Great Big Beautiful Life(97)
When they stayed in for days on end, tabloids ran stories about Peggy’s rules, and the short leash on which Margaret kept the famous former Casanova.
The highs and lows of their public perception bothered Cosmo. While they’d been in Rome, his manager had told him about an article back home that lined up Margaret with the other women Cosmo had been (loosely) attached to, rating her face, her body, her talent, and her money against the others’.
It was the first time she’d seen him truly angry. He’d flung a coffeepot at the wall in his rage and paced like a caged, helpless animal.
“It’s all right,” she promised, crawling to the edge of their bed and pushing up onto her knees to touch each side of his face. “I’m used to it.”
“That doesn’t make it right,” he said.
“No,” she agreed. “But we can’t change the whole world with our love, Cosmo.”
He circled her wrists with his hands. “I should be able to protect you. I should be able to protect your sister, and anyone else you care about. If I can’t do that, then what’s all of this for?”
Cosmo had grown up without money, so he knew the value of a dollar. While he liked to spend—especially when it came to her or his parents back in Dennis, Tennessee—she’d also learned that his anxiety about money ran much deeper than his love for it.
Not having it had been the greater strain, no doubt about it, but he wasn’t at ease with having it either.
“I don’t need you to protect me,” she whispered, kissing him slowly. “I just need you to love me.”
And he did. Every minute of every day of that first month.
She’d gotten two letters from Laura since they’d been gone, but both had come in those first two weeks, when they were at Cosmo’s Nashville estate.
She was eager to see her sister, to prove that this hadn’t been a mistake, that the universe had given her permission to love and be loved deeply by both of them.
That she wasn’t being greedy, and she wouldn’t be punished for it.
But Laura wasn’t home, Briggs informed Margaret as soon as she and Cosmo had set foot in the vast marble entryway of the House of Ives. “What do you mean?” she asked. “Is she out on the grounds?”
Briggs cleared his throat, his eyes switching between Cosmo and her as if to indicate this was a delicate matter. He might’ve been Margaret’s husband, but Cosmo wasn’t and would never be an Ives.
“Briggs,” she said. “Tell me where my sister is.”
The butler cleared his throat again, his face going beet red with embarrassment. “Miss Laura is getting treatment in New Mexico at the moment.”
“Treatment?” Her heart pattered through her chest, a loose pinball zigzagging against her rib cage. “Is she sick?”
“Did something happen?” Cosmo pressed, one hand settling comfortingly at the small of Margaret’s back.
“It is my understanding,” Briggs said diplomatically, “that Dr. Atwood is assisting your sister with—”
“Atwood?” she interrupted. “The psychologist?”
“Yes, Ms. Ives,” Briggs said. “Miss Laura is at his ‘center’ for the next several months.”
She spun toward the library, the nearest phone. “Did she leave a number?” she shouted without looking over her shoulder.
She’d made it all the way to the phone when Briggs finally caught up with her. “There are no phones on the property, ma’am,” he said. “But she left an address if you’d like to write.”
“We can go there,” Cosmo told her. “Right now, if you want. Bring her home.”
Briggs took an audible breath, and she looked to him, waiting for whatever he was going to say. “She left you a letter in your room, I believe. She told me that would explain everything.”
Margaret and Cosmo set off together, barreling through the castle. The ivory envelope sat in the middle of Margaret’s bed. She tore it open, shaking out the paper within.
Dear Margaret,
I am sorry not to give you more advance notice, but I have gone to New Mexico to work with Dr. David. Already, through our correspondence, I have made tremendous leaps in improving my well-being. For the first time in a long time, if not ever, my mind feels clear. This space, I must confess, has been a significant part of my growth. I have been caught so long in the shadow of our family’s name, and it has allowed me to ignore the truth of who I really am.
For my continued self-improvement, I kindly ask you to respect my wishes and grant me the space I require from you and the rest of our family. For the time being, please do not contact me. When I have completed Dr. David’s program, I will return to you the very best version of your sister. Until then, know all my thoughts and love are with you, Mom, Dad, and Roy.
Yours always,
Laura
Contrary to what Briggs had said, Margaret thought, this explained nothing.
29
Hayden and I wander the long, manicured paths of the old Bonaventure Cemetery, iced tea and coffee in hand, sun warming the tops of our heads. I’ve been here one other time, and it’s as beautiful as I remember, a gorgeous interplay of light and shadow cast by the hundreds of old trees dripping in Spanish moss.