Skyler walked over to Theresa and handed her the keys to her car. “All fixed.”
Theresa leaned forward and kissed him on the lips, putting her arms around his neck. Skyler returned the kiss, but gently disengaged himself, smiling down at her. Theresa returned his grin. “The wife, huh?” she said, a note of humor in her voice.
“Cute. I gotta get back. She’s comin’ down real fast and real hard, and I don’t want Chelsea to have to deal with anything.”
Theresa nodded. She pulled her checkbook out of her jacket pocket. “How much do I owe you for the car?”
“I got it,” Skyler said, holding up his hand to forestall her.
“Skyler!” Theresa shook her head. “That’s like four hundred. I don’t want you to do that.”
“Don’t worry about it, Terry, seriously.”
“Okay,” she said after a long moment. “But you have to let me make it up to you.”
Skyler grinned mischievously. “Isn’t that what you did last night?”
“Skyler James Kristiani!” Theresa exclaimed, hitting him on the arm with her checkbook. “I am not that kind of girl.” She smiled. “I had sex with you because I wanted your body, not because I wanted my car fixed.”
Skyler grinned. “And what was the second time for?”
“Old times,” Theresa said pointedly, her eyes fixed on him.
Skyler nodded slowly, narrowing his eyes at her. He was pretty sure she meant old times pertaining to Billy. “Ah,” was all he said.
“Well, it looks like your entourage is waiting. You better go before it gets past their bedtimes,” Theresa said quietly, leaning toward him so he could hear her.
Skyler laughed. “Right. I’ll see you soon, okay?” He wasn’t sure what to say in a situation like this.
“Count on it. And give Chelsea a hug for me.”
“I will.” Skyler turned and walked back to the two girls.
With a bit of attempted flirting from the girls, and Skyler thinking he was getting far too old for this, they dropped Freddy off at her house and headed toward Skyler’s. Sandy was quieter without Freddy there. During the drive back to Yuba City, she told him her father had left her mother recently to be with a younger woman.
“Mr. Kristiani?” she said after a long silence.
“Sandy, I think you could probably get away with calling me Skyler if you wanted to. Mr. Kristiani sounds weird even to me.”
“Okay.” Sandy nodded, chewing her lower lip. “Why did you sleep with other women when you were married?” she asked quietly.
Skyler grimaced to himself. He knew she was looking for reasons why her father had done just that. “I was looking for something else.”
“Something better?” Her voice cracked on the last word.
“Sandy, don’t compare me to what your father’s doing. How old’s your dad?”
“Thirty-eight.”
Skyler nodded. “Yeah, ’bout the same as me when I decided I needed to get out of my rut. It’s called a mid-life crisis. It’s a man’s bullshit excuse to go out and play around on his wife.”
“Is that what my father’s doing, using an excuse?”
Skyler shrugged. “Probably, but to some men it’s very real. All of a sudden they decide they’re getting older, and they start looking for something to make them feel young again. A young girlfriend, a cool car…”
“Like a red Mustang and a rock star?” Sandy said slyly.
Skyler laughed. “Well, for one thing, I’ve had the ’Stang for about fifteen years now, since well before my mid-life time. As for Billy… she was the product of a mid-life crisis ten years ago. That’s how I know her. But this time I’m not married, so it doesn’t count.” He said the last grinning widely.
Sandy nodded. “Will my dad get over it? This mid-life crisis thing, I mean?”
Skyler looked over at her sympathetically. “Eventually, yes he will, but the problem is, your mom may not be willing to forgive and forget so easily. Theresa wasn’t. In the end we stayed together for about two more years, but it was basically over the night she confronted me about Billy and let me stay.”
“Wow…” Sandy hadn’t realized all the intrigue between Chelsea’s parents. “But what about now, I mean if you two did, you know…” she said, sounding embarrassed.
“That,” Skyler said, “is a long story, and one I’m not going to get into with you. Just suffice it to say that there are some feelings left unresolved between her and I.”
“Oh.” Sandy nodded. “Mr… Skyler?” she said after a few minutes.
