Recipe for Disaster

To the girls, she said, "We'll talk about it later, but only if you do a good job on your lunch." They did. Hank had given her a heads up regarding the pool, and she said that she would bring swimsuits for the girls.

He received several compliments on the food.

Julia said, "I'm impressed. Really. It's clear that either you've been paying attention or practicing on your own. Nice job."

"A bit of both. Thanks. Did you watch the episodes?"

She replied, "We did. I've got to tell you, we were surprised by those first few episodes. I don't want this to sound hurtful, but how could she not see how bad that looked? The last few episodes in the kitchen were really, really good. So at least she should have her audience coming back for more."

Morgan and Bill were shaking their head.

Hank shrugged, "I don't know. I've tried to explain to her how damaging that was, but she won't listen to me. Honestly, I think she has only one thing on her mind right now, and that's becoming famous nationally. I hate that for our kids, but if she won't listen, it won't do me any good to try to drag her back to me. Are you ready to watch the newest episode?"

Hank played it for them while they ate their ice cream.

When finished, Bella said, "Mr. Hank, until Momma paused the show so we could get a good look at you, we didn't know that was you and your wife. We didn't know you were famous."

Hank laughed out loud. "Haha. I'm not famous. She is."

Morgan said, "I believe she had a lot of help from her family to achieve that."

He didn't want to get into that discussion, so he just said, "She did."

Morgan helped him clean up while Julia retrieved the swimsuits for the girls. They were excited to get to go swimming.

After cleaning up Hank changed and met the girls in the pool. He was surprised but pleased when Julia, in a swimsuit, joined them in the pool.

Bill went inside to watch the Braves game, but Morgan stayed outside for the much more serious game. After they were all tuckered out, they changed, and the girls wanted to watch more episodes of Cat which included Hank. He set it up so that they could watch, and Morgan and Julia stayed with the girls while Hank grabbed a beer for him and Bill and joined him in watching the Braves game. Later they ordered Chinese for dinner.

When it was time to go, everyone thanked him for being such a good host and for an enjoyable day. He received hugs from the girls, a kiss on the cheek from Morgan and Julia, and a handshake from Bill.

By the time Hank actually got into bed, he realized that he'd had a really good day. Over at Morgan and Bill's house, everyone was thinking the same thing.

_________

Chapter 4

The next day while the girls were still in camp, Hank arrived to get the keys for the truck and go pick up some donated food. Morgan saw him approaching her office, and after he entered to retrieve the keys, she stood and closed the door behind him. When he turned around, she hugged him to her fiercely.

"I don't know what your plans are Hank, but I hope you stick around here. You've made a real difference in the life of those girls and their mother. I know they aren't in a bad place, so it's not like you are picking them up off the street, but they are all much happier because of you. Thank you for that."

"They've grown on me, too. Such sweet girls. I don't know what's going to happen, but I'll find a way to stay involved in their lives some way...assuming Julia will let me."

"Don't worry. I believe she's starting to see that the more of you they have in their lives, the better off all of them will be."

Hank wasn't certain exactly how she meant that, but simply said, "I'm glad."

Each day he picked up some drinks for the girls, and they told him about their day at camp while he unloaded the truck.

On Wednesday, he texted Marelys, "Cut any balls off yet?"

She sent him an on-fire angry emoji. "I told her as long as he was there that I wouldn't be. She hasn't called me, so I've not gone back."

He replied, "Damn. She's burning bridges to the right and left."

"She's not stupid. I'm not sure if it's the fame or the money, but she's completely disconnected from reality at the moment. One day she's going to wake up and be sorry."

"I'm sorry, Marelys. I wish I could have done more."

"What? No Mamacita today?"

"I don't want to make your lovers jealous."

"You let me worry about that...I love you, Hank. You are a good son. Love my grandbabies for me."

"I will."

He would call his kids that night to let them know that they were loved.

Friday afternoon he received an interesting text from Cat. "I'm staying in Spain an extra week to close out some things here and spend a few days with my mother. Then to NY for network meetings and then home. The show wasn't the same without you."

Hank scoffed when he read that and thought, "Clearly it wasn't."

The next text puzzled him even more, "I would like for us to find a way to work on our marriage when I get back."

