“My father and I haven’t spoken since June. I could go to San Francisco with my friend Jake. I had a great time there three years ago. I haven’t decided yet.”
“I have a better idea. Let’s go someplace warm together, the Turks and Caicos or Saint Bart’s maybe. Would you like that?” She was smiling at him. Doors were opening into a new world, with a whole new view. He was offering her another life. “Let’s do it,” he said quietly.
“I’d love to.” She was going to call Lara and tell her. She knew Lara would be disappointed, but after what her father had said, Antonia didn’t feel ready to see him yet, even after six months, or spend Christmas with him. He had been cruel about her small part in the movie, and he would be even angrier now. He had continued to pay for school and her expenses, but he had no other contact with her. It was typical of him to withhold love and approval. But Brandon considered supporting her financially his duty.
The war he was waging with Antonia had put a strain on his marriage. Lara had told him point-blank that he was abusive to Antonia. And he refused to back down about her being in a movie. He would be even worse now, if she got good reviews and attention in the press, but she didn’t care. She had Hamish, who was so gentle and kind to her, and wanted to protect her.
They made plans for their trip all through dinner, and he said he’d have the girls in his office set it up the next day.
“I’ll pick you up with the plane, and we can fly down there together. I have to go back to London first for a few days to meet with some of the investors.”
It all sounded like a dream to her, and to him too. She was young, but the age difference didn’t matter to either of them. The years melted between them. They talked about spending Christmas together, and the movie that he’d start in June, with her in a supporting role. She was still uneasy about it, but he had convinced her, and she was going to do it for him. He was like the father she never had.
“It’ll help you write a screenplay one day. It’s good for you to have some experience in front of the camera, especially if you want to direct too,” he reassured her. It justified acting in a movie, which she had never wanted to do.
“You’re not invisible anymore, Antonia, and you don’t need to be. I see you, and I love what I see. You don’t need to hide. I won’t let anyone hurt you.” She believed him. Hamish Quist was an honest man, and he loved her, and she loved him. And she wasn’t an intruder anymore. She belonged with him.
Chapter 12
Antonia called Lara to tell her she wouldn’t be home for Christmas. Lara had suspected that would happen, since there had been no contact between father and daughter for six months. Antonia had retreated after his vicious attack on her about the movie, and the cruel things he had said to her, none of which were true. She was nothing like her mother. He refused to back down, no matter how many times Lara talked to him. He said he wanted nothing to do with her if she was going to become an actress like her mother. He was paying for her education, which he considered his obligation, and she was graduating soon, but if she was going to embark on an acting career, he said she’d end up a “whore” like her mother. It made Lara shudder when he said it.
“You can’t just reject her, Brandon. She’s your daughter.”
“I can and I will,” he said stubbornly.
“She’s grown up without a mother, and she has barely had you. Now she won’t even have you.” She already didn’t. It made Lara’s heart ache thinking about it. She saw him in another light now. She couldn’t feel warm toward him, knowing how unkind he was to his daughter. He was emotionally abandoning her, after years of punishing her. And Antonia realized it too. She had told Lara that she couldn’t make excuses for him anymore. When she thought of the solitude and loneliness of her childhood, it made her shudder. She had always believed she deserved it, but now she knew she didn’t. She was an adult and her eyes were open.
And nothing Lara did or said softened him. He didn’t want to lose his wife, but he couldn’t reach out to his daughter. She had always been an upsetting reminder of her mother, just by her very existence, despite the fact that she looked nothing like her and had never behaved like her. In his mind, she was always Fabienne’s daughter, and he couldn’t see beyond that.
“Are you going to San Francisco with Jake for the holidays?” Lara asked Antonia when she said she wasn’t coming home. Lara had met Jake several times when she came downtown to meet Antonia for lunch, and she was grateful that they had found each other and were good friends. She thought he was a lovely boy, and she knew Antonia had had a great time when she went to San Francisco with him.