He glanced over at her. “Yeah?”
“Thanks. I mean, thanks for telling me all that stuff. It does help understanding a little bit about why my dad is acting the way he is, and I think you’re right, ’cause I heard my mom say something about him regaining his lost youth. Anyway, thanks.” She glanced over at him shyly.
Skyler smiled at her. “Any friend of Chelsea’s is a friend of mine. If you have any more questions—not pertaining to my love life—you can always ask.”
They got back to the house a little while later, and Sandy drove away, giving him a wave. Skyler went into the house. Chelsea was watching TV, and she looked up.
“Everything go okay?”
“Yes.” Skyler walked over to sit on the couch next to her, looking down at her pointedly. “I do, however, have a bone to pick with you.”
Chelsea looked up at him and saw that he looked serious. “Uh-oh,” she said, sitting up and turning the TV off.
“Why is it that your friends seem to know an awful lot about my personal life?”
“I… uh…” Chelsea stammered, knowing she was in trouble now. She sighed. “I told them some of it.”
“Why would they care about my personal life?” Skyler asked incredulously.
Chelsea didn’t answer right away. She looked around the room, and finally back at her father. “Because they think you’re gorgeous and they want to know about you, that’s why.”
Skyler was taken aback. “So you told them about me and Billy, and me and your mom—anybody else?” he asked, trying to control the anger that was rising in him.
“I’m sorry, Dad. I didn’t think it would matter. I just wanted them to like you.”
“Like me?” Skyler said, his eyes on his daughter. “Chelsea, I’m almost old enough to be their grandfather. They don’t need to like me.”
“Yeah, but—”
“No, Chels, no buts. Do you realize the trouble I could get into if one of them decided to make something up, saying that I kissed one of them to make the other one jealous, or some crap like that? Do you realize my career as an agent would be over? My life would be over?”
“They wouldn’t do that!” Chelsea said, but she didn’t sound as sure as she would have liked to.
“I hope not, but Sandy’s family is going through a lot of turmoil right now, and she’s looking for someone to latch on to. Chelsea, I can’t have some lovestruck kid hanging around this house. It won’t look good, and I don’t need that right now, okay?”
Chelsea looked sufficiently cowed. “I’m sorry, Daddy.”
Skyler watched her for a long moment to make sure what he was telling her was getting through. “This is really serious, baby, okay? I need you to keep it in mind the next time your friends want to know something that you think they shouldn’t. And anything pertaining to me and my personal life is off limits, you got it?”
“Yes, Daddy,” Chelsea said, feeling thoroughly chastised. She really hadn’t considered any of what he’d said; she’d just thought it was kind of cool that her friends had a crush on her dad. But she remembered all the stuff on the news lately about child molestation and statutory rape cases. She also knew her father wasn’t exaggerating when he said his career and life would be over, even with one false story.
She leaned forward, hugging him. His arms went around her. “Okay, Chels. Okay,” Skyler said, patting her back. When she sat back, he asked, “Have you seen or heard from Bill
y?”
Chelsea shrugged. “I heard some movement back there, but I didn’t want to intrude.”
“Okay.” Skyler nodded. “Thanks for keeping an ear out.” He kissed her on the top of the head, then stood up and headed for his bedroom. When he walked in, Billy wasn’t on the bed. He looked over toward the bathroom and saw, reflected in the full-length mirror, Billy sitting on the floor. He also saw the glint of something shiny in her hand, and then blood on her leg where she’d apparently made a number of shallow cuts.
“Billy!” he yelled, hurrying to the bathroom. Her head snapped up at the sound of his voice, but she didn’t move the shard of broken mirror she was holding.
Skyler dropped to his knees in front of her and carefully took it out of her hands, setting it aside. “Oh, honey…” He shook his head sadly. He grabbed a washcloth off the counter and pressed it to Billy’s leg. He climbed to his feet, and with his other hand he pulled Billy up with him. “Why were you doing that?”
He picked her up and carried her back into the bedroom. Chelsea was standing in the room, brought there by his yell. “Oh my God!” she exclaimed, seeing the blood on Billy’s leg.
