Winter White
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For Mallory Calonita.
You may be my cousin, but I love you like a sister.
“How y’all doing this fine morning, North Carolina?”
Wendy Wallington’s famous Southern twang ricocheted throughout the television studio, whipping her audience into a frenzy. The adulation increased as she strutted down the aisle in her signature four-inch sparkly heels and shook hands with excited viewers, like the woman wearing a
WAA-WAA WENDY
T-shirt. The nickname was one the legendary talk show host nabbed after it became apparent that she was a whiz at making her guests cry.
If there was ever a day Wendy wanted to work her tear-duct mojo, it was this one. Bill Monroe, the charismatic state senator in the middle of a deliciously juicy scandal, was bringing his whole family on
The Wendy Wallington Show
. Wendy adored her old college buddy, but she couldn’t help
seeing the bigger green dollar-sign picture: If this episode with Bill and his family turned out to be the solid gold she thought it was, she might finally get that syndication offer she had been dreaming of for years.
Wendy turned to the camera with a sultry yet serious pout that likely nabbed her the Miss USA crown. “Let’s settle down, y’all. We need all the time we can get today. My good friend North Carolina Senator Bill Monroe is here with his gorgeous family.”
The cheering quickly died out, and whispers rippled through the crowd like the wave at a ball game.
Wendy adopted a serious tone. “Unless you’ve been living under a rock these last few weeks, then you already know this family’s heart-wrenching saga,” she told the cameras. “A few weeks ago, just as Senator Monroe was about to announce his run for the U.S. Senate seat up for grabs because of Senator Harmon’s retirement, Bill revealed that his recently discovered niece, Isabelle, was, in fact, his daughter.” More whispers. “They’re here today to talk about how their family is dealing with his confession and what this revelation means for the senator’s political future.” Her effervescent smile returned. “And they’ve chosen to exclusively share their story with y’all! We are the only show you will see that has the
entire
Monroe family on to speak for themselves,” she couldn’t help but add. “So let’s give them a huge Wendy Wallington welcome!”
As the Monroes walked onstage and took their seats on the floral couches sandwiched between Wendy’s girlie armchair and the camera crew, they looked like an average family—if the average family were wealthy and gorgeous and played a major role in state politics. None of them had a hair out of place, a wrinkle in their expensive threads, or a frown on their beautiful faces. If they were worried about Wendy’s notoriously prying questions, they didn’t show it. Instead, the senator looked as relaxed as ever when he moved in to hug his old friend and said, “Thanks for letting us come on today.”
“Honey, are you kidding?” Wendy looked at the audience in mock surprise. “Thank
you
for having the decency to come on and tell us the truth. We are dying to hear from this stunning family of yours.” She looked at the Monroes’ smiling faces. Bill, as usual, looked dignified and prepared to face the press. His wife, Maureen, always the proper Southern belle, was ready with a polished hairstyle and a picture-perfect dress that brought out her green eyes. It was the same twinkling shade of green she shared with her two sons, seventeen-year-old Hayden, the crush of almost every girl at his private school, and Connor, a precocious six-year-old who seemed slightly in awe of the lights, cameras, and studio audience.
But first impressions can be deceiving, can’t they? If those in the audience were paying attention—instead of fishing under their chairs to peek at the show’s daily giveaway—then
they would have had their eyes on the Monroes’ two most-talked-about members, Mirabelle Monroe and Isabelle Scott. The fifteen-year-old girls were stunning brunettes with hazel eyes so similar, some might wonder how they didn’t catch on to their true relationship sooner. What Wendy picked up on that day were Mira’s clenched fists and Izzie’s nervous toe-tapping. A good talk show host—especially one who wanted a show that would tear up
The View
in the ratings—always noticed those kinds of things.
Wendy settled into her plush chair and leaned forward intimately. “I have known y’all forever. I was at the hospital when Mirabelle was born, for goodness’ sake! So it breaks my heart for y’all to air your dirty laundry to the world.”
“Thanks, Wendy,” Bill said with a thin smile, running a hand through his slightly graying brown hair that people said reminded them of Patrick Dempsey’s. “This has been two of the hardest weeks of my life. What we’ve been dealing with is so personal, and yet, living our lives in the public eye as we do, I know we owe it to the people of North Carolina to set the record straight.”
“And what do you wish they knew, Bill?” Wendy asked. She looked at her studio audience. “I can call him, Bill, y’all, because I knew him before he was a senator. We met when he was nothing but a fraternity boy.” The audience laughed.
Bill smiled. “I want them to know the truth,” he said without skipping a beat.
“I don’t mean to be blunt,” Wendy said, “but don’t we already know the truth? You knew about your daughter Isabelle and kept it not only from the world but also from her.”
