Chapter 16
May 2005 - Nantucket Island
It was two months after the finalization of Hilary and Rodrick’s divorce. For what felt like the twentieth time that month, Hilary was on the phone, listening to a horrible, jangly song that indicated she was meant to wait. And wait, and wait, and wait. Rose had come over for lunch, and from the veranda, Hilary could see Rose’s bun bobbing around the kitchen as she prepared a salad.
“Mrs. Salt?” A receptionist came back on the line. “I’m sorry to say that she can’t come to the phone right now.”
Hilary’s heart thudded. “Do you know when she’ll be able to come to the phone?” She was willing to wait all day if she had to.
“She said today isn’t good,” the receptionist said.
“But yesterday wasn’t good, and neither was the day before.”
“Ingrid is really quite busy these days,” the receptionist went on. “She’s our brightest star.”
Frustrated, Hilary hung up the phone without saying goodbye, then immediately regretted it. She had to get on the receptionist’s good side if she ever wanted to speak to Ingrid again.
Rose appeared on the veranda with the salad bowl in her hands and grimaced. “Nothing?”
“She’s busy,” Hilary said, trying to brighten her voice.
“I can’t imagine what it’s like to be her,” Rose said, trying to soften the blow. “Curious Agent was everywhere this year. She’s suddenly very famous. Must be hard as a child star.”
Curious Agent was Ingrid Salt’s breakout role. In the film, she starred as a Harriet-the-Spy-type, a child detective in a suburban neighborhood in Ohio. Ingrid had never been to Ohio, and she still hadn’t, as they’d filmed the entire thing on a soundstage in Los Angeles. The filming had taken place in early 2004, which meant it was the final film Hilary had ever worked on. It had been remarkable to be in the background, watching her daughter flourish. She was already a brilliant actress, with all of the charm and light her grandmother had had. She was also truly kind to the rest of the cast, a rarity when it came to movie stars.
Hilary hadn’t known it would be her final film, nor the final period she was allowed to simply hang out with her daughter. She looked back on that time with aching nostalgia, remembering the card games they’d played, the snacks they’d eaten in Ingrid’s trailer, and the films they’d watched. She remembered Rodrick, Ingrid, and herself, falling asleep in one big bed, all cozied up as a family. She remembered watching Rodrick wake up and, in his haze, kiss Ingrid on the forehead. She’d surged with love.
Ingrid had been ten at the time of the filming of Curious Agent. Because she’d just had another birthday, she was already twelve.
Hilary had planned to celebrate Ingrid’s birthday with her in LA. She’d purchased a flight and packed her bags. But Ingrid’s agent had called to say that Ingrid and Rodrick would be out of town on the weekend of her birthday. Ingrid was doing a screen test for a new HBO series. Ingrid was wanted. The agent refused to tell Hilary where the screentest was, presumably because Rodrick had told her not to. Hilary had spent the weekend sobbing to Stella. “He can’t keep you from her forever,” Stella had said.
Last spring, after they wrapped Curious Agent, Ingrid returned to her boarding school for the children of Hollywood elite, where she studied acting with many top-tier coaches and teachers. Hilary hadn’t wanted to send her to boarding school, but Ingrid had begged to go—and sending her there had made it easier on Hilary’s and Rodrick’s film careers. They always knew where she was as they gallivanted from one set to another.
With Ingrid back at school, Hilary and Rodrick went to Nantucket to rest for a few months. They were preparing for their upcoming film, a Shakespeare retelling of All’s Well set in San Francisco. During May of Ingrid’s schoolyear, Hilary and Rodrick flew back to California briefly to watch her star in the school musical. She played little orphan Annie and brought down the house. After opening night, as Hilary, Ingrid, and Rodrick ate a mountain of Italian food at a restaurant nearby, they were approached by a Broadway headhunter, who invited Ingrid to an all-summer theater camp in the Catskills. Ingrid leaped at the chance. When Hilary asked if she could go with her, Ingrid wrinkled her nose and said, “I won’t get to be a kid that much longer. Let me go. Please.” It was like she knew she was destined for fame and wanted to cling to her childhood as long as she could.
Ingrid had been at that theater camp when Isabella Helin died. She’d joined her family for a week in California before returning to the Catskills. Even at age eleven, she couldn’t be taken from her work for long.
By August, Ingrid was back at the boarding school, Hilary was living in Nantucket full-time, and Rodrick was having an affair. Hilary had only seen her daughter a handful of times since then. And when she tried to arrange to spend Christmas with her, Ingrid’s agent called to say, “Ingrid has taken a film in December. She’ll be flying from JFK to Switzerland on November thirtieth. She can meet you in Manhattan for one night only.”
