Part 5 (1/2)
”Well, the last time we visited Addy's dad, he said something. I didn't think about it much at the time.”
”This should be rich,” Tamara said.
”He's not that bad, Tam,” Emma said. Tamara pursed her lips and shook her head. ”I know how you feel,” Emma continued. ”I hate the way it hurts her. He does love Addy. It's obvious when you see them together.”
”You're a better person than me.”
”No, I'm not,” Emma disagreed. ”There've been times I wanted to call him and tell him to go to h.e.l.l,” she admitted. Tamara's eyebrow shot up. ”Well, there have been. I hate seeing her hurt, Tam. You know that. What Addy wants is Adam in her life. And, if I can help make that happen, I will.”
”So? What did Daddy Dearest say?”
Emma chuckled. ”I don't think he ever beat her with wire hangers.”
”Uh-huh.”
Emma took a deep breath and let her thoughts drift back to a few months earlier. She and Addison had made the trip to Maine to visit Addison's father for a week. The first few days had been tense. Emma likened it to walking on hot coals; you never actually found your footing. But, after a few days, things had begun to ease. Emma hadn't given it much thought until now. She realized that she had spent more time with Addison's father than Addison had. It was as if she were the broker in their relations.h.i.+p. Something about her conversation with Tamara had triggered memories of that trip.
”Emma? What did Adam say?”
”We were sitting in the kitchen after dinner one night. Addy had taken the sprout to give her a bath. He just started talking, recalling her when she was a kid. I guess it struck me because he seemed as though he disappeared for a minute. Like he was back in that time.”
”What did he say?”
”He said that Addy had been lonely. There weren't a lot of kids nearby. Addy and her mom did everything together. And... Well, he said that Addy was always dreaming big, but when it came time to leave she told them she was going to stay close to home. I guess Addy's mom wasn't having that. She pushed Addy to go away to college and explore the world.”
”Well, yeah; I knew that,” Tamara said. ”She told Addy that Addy needed to see the world she was always writing about.”
”Yeah, but I wonder...”
”What?”
”Well, think about it, Tam. I'm no psychologist, but imagine that you did go, kind of nervously; thinking it would be okay because you could always go home.”
”s.h.i.+t.”
”Yeah, s.h.i.+t. Home never felt like home to her after her mom died. Maybe in some way she thinks it's because she left. I know how hard things were for her, still are at times,” Emma said. ”Addy likes to pretend she has it all in hand.”
”That's an understatement.”
”I just think that all the changes... Starting a family, her dad being back to some degree, being home with us so much... Well, now she is looking at setting off on her own as signaling some impending doom or something.”
”Okay, but she's not moving,” Tamara pointed out. ”I mean, what? She might have to go to a studio or even a location. So what? It's not like when she left home.”
”Maybe not to you or me,” Emma said. ”To Addy, it is. And, the last time she did that...”
”She lost her mom,” Tamara finished the thought. ”Maybe you should be a shrink.”
Emma laughed. ”No, I don't think so.”
”I don't know; you're pretty good at this figuring Addy stuff out. Come to think of it; you're pretty good at figuring most of us out.”
Emma smiled. ”I think you give me a little too much credit, Tam. Most of my life I spent watching other people. You know what I mean by that? I guess for me studying people is part of what makes acting interesting-imagining what it is like to walk in their shoes for a while-live in their skin. When it comes to Addy, sometimes I'm not sure what she is thinking.”
”You two are like the perfect couple,” Tamara commented.
”Hardly,” Emma replied.
”Yeah, you are.”
”There's no such thing,” Emma said. ”There's not,” she chuckled. ”We love each other. We don't always communicate as well as we should. Sometimes, I think, when you love someone so much your emotions can cloud your view.”
”Addy will be okay,” Tamara said.
”I don't want her to be okay, Tam. I want her to be happy. And, I don't want her walking through our life thinking that every time we have different paths, it heralds the end somehow.”
”I'm not sure how I can help with that.”
”Well, you and Christie spend long periods apart. It seems like you've learned how to make that work.”
Tamara nodded. ”Most of the time,” she agreed. ”Which is weird.”
Emma laughed. ”Weird?”
”Well, yeah. It is weird. Aw, h.e.l.l, Em... Addy has always been the one who wanted to find true love,” she said. ”I mean, seriously? She's the drippiest person I know sometimes.”
Emma's eyebrow shot up. ”Drippiest?”
”Yeah, sappy; you know? Like she's always believed in fairytales or something. Don't ever tell her I said this, but I sort of envy that about her.”
”Her drippiness?”
”Yeah, in a way.”
Emma shook her head with amus.e.m.e.nt. ”You really do have a way with words, Tam.”
”You know what I mean!”
”Yeah, I do.”
”Addy believes in this magical world. She always has. h.e.l.l, she lives in it if I think about it.”
”Oh, don't you start. You know perfectly well that there is nothing magical about Hollywood,” Emma said.
”Not that,” Tamara said. ”But, she kind of does live in a fairytale. I think most people would see it that way.”
”Most people aren't here to see the dirty diapers, the barfing in the toilet, the laundry piled up,” Emma replied.
”True. But, that is like a fairytale for Addy.”
Emma laughed. ”Trust me, Tam; I don't think Addison found my morning sickness all that magical.”