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“Joe?” Piper looked even more interested.
“I was trying to work the washing machine. He taught me.”
Piper and Maggs exchanged a look that she had no idea how to interpret.
“Why did you let your granddad control you like that, Bailey?” Maggs asked her.
She’d thought about that often since she’d walked away from him. Why had she let her grandfather control every facet of her life? She was no closer to an answer yet.
“It just sort of happened, I guess, and he always told me he wanted the best for me, and I wanted to be the best pianist I could be, and to do that I didn’t need distractions.”
“So I need clarification here,” Piper said, handing Bailey chocolate, which did actually go surprisingly well with wine. “Trips to the mall, movie nights with friends, slumber parties, and the other prerequisite teenage stuff that helps you become a well-rounded adult... supposedly.”
Maggs snorted.
“You had none of that?”
Bailey shook her head.
“She never had birthday parties, either, because I would have been invited,” Maggs said.
“It wasn’t so bad.” Bailey felt embarrassed now. “Really, I’ve had a great life.”
“Tell me what cake you wanted as a child, and don’t lie. I bet you dreamed about it like everyone else.”
“Cake?”
“You know, the cake every little girl dreams of. Pink frosting, fairy dress, unicorn?”
“I don’t—”
“Yes, you did, so tell us,” Piper demanded.
She saw it in her head like she had once dreamed it would be. “I wanted a Mickey Mouse cake. Red and white spots and a set of black ears on the top. I saw it once, in a magazine my mother had, and it just kind of stuck with me.”
“You should have had it.” Maggs looked defiant. “Damn it, Bailey, you should have had it!”
“We can’t have everything we want, Maggs, and I had it good, believe me. And this is about you, not me.”
“What about Beau. Where was he?”
“Beau?” Piper looked at Maggs.
“Her brother. He’s six years older and lives in Paris.”
“He was around to start, then left to study and never really came back.”
“But you talk with him, right?”
Bailey shook her head.
“What?” Piper shook her head as if to clear it. “Why not? You should be Skyping him from your laptop regularly.”
She realized then how utterly pathetic she must sound in the eyes of these modern women. Bailey tried to explain how her life had been. “Practice just took up a lot of my time, so I never really got around to getting a computer. My grandfather didn’t have one, and I didn’t see a need for one either. Mostly I used the ones in the hotels. A lot of my time was spent travelling, doing promotions, or playing shows. When I had downtime I read books mainly. I liked not being able to read reviews and have people contact me.”
“But you could have communicated regularly with Beau, Bailey?” Maggie persisted.
“I-I… no I haven’t.” Putting her head in her hands, she cried. “I-I never cry!”
