Chapter 47 White Lies
WHITE LIES
LOURDES
“Sweetheart, I’m having surgery,” Dad’s words came as I arrived at the theater with Leah. “They need to remove the lymph node.”
I waved at her to go ahead.
“Oh, lordy. Well, I want to be there,” I said, thinking about the next month of my life. “When is it?”
We were wrapping Victoria, counting down on Leah’s supposed two-week wait, and flying to LA the day after close to watch the Oscars and deal with press.
Then, finally a bit of relaxation, right?
Right now, Leah was a mess just thinking about being pregnant and I couldn’t blame her.
Every time she mentioned something that was remotely related to a pregnancy symptom, I made a mental note. It wasn’t healthy.
“Wednesday of next week. Early morning.”
I cringed. That was all cutting it so close. If I flew out the day before after our Tuesday show, I’d miss the surgery. I’d have to miss at least three—probably four—performances.
“I will see what I can do, Dad,” I said. “I’d like to be there with you.”
“Alright, sweetheart. Well, if you cannot you know I understand.”
“I know. It’s just hard. I want to be there, but I need to talk to the people here first.”
“Well, have a good show, sweetheart. Tell Leah we send our best.”
“I will,” I said, surprised to hear him bring Leah up over the phone.
I made it four steps down the hall before my mobile rang. I picked it up, assuming he’d forgotten something.
“Yes, Dad?”
“What?” It was Martha.
“Oh, shit. Sorry. I thought you were my dad.” My heart skipped a beat.
I knew instantly what this was about.
“They want to see you in London for a final audition.”
My agent’s words loomed as I made my way to Leah’s dressing room. “When can you be in London next?”
“Well, I’m supposed to be in town because my dad is having surgery on Wednesday. The schedule will be tight because I want to spend time with him.”
“Perfect. I will let Caleb’s people know we can arrange something.”
Martha’s emotional intelligence score wasn’t high, but I understood her point.
“Don’t say anything to anyone about this,” Martha warned. “I mean it. This is a political hot potato. Your job is to convince them you are fit for the role and still young and salable. He doesn’t want them hearing about other actresses. So, that means—”
“Not telling Leah.” I brushed hair back from my face.
“Yes. For now. At least until you’ve been. Can you manage that? You have cover. If you didn’t, it might be different, but… I’d like to keep this very mum.”
Martha had never asked me to keep something so quiet before, but I suspected that since the show’s timing shifted and Leah could absolutely play Charity, she worried Leah might undermine me, or her agent might get ideas.
I hated feeling like we were at odds. I also knew telling Leah that I was back in it and might be very involved in a West End run at the end of a pregnancy that seemed possible, yet unlikely wouldn’t help her. Instead, I would go forth and fib.
When I hung up, I found Leah in her dressing room scrolling pictures of houses on her laptop.
I kissed her forehead. She may not have been pregnant, but Leah was dead set on nesting.
We needed to find a house. Sadly, everything I liked wasn’t private enough—a practical matter I tried to understand—or we never found something that felt truly cozy.
She looked up, green eyes trained on mine eagerly.
“I gotta show you this house. Wait… what is happening? Why do you look like that?”
“Dad is having surgery,” I said. “He’s okay but I want to be there. I’m going to fly out sometime early next week and stay for a couple of days. You’ll barely miss me.”
She gave me a quick kiss. “I will always miss you, but I understand. Give him all my love.”
She knew how to melt even the coldest heart. I felt dreadful for telling her sweet self a bloody lie, but what more could I do?
I told myself the odds of the swimmers swimming at the same time I got a big break were low.
Alternatively, if she fell pregnant, I could tell her the truth.
She’d be too excited about the pregnancy to care about my fib.
Leah would also be over the moon about this role.
She knew my heart. We could have a baby in London and stay together.