Page 59 of Cinematic Destinies
When they got to the kitchen, Ella turned on the tea kettle. “You can just leave those on the counter. Probably the last batch of the season. We were lucky this year to still get berries in September. Those beautiful bushes have always been generous. I’m going to make a tart for your father.”
Georgia plopped onto a barstool and asked, “Why do you love those blueberry bushes so much?”
“You know that your dad had them planted as a gift for our tenth anniversary.”
“Yeah, but it’s such a weird gift. Like, he’s a big movie star. He couldn’t afford jewelry?”
Ella laughed. “I suppose it may seem strange if you don’t know the story. Our dear friend Albie, the actor who . . .”
“Who costarred with Dad inCelebration. The one Albert is named after.”
“Yes,” Ella replied. The tea kettle whistled, and she stopped to fill their cups.
“Go on,” Georgia encouraged.
“Albie was a special man. Your father and I were very fond of him. He was a crusty old bird in some ways, but he was also such a dear soul. He was a romantic who believed in love above all else. Lived by that belief. Taught us to do the same. When we were all in Sweden and they were filmingCelebration, and I was freeloading off Jean for the summer, we celebrated what turned out to be Albie’s last birthday. We didn’t know about his cancer recurrence at the time, but later he confided in me.”
Georgia looked at her mother intensely, hanging on every word.
“Anyway, that night Albie told us the story of how he met his wife Margaret, the love of his life. It was at aparty in London. A blue-blooded, upper-crust soiree, which was definitely not Albie’s scene. Margaret ended up there by chance, with no idea what kind of party it was, so she showed up in a casual dress with a homemade blueberry pie. Albie was hit by lightning the moment he laid eyes on her. Eventually, he saw her at the dessert table and sidled over to her. He took a piece of the pie she’d made and they started talking. He fell hopelessly in love with her on the spot. Ever since your dad and I heard the story, blueberries make us think of love. Grand, epic love.” She crinkled her nose and shook her head. “I know it’s silly, but they’ve become special to us. Our wedding cake was layered with blueberry preserves, to honor Albie who had already passed. Since then, for special occasions we’ve always found a way to have blueberries. And it’s why your father gave me those bushes for our tenth anniversary, and why they’re so special to me.” Ella took a sip of her tea, a soft smile in her eyes.
Georgia looked down.
“What is it? Is something wrong?” Ella asked.
Georgia raised her gaze and asked, “Why didn’t you ever tell us that you and Dad broke up?’
Ella furrowed her brow.
“Jean said that when filming wrapped onCelebration, you split up. He said you left Dad.”
Ella sighed. “Yes, that’s true.”
“I don’t understand. We all thought you fell in love on the set of the film and then Dad proposed to you at the premiere in Cannes.”
“That’s all true, but it’s not the whole story.” Ella stopped to take a breath. “Your father and I fell madly in love that summer. Neither of us had expected it, nor had we ever experienced anything like it before. At the time I was living in a little flat in Paris, but really, I had spent years roaming from one place to the next, no roots, noresponsibilities. Your dad was in LA, living in this very house.” She smiled and continued, “He wanted to get married. He asked me to move here so we could be together. He even offered to live in Paris or anywhere else I wanted. Anything so we could be together. But I was absolutely terrified of the way I felt for him. Love was new to me. I didn’t know how to trust it. To trust it wouldn’t abandon me or turn me into someone I didn’t recognize.”
“So, what happened?”
“I made the biggest mistake of my life. I told your father to go back home and get on with his life. He begged me, but . . .”
Georgia reached out and put her hand over Ella’s.
“The moment he walked out the door of that inn was the most gut-wrenching of my life. I melted into a puddle of tears. I had broken my own heart, and his. But I didn’t understand why I had done that, and I didn’t have a clue how to fix it.”
“What did you do?”
“I flew back to my place in Paris. Wept like a baby. I visited your grandmother in Spain. Cried on her shoulder. I got a therapist and did work on myself.” She stopped to giggle. “I even got a kitten, so I could see if I was capable of taking care of someone else.”
“Our cat growing up?” Georgia asked.
Ella nodded.
“That’s why she was named Sweden. You named her after the place where you and Dad fell in love. As a reminder.”
“Yes.”
“When did you and Dad . . .”
