Page 25 of The Quiet Rebuild

“We figured it out during the group session,” Candice explained. “Taylor was there, withdrawn after the publication of the photograph but still eager to talk. We waited and waited for Casey to appear. I thought maybe she was too embarrassed by her behavior last night. But when we went to her room, we found that she’d packed up and left early. Gwen called to check on her, and that’s when Casey confessed about the photograph.”

Lindsey sat back down again, her heart pounding. “I can’t believe it. I can’t believe she’d take advantage of Taylor like that.”

“It sounded like she thought she was owed that. Especially from someone like Taylor,” Candice said. “But I hate it. We promised these women we would protect them.”

“We didn’t know we would have to protect them from each other,” Lindsey offered.

Candice was quiet. Lindsey could picture her, sitting in a lamplight at their mother’s desk. Reeling. Wondering.

“It’s going to be okay, Sis,” Lindsey told her. “Everyone’s safe.”

“We’ll see,” Candice offered. “Gwen won’t be able to sleep tonight. And I can feel Mom’s disappointment in us. The Harbor House was supposed to stand for something different.”

“It does,” Lindsey assured her. “It will.”

12

It was the morning after Taylor’s mother’s death. Sitting across from Gwen, Taylor tugged at the hem of her dress and tried to arrange her face into an expression of kindness, comfort, and understanding. She could see that Casey’s decision to sell Taylor’s photographs to the press had all but destroyed poor Gwen, who’d started the Harbor House as a means to fulfill her destiny. A means to help people. It was clear that Gwen hadn’t set out to hurt anyone.

“Casey’s on a journey, I suppose,” Gwen said now. “She’s hurting and in pain, and she doesn’t care if anyone else is hurting and in pain, as long as her pain is less.”

“It doesn’t matter,” Taylor told Gwen now. “Honestly. So many people have seen me crying on park benches by now that it shouldn’t be a major deal. I can’t believe they even paid her. It’s such a non-scene in my life.”

Gwen got back to her feet and walked to the window. She was jittery, panicked. “You know, I spent the past many, many years of my life as Stella Vanberg’s assistant. All day, every day, I had to anticipate her needs. I had to think, what would Stella say or do in this situation? I thought I knew Stella all the way down to her core. And then, Candice and Lindsey went off to Tennessee and discovered Stella’s real backstory. They discovered that her name was never Stella at all. This rattled me. If I didn’t know these integral pieces of Stella’s life, how could I claim to know her? And she was supposed to be my, like, mother figure. But I put my head down. I told myself to do the work here at the Harbor House, if only as a way to pay Stella back for all she’d done for me. She trusted me with this place. She trusted me with all of you.” Gwen turned and looked at Taylor, tears glinting in her eyes. “We’re so sorry, Taylor. And we’d understand if you want to leave us and head back to Los Angeles. But we also hope you’ll consider staying. Casey’s gone. Maybe we can regroup.”

Taylor offered a soft smile. It had been a long time since she’d heard such a clear-hearted apology. “Again, it’s not your fault. But thank you.” She swallowed. “I am going to leave, Gwen.”

Gwen let her shoulders drop.

“But I don’t know if I’ll be gone forever,” Taylor went on. “I want to go to my mother’s funeral. I think I owe myself that. Afterward, I’ll decide about the next five weeks.”

Gwen furrowed her brow. “Do you want to talk to Dr. Estelle about any of this? Before you leave for the funeral, I mean.”

“I have to get going tomorrow afternoon,” Taylor said. “If there’s time, I guess I could talk.” But she wasn’t sure if she wanted to dig so deeply into her emotional psyche just yet.

“Of course. I’m sure you have many things to do to prepare,” Gwen said. “Please, don’t hesitate to reach out to any of us here at the Harbor House while you’re gone. Our phones are always on, and our doors are always open.”

Taylor smiled. “You should put that on the website.”

Gwen laughed nervously. “You’re probably right about that. I look forward to getting to know you better, Taylor. Have a safe trip.”

Taylor left Gwen’s office and headed to her room, where she found Winona reading in the little chair by the window. Although Taylor and Winona’s big day out had been only yesterday, Taylor felt a swell of appreciation for the woman. Her friend, she realized. How funny to already have a friend here at the Harbor House.

“Can I ask you something?” Taylor asked.

Winona closed her book. “What’s up?”

“Did you watch any of my sitcoms growing up?” Taylor guessed that Winona was only a little bit younger than she was, which meant that she’d been the right age for all of them.

“Don’t take this the wrong way,” Winona said with a funny smile. “But I thought I was too cool to watch your sitcoms. I hung with kids who didn’t care about them. We watched European films and thought laugh tracks were dumb.”

Taylor cackled happily, dropping down on the bed. “Thank goodness.”

“Yeah?” Winona laughed. “I figured you’d be mad.”

“I don’t want fans,” Taylor said. “I’m beginning to wonder if I ever wanted them.”

“What did you want? At the beginning, I mean,” Winona asked.