“It’s okay, Chels,” Skyler said. He moved Billy to the bed and laid her down.
She was looking at her leg, which was still bleeding a bit. Her expression was blank, as if she couldn’t figure out what had happened.
“Billy,” Skyler said, his voice strong but gentle. He reached up to smooth her hair back from her face. “Come on, talk to me.”
When she looked up into his face, it seemed to take her a minute to figure out who he was. She blinked a couple of times, then her eyes opened wide. “Skyler?” she said, her voice tiny.
“Yes, babe, it’s me,” he said softly.
Billy threw her arms around his waist and laid her head against his stomach. “I didn’t think you were coming back. I thought you went back to her. I couldn’t handle it, Skyler, I couldn’t…” She grasped at him, and Skyler just stroked her hair as she rattled on. “You have to divorce her, Skyler. You can’t stay married to her. I know that you have the kids, and little Chelsea’s so young. But I can have children. I can give you babies. Please don’t go, Skyler. Please, I need you so much. I love you so much. Please.” Her voice was desperate now, and Skyler knelt down, pulling her into his arms.
“I’m right here, Billy. I’m not going anywhere,” he said soothingly. Chelsea watched, both amazed and shocked at some of the things Billy had said. “I’ll be here for you,” Skyler continued. “I’ll take care of you, okay?”
Billy nodded, crying now. Skyler glanced back at Chelsea and indicated the now soaked-through washcloth. Chelsea nodded, went into the master bathroom and returned with a towel. She handed it to her father, looking very concerned. The washcloth was dripping with blood, and when Skyler pulled it off to replace it with the towel, she could see that some of the cuts on Billy’s leg looked deep. Skyler didn’t let Billy go. He reached down, pressing the towel to her leg, trying to decide if he should take her to the hospital or not. He knew that if he did, there’d be publicity and it wouldn’t help her situation at all.
Eventually he stood, pulling her up with him, and moved to sit her against the bed’s headboard. He checked her leg and saw to his relief that the bleeding was slowing. He kept the towel over her cuts, but moved to sit against the headboard, taking Billy into his arms again. Great, he thought. How long has she been doing this? And is this my fault too?
Billy lay in his arms for a long time. Eventually she slept again. She didn’t say anything else to him before she did. Skyler felt like she’d said enough. He was glad he had looked into and found a rehab clinic not too far away; he’d get her there in the morning. With this little episode, it was obvious that the sooner he got her into rehab, the better. Her habit was worse than he’d realized.
The next morning, Skyler slept holding Billy tightly by the waist. He’d wanted to know if she moved around and tried to get up; when she did, Skyler woke up instantly.
She looked down at her leg, then up at him, her eyes wide with shock.
“What happened?” she asked.
Skyler looked down at her for a long moment, trying to decide if she was kidding. She obviously wasn’t. “You don’t remember anything?”
Billy looked blank at first. “I remember you leaving to take Theresa’s car back. After that… no. What happened, Skyler?”
“I came home from dropping the car off, and you were in the bathroom doing that.” He nodded toward her leg.”
Billy looked both ashamed and a bit afraid.
“Do I want to know how long this has been going on?” Skyler said gently.
Billy swallowed convulsively a couple of times, her eyes not meeting his. She simply shrugged in answer. Skyler waited, hoping for more. When nothing seemed to be forthcoming, he reached out, touching her cheek. His expression was pained.
“Get some more rest, little one,” he said, his tone fatherly. Billy nodded, and then curled up in his arms and went back to sleep again. Skyler ended up sleeping as well, since he’d been up half the night worried she’d wake up and try to cut herself again.
An hour and a half later, Chelsea walked cautiously into her father’s room to check on them and see if there was anything her father needed. Billy stirred, but didn’t move too much. She knew she’d wake Skyler if she did.
“Hi,” Billy said quietly.
Chelsea nodded, avoiding Billy’s eyes.
“Chelsea,” Billy said softly. “I never meant for your father to see this.” She gestured at her leg, still covered by a towel.
