Page 54 of Drawing Home
Talking to her dad was so much fun. She loved hearing about his life in Los Angeles. He was still doing some acting here and there, but he said he was transitioning to producing.
“It just takes money,” he said.
“That’s why you went to East Hampton?”
He nodded. “Yeah. Met with a guy who has deep pockets. There are some people in New York I’ve spoken to also. We’ll see. Fingers crossed.”
New York. Everything interesting in the world seemed to happen in New York City. She’d said this to Henry once and he said, “Can’t really argue with you. My life certainly changed when I moved there.”
“Can you take me to see New York City one day?” she asked her father.
He smiled at her. “You are just the cutest thing I’ve ever laid eyes on.”
Around him, she felt cute. It was different with her mom; her mom was her mom. She had to love her. But when her dad was around, he was making a choice to be with her, and every moment he continued to make that choice affirmed her sense of worth. But she also felt the need to be on her best behavior so as not to scare him off.
It had been so long since she’d seen him—sometime between Thanksgiving and Christmas during sixth grade. He’d taken her to eat at LT Burger, and she spent the whole time struggling not to rearrange the silverware or sip from her glass six times and put it down and then sip from it six times again. She’d done a really good job that night—he hadn’t suspected a thing. And still, it had been years before he’d come back.
That’s why there’d be no OCD today. She would boss it back if it killed her.
They put their blankets close to the water but not close enough to get wet when the tide rolled in. Her dad pulled a baseball hat out of his bag and handed it to her. “Wear that. Your mother won’t be happy if I bring you home sunburned.”
“I’m fine. I was just here a few days ago and I didn’t need a hat.”
“I guess your mom must bring you here a lot.”
“Not really,” Penny said.
“No? Why not?”
“I mean, she works all the time. And then she’s tired and there’s grocery shopping and all that stuff.”
“Sorry about that, kiddo.”
She shook her head. She wasn’t trying to make her mom look bad. It was just the truth. “It’s fine. I mean, I came with my friends the other day. It was fun.”
“Your friends are old enough to drive?”
“Um, one of their brothers is.”
“And your mom was okay with that?”
So many questions! She guessed, after all the time they’d spent apart, he wanted to catch up. “Um, she didn’t exactly know,” Penny said.
“What do you mean?”
She shrugged. “I don’t always tell her where I am or what I’m doing. But don’t say that to her, okay?” She didn’t know why she’d admitted that. Maybe she wanted her father to see her as more grown up, to remind him that she wasn’t a baby anymore. Maybe he liked teenagers more than little kids, and that was why he was willing to hang around for a little while.
“Well, I don’t want you getting into any trouble. You have to be safe.”
“I am. Come on, Dad. Look at this place. Nothing ever happens here.” And then she thought of something. Had her mother told him about the house? She hoped not. She wanted to tell him the news herself. “Do you know about the house?”
Her dad looked out at the waves. “What house?”
“I inherited a house! A big, amazing, gorgeous house on the water. The terrible part is that my friend died. But then the house thing happened and in some ways, it’s like he’s still here. Or like he’s looking out for me in some way. I don’t know.”
She told him everything, including the part about the crazy old lady and how her mom was nervous about the whole thing.
“Wow. That’s quite a story,” her dad said.
