She Wanted It All - Kathryn Casey [80]
Perhaps Steve wanted to meet the woman his wife spent so much time with, the one she’d called so incessantly from Australia that she’d racked up a $2,000 phone bill. The Wednesday after she returned, Celeste invited Tracey to the Toro Canyon house for hamburger night. Tracey didn’t want to go. She remembered Timberlawn when she’d been transferred off Celeste’s unit. At the time, Celeste told her it was because of Steve’s interference, that he didn’t want Tracey near her.
“Oh, that,” Celeste said. “He’s an old man. He won’t remember that.”
At the Toro Canyon house that night, Steve welcomed Tracey, shaking her hand warmly. When Celeste was out of the room, he said, “I want to thank you for being such a good friend to Celeste.”
While the teens ate burgers in the kitchen, Steve, Celeste, and Tracey drank and talked outside. By ten that night none of the three had eaten and all showed the effects of the alcohol. When Steve went inside, Tracey and Celeste sat on the porch swing together, and, in front of Kristina, Tracey leaned over and kissed Celeste on the lips. Embarrassed, Kristina walked inside.
“I can’t believe Tracey kissed mom,” she told Steve.
With that, Steve walked outside. “I think it’s time your guest went home,” he told Celeste. “It’s late.”
When Tracey didn’t move, he said it again, “You should leave now.”
Jennifer and Christopher offered to drive her, judging she was in no condition to drive. As they stood at the door, they heard Steve ask once again, “Celeste, are you a lesbian?”
“Of course not,” she shouted, then rushed out the door. While Christopher put Tracey in her car, Kristina and Jennifer got in the Cadillac to follow and drive him home.
“I want to ride in the trunk,” Celeste said, motioning for them to open it. “I don’t want Tracey to see me. She’ll want me to come inside.”
In her car, Tracey was in a talkative mood. “Celeste and I are in love,” she told Christopher, who didn’t know what to say.
At the house on Wilson, Christopher and Jennifer went inside, while Kristina opened the trunk to let Celeste out. She was choking and gasping.
“I couldn’t breathe,” she complained.
Inside the house, Tracey stumbled, appearing unaware anyone was with her. While the teens tried to steady her, she peeled off her clothes until she stood naked in the living room. Stifling giggles, they led her to the bedroom and helped her into bed. When they told Celeste what happened, she roared with laughter.
Later, Christopher told Jen what Tracey had said in the car, that she and Celeste were a couple. “Oh, my God. I had a feeling,” she responded.
Despite the hamburger night clash, Steve wasn’t angry at Tracey, at least not enough to keep him from extending a second invitation. The twins had worked hard to earn hours in summer school, and the following Friday night was their graduation. Steve had a celebration planned, including dinner at the Austin Country Club.
At the Tony Berger Center, the city’s south side sports complex, Kristina and Jennifer wore their blue Westlake High School graduation robes. In the stands, Steve, Celeste, Amy, Justin, Tracey, and Christopher sat together, cheering as the girls walked across the stage. Another visitor sat separated from the family; Jimmy. He saw Steve seated next to Celeste, happily unaware that he sat next to one of his wife’s lovers and across the auditorium from another.
Dinner at the club went well that night, without a replay of the incident earlier that week. They had cocktails, talked, and laughed. But Tracey watched Steve carefully, thinking about what Celeste had told her. He was in an expansive mood, happy and proud of the girls, yet under the magnification of Celeste’s words, she noticed small things she interpreted as confirming the worst about him. Steve ordered Celeste’s dinner without asking what she wanted, and her drink before she seemed ready. In Tracey’s mind she thought he could easily be overbearing.
The following afternoon, Tracey met Celeste and the girls at Tramps. They had a big night coming up. On