Page 37 of Nantucket Gala

A strange voice said, “You aren’t going to like what you find.”

But he shook it out. He was a storyteller. Nothing could frighten him.

Chapter Thirteen

June 1985

Nantucket Island

The limousine pulled up outside The Hutton Hotel to a kaleidoscope of flashing cameras. Sophia clutched Francis’s hand, watching his face for some sign of how he felt. Throughout the drive, he’d been quiet, too quiet, as though his mind was elsewhere. But when she finally asked, “Darling, how are you?” he beamed out the window and almost didn’t answer.

After a long moment of silence, he answered, “I’m feeling ready, darling.” But his voice sounded far away. And although Sophia sat entrenched in the back of the limo beside him, she found that she’d never felt so lonely in her life.

What was going on?

But when the door opened, Francis got out first, smiled triumphantly at the paparazzi, and helped Sophia out. Sophia matched his smile as best as she could, but the happiness felt trapped elsewhere. It couldn’t fully reach her eyes. As she andFrancis walked up to the entrance of the Nantucket Gala, she felt thousands of flashes and heard thousands of questions.

It’ll be over soon, she told herself. We just have to get enough money and get out of here.

It was all for the purpose of art.

It was all for the film.

Suddenly, she and Francis were led to the table of honor at the far end of the elaborate courtyard. What looked to be fifty tables with white tablecloths were set up in front of a stage, and servers were passing out glasses of champagne and appetizers. Everything smelled of fish. Sophia’s stomach heaved, and she thought she might have to run to the bathroom and throw up. But there wasn’t time.

Suddenly, she noticed several photographers in the corner of the courtyard, surrounding someone and calling out questions. Sophia craned her neck to see none other than Natalie Masterson. Natalie had gone overboard yet again for her outfit, wearing a low-cut black dress that showed too much of her back and far too much of her very long dancerly legs. Now, her smile was electric, and she looked as though she flirted with every single member of the paparazzi. Sophia flared her nostrils and held Francis’s hand tighter. Why on earth had she made that introduction? Why had she thought Natalie would be perfect inThe Brutal Horizon?

Sophia had met Natalie back in 1977. They’d been cast as sisters and rivals in a World War II-era student film, both agreeing to it because they had little else to do and because they’d been impressed that the director was a woman. By then, Sophia had already written scripts and dreamed of a better life in the film industry. But she was still banking on where her beauty could take her.

During filming, Sophia and Natalie had struck up a friendship, one built upon frustrations within the industry andannoyances at the Los Angeles dating field. Both of them wanted to get married and have children, that was true, but at the same time, they wanted to have iconic careers like Elizabeth Taylor or Katharine Hepburn. They struggled with guilt; they struggled with knowing what to want and how to get it.

After filming, Natalie had met someone and told Sophia she thought she might marry him one day. She stopped acting for a few years; she stopped answering the phone. In fact, Sophia thought maybe Natalie had either dropped off the face of the earth or returned home. When she tried looking her up, she had no luck.

By the time Sophia met Francis and became Francis’s mistress and later married him, Sophia and Natalie were completely out of touch.

That was, until that fateful night in Cannes.

Francis and Sophia were at the Cannes Film Festival to supportA Sacred Fig. The year was 1983, and Sophia had just finished writing a script she felt sure was the best she’d ever written:The Brutal Horizon. Freshly married to Francis and fresh-faced and freshly immune to any of life’s turmoils, Sophia threw herself into Cannes celebrations, going with Francis to every party they were invited to. And there wasn’t a party they weren’t invited to. Mr. and Mrs. Francis Bianchi were key players that year.

It was at one of these parties that Sophia ran into Natalie Masterson.

Natalie was there with her new boyfriend, the handsome actor Dean Chatterly. Immediately when Sophia saw him, she was struck with the realization that Dean was far more handsome than Francis. Not that that really mattered. Sophia loved Francis with everything she had. She loved his mind. She loved his spirit. She loved his fame. Dean was up-and-coming, but people said his acting wasn’t up to snuff. People weren’t sureif he was going to go all the way. But Natalie didn’t seem to care about that.

When Natalie and Sophia saw one another for the first time, they shrieked and jumped and laughed on that beautiful beach. Natalie screamed again when she saw Sophia’s engagement and wedding rings.

“I’ve been following you in the news!” Natalie said. “You’re Queen Bee of Hollywood! My sister!”

Sophia cackled. “Where have you been? You disappeared!”

Natalie explained that her fiancé had left her for someone younger and wealthier. “I didn’t know what to do, so I hid out for a little while, moving often, biding my time. I did a few commercials for money, which is how I met Dean Chatterly. Look at him! Isn’t he divine?”

Sophia agreed he was a dish.

“But why are you here?” Sophia asked.

“A director is courting Dean,” Natalie explained. “He wants him in his next picture. He says he’s going to be a big star.”

Sophia congratulated her. “Do you think you’ll get married?”

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