“The story isn’t as black-and-white as people make it seem,” Bill said, crossing his legs carefully so he wouldn’t leave a wrinkle in his tan suit. “You’re a mom, Wendy. You know how hard it is being a parent. If you learned something that would change your daughter’s life, wouldn’t you want to protect her till she was ready to face the truth?” He looked at Izzie. “I wanted Isabelle to have a chance to get to know me and our family before she knew her world was turning upside down again. It had already changed so much.” He paused, and his face creased slightly with worry. His wife took his hand. “I regret how this story came to light. I feel terrible about the pain it caused Isabelle and our family, but I was trying to do what any father would—put the needs of my child first.”
The audience applauded, the Monroe family smiled brightly, and Bill went on to tell the story most of them already knew from the nightly news.
Up until a few months ago, the Monroes had never heard of Isabelle Scott, and the only thing Izzie knew about them was that Bill Monroe was a state senator. Izzie was raised in the gritty neighborhood of Harborside by her grandmother after her mom died in a car crash right before her tenth birthday. Her grandmother looked for a guardian for Izzie
when her health had started to go downhill last year, and a hidden diary revealed Bill to be Izzie’s dad. Quicker than you can say
paternity test
, Izzie’s grandmother was on the phone with the Monroes. But by the time the details were sorted out months later, Izzie’s grandmother was a shell of her former self and Izzie was on the verge of entering foster care. The situation deteriorated so quickly that Izzie got only a few hours’ notice about her move to her “cousins’.” To hear Bill tell it, there had been no time to second-guess his decision—the right choice was to let Izzie settle into her new life first and drop the bombshell later. And boy, was it a bombshell. The only thing keeping the mess from truly becoming a scandal was the fact that Izzie wasn’t born out of an affair—Bill didn’t know Izzie’s mom was pregnant when he was traded to the Atlanta Braves and got back together with Maureen, who was a widow with an infant son. The pair married almost immediately, and Mira was on the way soon after.
“I know you’re a great father, Bill,” Wendy told him, “and I think we can understand why you didn’t want the world to know who Isabelle was till she was ready. But why didn’t you tell Isabelle?” She turned her attention to Isabelle before Bill could answer. “In just a few short months, you’ve gone from living with your ailing grandmother in a humble home in Harborside to attending private school in privileged Emerald Cove. Then you find out that your uncle is in fact your daddy.”
Wendy shook her head at the audience. “That is a TV movie waiting to happen, y’all.” The audience murmured their agreement. “What was your first thought when you heard the news?”
“Shock?” Izzie questioned herself. She tucked a piece of her wavy, shoulder-skimming bob behind her ear. “Surprise?” She spoke slowly, trying to find her words. “They were already my family; now they were closer. For me, that was a good thing. I had so little family as it was.”
“But you must have felt some sense of betrayal, no?” Wendy pried. “Did you wonder why your father would keep you from knowing the truth about yourself?”
Izzie’s toe-tapping started again. “I’m not sure I could have handled hearing it all at once. Losing my grandmother, my home, moving
and
learning my uncle was actually my dad?” She rolled her eyes. “Talk about a freak-out session waiting to happen.” The audience laughed. “But I won’t lie. This has definitely been an adjustment.”
“What about the rest of you?” Wendy asked the other Monroe kids. “How does it feel to know your cousin is actually your sister?”
“I like her,” Connor said. “Izzie plays with me, and sometimes she takes me to get ice cream when she tells Mom we’re just going for a walk.” Everyone laughed.
“I’m with Connor,” Hayden agreed, his green eyes gazing at Wendy so piercingly that she would have swooned if he
wasn’t so young. “But not just because she likes ice cream. Izzie is awesome. I liked her before, so nothing’s really changed.”
“Hayden, you must be able to relate to Izzie the most,” Wendy said, touching his arm. “Bill adopted you as a baby when he married your mom after your birth father, a Marine, was killed in the line of duty. Isn’t that right?”
“Yes,” Hayden said, shifting slightly. “I obviously don’t remember my dad, but I know what it means to feel different in a family.” He grinned at Izzie. “Izzie knows if she ever needs me, I’m here.”
“They’re all very close, Wendy,” Maureen Monroe said, touching one of her heirloom pearl earrings that matched her necklace, bracelet, and even her cream pumps. “The kids were upset we kept the news from them, of course, but now we’re all really coming together.”
“What do you think, Mira?” Wendy asked. “Are you one big, happy family?”
“Yes,” Mira said decisively, bobbing her head up and down so quickly her curls bounced. “I’m thrilled to finally have a sister.”
“But you’re always yelling at her when she locks you out of the bathroom and you have to get ready for school,” Connor said, making the audience laugh.
Mira’s hands clenched tightly, but then she relaxed. “That’s different. Bathroom privileges are sacred, and Izzie doesn’t seem to realize that yet.” Mira shot Izzie a reproachful look.