"I'd like that, too. Say hello to Mamacita for me."

"Will do."

An hour later Scott was calling. Hank picked up and said, "And that's a wrap. How did it go?"

"The filming was fine. The episodes will look good, but they are going to raise a lot of questions."

"In what way?"

Tina joined the conversation. "Hey, Hank. I'm sorry to keep bringing you bad news, but this time it really is awful. Cat's boyfriend, Lorenzo, was in several episodes this week, again. They filmed a few in Spanish and Catalan to distribute to some Spanish networks to gauge their interest. The two of them were very flirty, so anyone that knows she's married, like her fans and sponsors at home, is going to wonder what's up. I mean she still has her rings on."

Hank was shaking his head.

Tina continued, "It gets worse. She and her boyfriend have arranged a date, and not just any date. She's going to join him for a week on his yacht in Ibiza. With all the paparazzi that are there, I don't know how he will keep that a secret unless they don't leave his yacht. Maybe they won't, or maybe she doesn't care.

"If you've looked at his social media pages, you'll see that he's a famous enough athlete that when he's out and about, people recognize him. He even has a fiancé who isn't happy about his clubbing with Cat, Sheila, and Felicia. I know this is like the worst possible thing, but we had to tell you. Oh, and we're quitting as soon as the check clears. We're done."

"Damn. I guess that's it. I kept hoping she would come back, but it was just false hope. Thanks for letting me know. I know what I need to do now."

"...and that is?"

"Serve her divorce papers as soon as she gets home."

Tina asked, "Why wait?"

"How will I find her off the coast of Ibiza? And even if I knew where she was, how would I have her served? Would it even be legal there?"

Scott said, "Hank, if you are sure about this, we can make this happen. You know us. If we put our minds to it, we can get it done. All you need to do is have your attorney email us the papers. Even if it isn't a US process server, or upheld in the US, she'll get the message while on his boat."

Hank chuckled, "Okay, I'll have him email it to you for you to print out and have delivered. Just let me know what you spend, and I'll reimburse you. Oh, and I'll start looking for jobs for you down here."

"Thanks, Hank. Obviously, we feel betrayed in all this too. I know it isn't the same thing as being married, but she's losing all respect for anyone from her past. She may as well move to New York or Barcelona because this isn't going to end well for her. I cannot believe that she doesn't see that."

"You won't get any arguments from me. Let me know how you make out."

Scott said, "We'll keep you advised."

"Thank you, both of you. You're true family."

"You are too," replied Tina.

When Hank hung up, he was saddened and relieved at the same time. It was over. She wanted out badly enough, so he was going to let her go. She could stay in Pittsburgh or go to New York or Spain. He didn't care. He couldn't. Not after the last year. Not anymore.

He had his attorney change the division of assets slightly since he was planning on helping out Scott and Tina. Then he instructed him to email the document to Scott.

He honestly didn't know what to do. He felt so numb. He thought he would just go home for now. He wouldn't be good company around anyone. Fortunately, he had finished unloading the truck earlier. Normally he would help others pack the pickup bags for the food bank customers, but they would need to do it without him today. Maybe he would try to make up his time over the weekend.

When he walked into Morgan's office, the girls were on their devices. He smiled at them and asked to speak to Morgan outside for a minute. He told her that his marriage had finally died, and he needed to go home. She understood.

She asked, "Home, meaning here or Pittsburgh."

He replied, "This is home now."

She hugged him again and told him to let her know how she could help.

After arriving home, he laid down on the couch and fell asleep. Whether it was from the news today or the fact that the nightmare of the last eighteen or so months was finally over, he was exhausted.

Later he prepared something to eat, which he couldn't taste, and watched the Braves game -- no need to watch the Pirates since they were going to lose anyway. Had there been any ice cream in the house, he would have consumed it all. He made do with mountains of popcorn and several beers.

About 10:00 pm he received a text from Morgan. "Can I stop by about 11:00 pm? I just want to check on you."

He thought, "Why not,' and replied, "Sure. See you then."

He must have dozed off because he was awakened by a knock at his door. Assuming it was Morgan, he opened it and was surprised to see Julia standing there, still in her chef clothes. As soon as the door was open, she was hugging him.