“Are you sure about that?” Chelsea said skeptically.
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Billy asked, though she didn’t even have the energy to be mad.
“Just that I think you blame my dad for a lot of things, and I wonder if it’s your way of getting back at him subconsciously.”
Billy didn’t answer Chelsea, just looked at her. “I care about your father a great deal,” she said finally. “I wouldn’t intentionally hurt or worry him.”
“Last night you told him that you love him.” Chelsea gave her a pointed look. “Is that true?”
Billy was silent for a moment. She didn’t remember saying anything, but she didn’t remember cutting herself either. “Yes, it’s true. I guess I always have. I’ve never really gotten over him… I know it’s crazy.”
“Well, I don’t think my mother has either,” Chelsea said meaningfully.
“And you want him with her and not me—is that it?” Billy asked, suddenly feeling defensive.
Chelsea looked back at Billy, tilting her head to the side as if trying to decide. Finally she nodded. “I told my father yesterday that I thought you were good for him—you made him seem to feel good about himself again. But now… You’re causing him so much stress. With your drama, the drug problem, and now this.” Shaking her head sadly, Chelsea looked Billy right in the eyes. “I’m afraid the stress will cause him another heart attack.”
Billy looked both surprised and distressed. “I don’t know what you want me to say.”
“You don’t have to say anything,” Chelsea said, suddenly sounding very adult. “But I will warn you that I called my mom to come make sure everything’s okay with him.”
Billy nodded. “Maybe that’s what he needs,” she said, sounding defeated. “I’m really sorry, Chelsea. I never meant for any of this to happen.”
“Yeah, I know.” Chelsea was trying to be fair, but having a difficult time of it. She’d been terrified the night before when she’d seen her father holding a bleeding Billy in his arms. Calling her mother had seemed like the right thing to do.
An hour later, Billy got up, managing to convince Skyler to sleep some more by promising that Chelsea would keep an eye on her. Theresa arrived a few minutes after Billy sat down at the kitchen table with a cup of strong coffee. Theresa entered the kitchen, and Chelsea went to her immediately, hugging her. Theresa looked at Billy
over her daughter’s head, her eyes narrowed. “Where is your dad?” she asked Chelsea.
“In the bedroom,” Chelsea said, glancing back at Billy for a moment, wondering how she was reacting to Theresa being there. She had, after all, promised to keep an eye on Billy for her father. Billy looked back at her, her eyes showing nothing. Inside, Billy was seething, thinking Theresa was here to clean up after her, and that bugged her no end.
Theresa went down the hallway to the bedroom, and a few minutes later, Billy followed, unable to keep from doing so. She stayed just outside the doorway, listening.
Theresa looked down at her ex-husband, her lips pursed. She was not happy about what Billy was putting him through. She, like Chelsea, was afraid the strain would be too much for him. “Skyler,” she whispered, touching his cheek gently as she sat down next to him.
Skyler stirred and looked up at her. “What’re you doing here? Don’t tell me—I fixed your car wrong.” He was grinning, but he looked very tired.
“No, our daughter called me. She was worried about you. I heard you had a little bit of excitement here last night.”
“Yeah,” Skyler said sarcastically. “You shoulda been here.”
“I’m glad I wasn’t,” she replied honestly. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah,” he said, appreciating the concern he could see in her eyes. “I have to get Billy taken care of first. She’s worse off than I thought, and I don’t want to waste any more time.”
“So you are taking her for rehabilitation?”
“Yeah, I have to. It’s pretty obvious I can’t handle her problem alone.” He sounded like he was disappointed in himself.
“Skyler…” Theresa said admonishingly.
“Terry, I have to, okay. It’s my fault she’s in the situation she’s in. If I hadn’t been such an asshole—”
“When, Skyler?” Theresa snapped. “Ten years ago, when you decided to go back to your wife and two kids?” Her eyes flashed with anger. “Did you make her take those drugs?”
“No, but if I hadn’t done what I did, she might not have gotten into them.”
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