perfect health.” And now he was dead. Neither of them could believe it, as they stood there crying.
Juliette ran into the barn. She arrived just in time to see them carry Jimmy out on the stretcher, with his face covered, and she ran to him, uncovered him, and bent to kiss him. They put him in the ambulance then to take him to the hospital morgue, until Kate could recover enough to make arrangements.
Juliette looked like she’d been hit by a bomb. They all did. The two women hugged each other and stood crying, and then went back to JT’s rambling ranch house, where Juliette lived with him. “I heard the sirens, and I thought someone got hurt. I never thought it was him,” she said in her still heavy French accent.
Kate was so shaken she could barely speak. They walked into the house, and his belongings were everywhere, a pair of tall, mud-covered rubber boots that he’d worn the day before, his riding gloves on the table, a jacket he’d thrown over a chair. The three of them sat down at the kitchen table, staring at each other, unable to believe that he was gone. Thad poured them all coffee and Kate looked at him and Juliette bleakly.
“I have to call my sisters.” She couldn’t think of what to say.
“Give yourself a minute first,” Thad said gently, and she nodded, but couldn’t drink the coffee. Juliette lit a cigarette, and was as shattered as Kate. She had loved him for twenty-four years.
After they’d sat there for a while, Thad walked Kate to her house, and she sat down again and looked at him.
“I don’t even know what to say to the employees. This feels like a bad dream and I’m going to wake up any minute.” Only she knew she wouldn’t. In a single instant, everything had changed, and her father would never wake up again. Thad stayed until she felt ready to call her sisters, and then he walked to his own cabin, w
ith tears rolling down his cheeks, feeling as though his world had come to an end. What were they all going to do without Jimmy? It was unthinkable, unimaginable. As he walked into his cabin, he felt desperately sorry for Kate. For forty-two years, her whole life had been her father. That morning, in an instant, her world had changed, and so had his.
Chapter 2
Gemma was having lunch in her trailer on the set at the studio, her long legs stretched out, reading her lines for the next scene when her cellphone rang. She glanced at it, but wasn’t going to answer, so as not to get distracted from the script. Her hair was in rollers, and she was wearing the bathrobe she always wore between scenes on the set. It had been a long morning shooting, and it was a hot day in L.A. She saw that the call was from her sister, and picked it up.
“Hi, cowgirl, how’s life in the sticks?” Gemma teased her, as she always did. There was a long silence while Kate tried not to sob before she told her.
“Not so good.” Kate’s voice sounded like a stranger’s to both of them. “Something just happened to Daddy.” She hadn’t called him that in years. She called him Dad now, or sometimes JT when referring to him, like everyone else, but never Daddy.
“Like what?” Gemma asked as she frowned.
Kate lost it then and started to cry. “He had a heart attack. He just died, Gem. They tried to revive him, and they couldn’t. I gave him CPR until the paramedics came. He was just gone, instantly. Dickie Jackson was the head of the paramedics. He was really nice about it. He said there was nothing they could do.”
Daddy's Girls Page 2