She said, "Aunt Morgan is in the car. She called me, and I got off early to check on you. Are you okay?"

"I will be. The weird thing is that absolutely nothing has changed since yesterday, not really. But it's like I've been cast adrift. It's the strangest feeling."

"You know that isn't true. Your rock of the last twenty-something years has been blown up. Of course, you're going to feel strange. When my husband died, I wasn't very happy with him at that moment and hadn't been for some time, but I still felt a huge sense of loss when it happened. Stay busy. Things will get better."

"Easier said than done. I don't feel like doing anything. I don't FEEL anything."

He could see her processing that bit of information, then she said, "Do me a favor, don't make any plans for tomorrow."

"Ha. I can promise you that."

"Good. I'll call you in the morning to check on you. Okay?"

"Okay."

She pulled him down for a kiss on the cheek and said, "You know you have family here that cares about you. Don't you?"

"I do. Thank you, Julia. Your stopping by means a lot to me."

She smiled at him and said, "I'll talk to you tomorrow."

_______________

The next morning, he still felt like he was in a fog, so he prepared some coffee and sat outside while sipping it.

At 8:00 am, his doorbell rang. He muttered, "What the..."

As soon as he opened the door, the girls were hugging him. Julia was standing behind them grinning and holding a box of donuts.

Amber said, "Momma said you needed some cheering up, so we came over. We have a whole day of activities planned."

He looked at Julia who was still grinning at him, knowing that he wouldn't refuse those girls.

He welcomed them in and told them, "Lead the way."

They did. They hiked in the morning and when they returned, Morgan and Bill had brought the food for lunch. Swimming was later in the afternoon, followed by putt-putt that night.

Sunday was a repeat of the previous day in that the girls showed up early and filled his day with activities. That night they put on a Pixar movie, which he watched with a young girl on each side of him.

As his entertainers prepared to leave that night, he thanked all of them. Julia was the last to leave and she gave him a long kiss on the cheek.

"Thank you, Julia. Words aren't enough to describe my appreciation for what all of you did this weekend."

Then he picked her up and twirled her around, saying, "This is the best I've got for now."

Once she was back on the ground, she kissed his cheek again, and they were gone.

An eight-year-old, a ten-year-old, and a fifty-nine-year-old were grinning from ear to ear as Julia climbed into their SUV.

______________

Very early on Monday morning, his phone rang. He could see that it was Cat, so he didn't bother answering it.

He could also see a text from Scott, "She's been served. Also, I didn't take the pictures that are going around."

Hank thought, "Pictures?"

Another text, but from Cat said, "Call me. It isn't what it looks like."

He thought, "It never is with her."

Cat tried to call him again, but he wouldn't pick up.

Another text from Cat, "I didn't sleep with him!"

This was getting more interesting. Rather than calling her, he got up, put on a pot of coffee, and texted Scott, "You have my full attention."

Immediately his phone rang. When Hank answered, he said, "I'm getting crazy texts from Cat. Before I call her do you want to tell me what is going on?"

"You can thank Tina for letting you sleep in. I had planned on having her served earlier, but then Tina reminded me that you were several hours behind, and she didn't want Cat calling you at 3:00 am your time."

"Okaaaaay. What happened?"

"Our work was fairly straightforward. Last week, while Cat was filming, Tina, who has access to Cat's phone because of the nature of the work, put a tracking app on her iPhone since we were suspicious. It was an app that Cat wouldn't know to turn off if she disabled the usual Apple tracking apps. We flew down to Ibiza, which is a great place by the way. You should come sometime. Anyway, with that app, it was easy to locate his yacht, which was anchored just outside of the marina, and watch them.

"We found an attorney who could arrange for her to be served, but no official would serve her on the weekend. Well, you know 'serve' isn't quite right in another country; more like officially deliver the papers.

"This is a tiny island off the coast of Spain. So, we had to wait until today. The attorney arranged for a constable, or some kind of officer, and a small coast guard vessel to deliver the papers just after noon our time. The interesting thing was that as the coast guard vessel was easing out there, there were a dozen other small boats following them at a distance.

