Cal had never had a high opinion of her half-sisters, though he barely knew them.
“Timing is everything, I guess. Carson’s TV series was canceled so she’s between jobs. She was all over the prospect of staying at Sea Breeze rent-free for the summer.”
“What’s she worried about? Don’t folks working in Hollywood get paid the world?”
“That was the big shocker. Carson doesn’t have any money. In fact, she’s flat broke.”
He released a short laugh of surprise ringing with satisfaction. Cal had always been sensitive to the fact that he wasn’t earning nearly as much as many of his childhood friends. Promotions and increases in salary rarely came his way.
“What about Hadley? Granted, she doesn’t have to work.”
“Her name is Harper,” Dora corrected him, annoyed by the error. True, they hadn’t been close with Harper all these years, but to not get her name right was flat-out ridiculous. “Don’t you remember how Daddy named each of us after a favorite Southern author?”
“That’s right,” he said in a drawl, as though remembering a joke. “Let’s see, that’s Harper Lee, Carson McCullers, and”—he indicated Dora with a gesture of mock gallantry—“Eudora Welty.” Cal picked a single grape from the cluster, then held it a moment between two fingers. “Parker Muir, the great author. Given that your father never published a book, it’s almost pathetic, isn’t it?” He popped the grape in his mouth.
Dora flushed at the sting of his words. “Not in the least,” she said, rising to her father’s defense. “I think it reflects his sense of culture—and a certain Southern charm.” She reached for her wineglass, needing to bolster her confidence.
Cal merely shrugged.
She could feel a subtle shift of emotion between them. A new tension bubbling under the surface.
“So, how’s Nate doing out at Sea Breeze?” he asked at length. “I’m surprised he let you leave him behind. No fireworks?”
She wanted to reply, If you’d bothered to call in the past few weeks you’d know. But wanting to continue taking the high road, she answered, “Well enough, under the circumstances.”
“Circumstances? I don’t understand.”
“It’s a long story.”
Cal sighed with impatience.
Dora decided to give him the short version. She knew his attention span was limited when it came to her family, even his son. “Nate fell head over heels in love with a dolphin at the dock. You know how he gets when he’s interested in something. He studied dolphins, talked incessantly about them, and spent a lot of time with Carson swimming in the Cove.” A smile blossomed as Dora remembered Nate’s face, so vibrant and alive in the water with the dolphin. “Oh, Cal, I wish you could’ve seen him swimming. He’s gotten so strong and tan. So handsome . . . He just loved it.”
“That’s a change. It’s always been a fight to get him into the water.”
“I know.” She paused, getting into the difficult part. “He also liked to catch fish to feed Delphine. That’s what caused the accident, you see. Luring the dolphin to the dock. She got horribly entangled in all that fishing line. Oh, Cal, it was awful . . .” Dora closed her eyes, remembering how the lines cut deep into the dolphin’s flesh each time she rose to catch a breath.
“Did it die?” he asked.
“Too soon to tell. Carson followed the dolphin to Florida, to the rehab center.” She shook her head. “I’m worried for Nate if she dies. Since the accident he’s been back in his room with those damn video games. He won’t go outdoors or swim in the Cove. I’m afraid he’s in one of his bad periods.”
“I never was much of a help during those spells,” Cal admitted.
“You could have tried,” Dora said pointedly.
To her surprise, Cal nodded. “I admit there are times I could have been a little more patient with him,” Cal said.
Dora was taken aback. Cal had never before acknowledged his poor treatment of Nate. “He’s only nine. You still have plenty of time to repair bridges.”
“That’s true.”
For a moment, Dora felt almost hopeful. Maybe there was a way they could still work this out, still be a family. They owed it to Nate to try. She was about to utter those words when Cal spoke again, his tone suddenly businesslike and strained, any hint of a remorseful father wiped clean.
“Anyways, Dora,” he said, his eyes focused on a point just over her shoulder, “that’s not what I’ve come to talk to you about.”
Dora felt her stomach rise to her throat and a burn blaze across her cheeks. Against her better judgment she’d let her guard down for a moment, thinking he might have changed. And she knew he was about to stomp all over that vulnerability.
“I see,” she said in a carefully measured voice. “What do you want to talk about?”
Now Cal was studying the wineglass as if it held the secrets of the universe. After a moment he folded his hands together on the table and met her gaze.
“I came to discuss an amicable divorce.”
“An amicable divorce?” she repeated, not comprehending the meaning of the phrase.
“Yes.” Cal leaned forward slightly and began to speak in a controlled and deliberate voice, as though he’d memorized each word. It frightened her more than if he’d shouted.
“You see, a divorce doesn’t have to be a free-for-all. You saw how much tension and anger was pent up in the lawyer’s office this morning. Divorce can be amicable if the divorcing couple communicates frankly about their needs and desires while resolving the issues they face.”
“The divorcing couple,” she repeated, incredulous and enraged by his pretentiousness, his distance. “Lord in heaven, Cal, you sound like you’re on some advertisement. The divorcing couple? There’s just you and me.”
Cal sat back, slightly insulted. “Right,” he said.
“Go on. I’m listening.”
He continued. “Basically, you and I will work out the details ourselves,” he said, dropping the officious tone. “Not the lawyers. If we ask the attorneys to resolve our issues, it can get nasty and our case can go on forever and cost a fortune in legal fees. Look at what happened today. Your lawyer was blindsiding my lawyer. It was getting contentious. The way I see it, we can make a settlement plan ourselves, have our lawyers look at it, and we can remain friends. I’d like that, wouldn’t you? It’d be better for Nate, too, don’t you think?”