She Wanted It All - Kathryn Casey [30]
But, Celeste wasn’t interested in the twins that day. Instead she gushed to Anita about the new man in her life, Steve Beard, a country club member. “I want you to meet him,” she said. “It’s magic.” She explained that she’d moved in as his housekeeper and they’d fallen in love.
While some might have been shocked in the difference in their ages—Steve was sixty-nine and Celeste just thirty-one—Anita wasn’t fazed. Her husband, Jerry, was older than Anita, and they had a happy marriage. “I never thought age mattered,” she says.
Steve’s daughter had no such romantic notions about her father’s new girlfriend.
Becky Beard learned about Celeste Martinez when her father said he had a new housekeeper. Becky was surprised to see the young blonde who appeared at her door in Dallas that same month, holding some of her mother’s jewelry. Steve had wanted her to have a few of her mother’s things, Celeste said. They sat and talked, Celeste telling Becky a web of lies, including that she’d graduated with an accounting degree from Pepperdine University. “I got tired of accounting,” Celeste said. “It was boring.”
From that first meeting, Becky never believed Celeste was who she claimed to be. Rather, she worried about what her father was getting into. Her apprehension grew in January, when Steve had tickets for the Super Bowl, the Cowboys against the Buffalo Bills in Atlanta. Becky called his hotel room and Celeste answered. “I didn’t like what was happening, but I didn’t know what to do,” she says.
When Celeste invited Anita and her husband, Jerry, to the house for cocktails, the Inglises knew him only slightly from the club and had never spent any time with him. That night, Anita thought she understood why Celeste was attracted to Steve, as he joked and laughed, often poking fun at himself. Meanwhile, Celeste bragged about his accomplishments and the fun they had together.
“She appeared devoted to him,” says Anita.
It was abundantly clear that Steve was crazy about Celeste. He beamed just looking at her. As so many other men before him had found, being with Celeste was invigorating. It wasn’t just her physical beauty. She exuded a playful, highly sexual manner, an infectious enthusiasm. To Steve, who’d just endured the most painful year of his life, she must have represented the promise that his life hadn’t ended with Elise’s death. She offered a new beginning, the opportunity to be loved again, and the chance—with Kristina—to start a whole new family.
In the months that followed, Steve’s secretary Lisa, grew accustomed to hearing Celeste’s wispy voice when she answered his phone. At first Celeste called about household matters, like getting the rugs cleaned or problems with the hot tub. Then, gradually, the reasons changed. As she had throughout the years, Celeste quickly shifted the spotlight back to herself. In early 1994 the issue that consumed her was the fight to recover Jennifer.
That summer, when the girls were twelve, Celeste left Austin, telling Steve she was traveling to Washington and intended to return with Jennifer. She was gone a few days when the phone rang at KBVO. “Celeste called and said she was in jail in Washington, for trying to see Jennifer,” says Lisa. Steve tried to calm Celeste, who sounded frantic. He hired an attorney and spent more than $20,000 on legal fees.
Later, Jennifer remembered nothing of her mother’s supposed arrest. She would, however, never forget the phone calls Celeste made to her that year. “I’m going to take you away from your father,” she said.
One night Steve answered the phone when Craig called to talk to Kristina. Craig’s brother, Jeff, overheard the call. “Celeste isn’t who you think she is,” Craig told Steve. “Be careful. You think she’s wonderful now, but she’ll hurt