That was the last time Hilary had seen her daughter in the flesh. She still remembered it clear as day. They’d met at a cake shop in Midtown. Ingrid’s agent had been on a computer at the table directly next to them, typing furiously. Ingrid had hugged her for longer than Hilary expected her to. Hilary had convinced herself that her daughter didn’t miss her.
“How are you doing, honey?” Hilary asked. She wanted to buy her every cake on the menu. She wanted to steal her away.
Ingrid spoke like a little lady. Her mannerisms were all Isabella Helin. She ordered tea and nothing else, presumably because her agent had told her she had to uphold her figure. Hilary wanted to punch something.
Hilary had never wanted Ingrid to be an actress. But Ingrid had fallen in love with Isabella Helin’s old films. She’d begged to go to acting classes as a little kid. She’d been the star of every ballet recital. She was born for stage and screen.
Ingrid told her the plan for the Swiss film. “I’m playing the daughter of a diplomat,” she said, as though she knew what a diplomat was, “and it takes place in the year 1930, which means I get to wear really fancy clothes.”
Hilary imagined what kind of clothes she would have selected for the film. Her fingers itched. How she missed costuming! Should she get back into it? Oh, but she’d just found solid ground on Nantucket Island. She’d just discovered her (as yet unnamed) Salt Sisters.
“I’m sorry about your father and me,” Hilary said after they reached a pause.
“All of my friends’ parents are divorced. Janice says that people aren’t meant to mate for life.”
“Who is Janice?”
Ingrid gestured toward her agent, who didn’t look up. Hilary had forgotten that her daughter’s agent was named Janice.
She wanted to tell Janice not to put such horrible ideas in her daughter’s head. But she didn’t want to make a scene during her only outing with her daughter in ages.
“Do you want me to come visit you in Switzerland?” Hilary asked.
Ingrid shook her head. “Daddy will be there the entire time. I’ll be fine.”
Hilary knew that meant that Rodrick’s girlfriend would be there, too. She guessed that Ingrid was fascinated with Rodrick’s actress girlfriend. Ingrid probably wanted that sort of career.
Hilary’s eyes filled with tears. She reached for her daughter’s hands. “Honey, I love you so much. Do you know that?”
“I know that, Mom.” Ingrid looked stricken, then immediately fixed her face. She was a cool costumer and a brilliant actress. Hilary had no idea what was going on behind those eyes.
“Maybe you could come to Nantucket this summer and hang out with me?” Hilary suggested. “You love that house, remember?”
“The one you and Daddy were married in.”
“Yes.” Hilary felt a stab in her gut.
“I’ll have to see. Janice says that this Swiss film might lead to another historical film. We might have to hire a tutor to travel around with us. Pretty soon, Daddy wants to produce a film set in World War II France, and he wants me to play the star.” Ingrid beamed.
Hilary felt the edges of her life unraveling. She wrung her hands and remembered what it had been like to watch Ingrid sleep when she’d been a baby. Hilary had almost always wept with love for her. Rodrick had teased her. “You’re in over your head,” he’d said.
“So you’re not going back to the boarding school?” Hilary asked.
“Probably not,” Janice answered for Ingrid.
Hilary sighed and considered her options. She wondered if she could pick Ingrid up, put her on her hip, and take her back to the hotel the way she could have ten years ago.
“I want to see you more, honey,” Hilary said, hating how embarrassing she was in front of Janice.
“I want to see you, too, Mom. But Janice says this is our moment, and Daddy agrees. We have to ride the coattails of Curious Agent.”
“You’re eleven years old,” Hilary said. “You should be a kid.”
But Ingrid was no longer a child, not really. She was a marketable entity. She was an actress.
Hilary finally managed to get Ingrid on the phone after Rose left that afternoon in May.
“Hi, Mom.” Ingrid sounded tired.
“Baby, hi!” Hilary leaped to her feet on the veranda, surprised she’d gotten through. “How are you?”
“I’m great,” Ingrid said, her tone flat. “I’m probably going to get this HBO show. It’ll be filmed this summer.”
“In LA?”
“Thankfully, yes. I’ll be able to live at home.”
Hilary nearly leaped for joy. At least this time, she’d know where her daughter was. Although their phone call was brief, Hilary already hatched a plan. She was going to see Ingrid again. Nothing would stop her.