She Wanted It All - Kathryn Casey [46]
The story of how she met her biological mother became fodder for the beauty salon circuit. At Tramps, Celeste confided in Denise Renfeldt about the injustice. She never lowered her voice to keep others from hearing, even when she grumbled about Steve. One day she laughed, saying, “He’s so dumb he thinks my breasts are real.” Another afternoon, when she was particularly animated, Celeste groaned about their sex life, although it wasn’t true, complaining she had to give Steve shots in his penis for him to get an erection. “I threw the needles away, so now he just makes me give him oral sex,” she whined. “Once a week, every Sunday, I go make some money. I call it the Sunday suck.”
Word traveled back to Steve’s friends, including the Baumans. As upset as they were, Gene decided not to tell Steve. “I told a friend once that his wife was unfaithful, and he wasn’t grateful,” he says. “I figured the worst that would happen was Steve’s reputation would get tarnished. I never thought it could be more serious.”
A businessman at heart, Steve kept to his old habits. He had a daily planner in which he carefully jotted down each day’s schedule, and he asked Celeste and the girls to do the same. The appointment book was filled with social events, commitments with the girls and Celeste, doctor appointments and vacations. But it wasn’t enough. Steve was used to running a television station, and he was bored. That spring he called Gus Voelzel, complaining, “Now that the house is finished, I don’t feel like I have a job.”
Voelzel told Steve about Eatsies, a trendy grocery store, gourmet carryout in Dallas and Houston. Robbie Mayfield, a contractor Voelzel knew, was developing an exclusive shopping center down the hill from the Beards’ new house, on Capitol of Texas Highway, next to a dress shop where Susan Dell, Michael Dell’s wife, sold the expensive little frocks she designed. “Why don’t you open an Eatsies in it?” Voelzel asked.
Intrigued by the idea, Steve went to Dallas to see Eatsies and considered the possibility, ultimately deciding it would entail too much work. Instead, he bantered about the idea of a liquor store in the new shopping center. Voelzel made the introductions, and Steve came away from the meeting with Mayfield convinced he wanted to be involved not as a lessee, but as one of the lessors. So, instead of renting space in the center, Steve became the money man, supplying the funds to back the development.
That year, Jennifer played on the Westlake High School softball team, and Steve was a frequent spectator, clapping for her in the stands. Celeste never made it to one of the games. “Where’s your mom?” the coach asked. When Jennifer replied that she wasn’t coming, he made light of the situation. Years later Jennifer would remember the sting of knowing that of all the players’ moms, only hers never came. When she’d finished her required physical education credits, Celeste wouldn’t let her play. “I think she just wanted to make me miserable. Or maybe it reminded her of our dad,” says Jen. At times Celeste yelled at her for the way she opened Coke cans, saying it reminded her of Craig. As many times as Celeste screamed at her, Jennifer did it anyway.
Before long many at Westlake High knew Celeste better than they cared to. She had arguments with teachers and counselors, and pulled the girls out at a moment’s notice for capricious reasons. Once, a shouting match with the girls’ biology teacher became so heated that a security guard was called. Another day, when Jen forgot a book, Celeste brought it to school. She fumed when the office staff told her to leave it with