"Through our binoculars, we could see the coast guard vessel arrive. When it did, they both stood up. He was in a small and tight swimsuit. She was topless. Today wasn't the first day either. Tina and I could see her walking around topless all weekend on his boat. They haven't been on the island since they arrived. So far, as best we can tell, they've been on the boat the entire time.

"She was only topless for maybe ten or fifteen seconds before she covered up and the constable climbed on board. After she was served, she ran back inside and below deck. We're still watching, but we haven't seen her since.

Tina jumped on, "Now for the rest of the story."

Hank shook his head wondering what he was about to hear. "We suspected, and it would appear that those other boats following the coast guard boat were paparazzi. It's doubtful they were there for her, so they were probably tipped about Lorenzo with someone besides his fiancé on his yacht. When he and Cat stood up, those cameras must have been clicking furiously. Within minutes El Pais in Madrid, La Vanguardia in Barcelona, TMZ, Access Hollywood, E!Online NY, and The Sun page-three in London all had pictures of a topless Cat and Lorenzo on their websites with various captions mentioning them by name. Some of the pictures were quite clear."

"Oh, Lord. The hits just keep on coming. I need to call the kids to give them a heads up," groaned Hank.

Tina said, "Oh crap. I'm sorry, Hank. I promise you we didn't say anything to anyone. The only person we've spoken to on the island is the attorney that helped us arrange her being served."

Hank replied, "Don't worry about it. If she weren't on his fucking yacht, or fucking him on his yacht, this wouldn't have been a problem, would it? I'd bet money that the attorney made a few calls and got paid. Since he wouldn't want them to tip the lovers off early, he probably just told them to follow the constable.

"Well, now I know what I'm dealing with. I feel bad for the kids and Marelys, though. Ha! Cat wanted to be famous. She got her wish."

"We're both sorry, but yes she did. Oh, by the way, the paparazzi are still swarming around the yacht. We'll let them do the monitoring from now on. Oh, and I'll be curious to see how all of this falls out with Lorenzo's fiancé."

Hank said, "Thanks for everything, both of you. Why don't the two of you stay there a few days, my treat, and then fly on home...or better yet, come here."

"Sounds good. Thanks, Hank. Call us if you need anything."

"Will do."

Hank took a minute to look at some of the snaps that were already online. Tina was right, some of those pictures were very clear and revealing. There was no mistaking that it was her, and her luscious and voluptuous forty-something boobs were now captured and displayed perfectly for all the world to see.

He wondered how long it would take her to return home. He scoffed realizing that first, he didn't care, and second, he had no idea how to answer that question because he truly didn't know her anymore. She was a completely different woman than she used to be.

Before calling the kids, he decided he would send her one last text. "Say 'hi' to your mom for me. Oh wait, when did she get so hairy and grow a dick? Sign the papers Cat. Don't call. Don't text. Don't come. I'm blocking your number...As. Of. NOW!" Then he did block her number.

He called Eva and Eric and told them what had happened, from Lorenzo showing up on set to her being served, and the pictures released. They were mortified. Eric didn't think he would have a problem in college, because most people didn't know that he was Catalina's son. Eva was considering whether or not she should take a couple of days off of work, because everyone at work knew her mother was Catalina. She was worried about showing her face there.

He dreaded what came next. Marelys didn't deserve this. He forwarded Cat's text about visiting with Marelys to her. Then he waited five minutes and called her.

She answered, "Hey Hank. I see your text. She hasn't been here, so I'm assuming that is what this call is about."

"Hey, Marelys. Yep, this isn't a Mamacita type of call. I just sent you a link. I need you to open it."

"Oh?" He waited while she did. Then he heard, "Oh, no." He had sent her a link to one of the newspapers' websites, where Catalina was standing, topless, next to Lorenzo with a questioning look on her face.

"That's right. She sent me that text about her finishing some things in Spain and then visiting with you. Then I discovered that she was spending time with her boyfriend on his yacht. So I had her served. I'm sorry for the trouble this is going to cause you, but I thought it would be better for you to hear it from me than to get blindsided by someone else."

"I appreciate that. I do. I'm sorry I didn't raise her better. Are you going to be okay?"

"Yeah. And you did a fine job. I think it's her New York team that has been influencing her. She stepped away from her family and allowed someone else to cloud her judgment. This isn't on us. It's on her."