Isla closed the door and crossed the little cabin back to the bed, where Amy Dey was laying, staring up at the ceiling, at her life; at nothing. “C’mon, Amy, cheer up! Let’s go party.”

“With who? Strangers? C’mon, Isla, you know as well as I do those people up there are straight out of Central Casting.” Isla chuckled, but Amy was quick to say, “I’m not being hyperbolic, Isla, my mom hired actors and models!”

“Well, what’s so wrong with that? There are some gorgeous guys up there, Amy. You know you could have your pick.” Isla sat up on the side of the bed, her posture slumping. “Tal’s here, we’ve known him forever, and Babs — ”

“Yeah, I’m glad they came. I don’t wanna spoil their fun though, let them have a good time. You too, go on up and party, I’ll take a little nap, be fine.”

“Not a chance,” Isla said. “If you’re staying down here then I’m staying down here with you. I wanna help you get this figured out. You’re not upset about Michael, are you?”

Amy rolled her eyes. “Oh God no. Isla, I dumped him. I only wish I’d done it sooner. I should have known not to let my brothers set me up. Not that I’d have any other way to meet a man … besides the human buffet upstairs, I mean.” Isla broke out in a chuckle and Amy couldn’t resist being amused at her own quip. But the little burst of joy didn’t last.

It never did.

“I don’t mean to be ungrateful,” Amy said. “I know my brothers love me, and I love them too. And it’s great that they love me enough to still be looking out for me. I mean, they could be out having lives of their own, y’know?”

Isla gently brushed Amy’s blonde hair away from her pretty face. “Amy, they’re partying with actors and models on the decks of their own yacht. I don’t know about Johnathan, but I’m pretty sure that’s exactly the life Danny wants.”

“But what about Jonathan? He never seems to enjoy himself anymore. I can’t help but think that’s my fault.”

“No way, Amy! If that’s anybody’s fault other than Jonathan’s, it’s your mother’s. I’m sorry, Amy, she’s the one with the iron thumb. She made him the warden. But I have to say, he sure took to the job.”

“He loves me.”

“He loves it.” Off Amy’s confused expression, Isla explained, “The power, the authority. He’s the man of the house … at least when your mother isn’t around.” After a tense pause, the two girls broke out in another relieved chuckle.

“I dunno, Isla. Is this the way it’s going to be the rest of my life? I’m twenty-three now, I should be able to go out and lead my own life.”

Isla leaned forward with a determined sneer. “You’re damn right you should.”

* * *

Back home at the mansion, Amy stood in front of her mother, staring fixedly at her, hoping she would give her the answer she wanted to hear. “Absolutely not, it’s out of the question!” Margaret Dey shook her head, setting down her martini glass.

Amy looked around, suddenly feeling conspicuous at the volume of her tone. The determination of her resolve was a foregone conclusion. “Where on Earth would you move to?”

“I don’t know,” Amy said. “I hear Nova Scotia is beautiful.”

“Nova — ? Darling, I didn’t spend millions of dollars on private schools and home tutors just to have you waste your life away living in Canada! Honestly, Amy, listen to yourself.” Margaret chastised.

“No, Mom, I think it’s time you listened to yourself! First of all, Canada is beautiful. I loved our ski trips there was I was a kid. Why are you such a snob?”

“Because I’ve earned it, darling, and I’ve earned it for you. It’s your birthright. And it’s not snobbery at all, it’s just matter of being properly discerning, that’s all.” Amy snickered and shook her head, taking the lemon slice out of her iced water before taking a sip and then popping the lemon slice into her mouth and chewing it down. “But look who I’m telling about sophistication, a taste for the better things in life. You never did take to the finer things, did you?” Margaret said condescendingly.

Amy had given it a lot of thought over the years, more and more as she was getting older. But a ready answer was still hard to find. Amy glanced down at the chopped garden salad in front of her as if some clue might be written in the shaved carrots on a bed of lettuce.

“Like I told Isla, I don’t mean to be ungrateful. I’m lucky to have been born with so much advantage. I know a lot of people never even come close to earning what was handed to me on a silver platter … ”

“So you feel guilty,” Margaret said with a flip of her hand, a spoonful of lobster bisque in the other, waiting to be ingested. “I completely understand that, darling. And I’m very proud of you, as always.” Margaret sipped her soup and went on eating as if the conversation had been handily concluded.

“I … I guess I do feel a little bad that we have so much, and so many people have so little. It’s not really very fair when you think about it.”

Margaret lowered her spoon and leaned forward a bit, the better to make her point. “That’s where you're wrong, darling. We’ve earned what we have, through hard work and sacrifice, and you know what I mean by that. We deserve everything we have, and you needn’t feel bad about it. That’s not what your father would have wanted, it’s not what he worked so hard for.”

“But then wouldn’t he want me to really enjoy what I have, what he worked for, sacrificed for?”

“Amy, happiness comes from within. You were a philosophy major, you should know that.”

“Right, and what am I doing with my degree? Nothing! Such a waste. I’ve been thinking I should get my masters, maybe teach at a University somewhere.”

“Oh, darling, you’re far too beautiful and brilliant to throw your life away on some musty campus somewhere. Canada, universities, where are you getting these ideas?”

“Lots of time to think, I guess, since I haven’t got much else to do,” Amy said, a look of despair appearing on her face.

“You’ve got parties whenever you want, dear; shopping, travel, a fabulous mansion with your family. Honestly, darling, you’ve got the whole west wing to yourself. How much more independent do you need to be? Do you have to live in a hovel someplace to be happy?”

“Happiness comes from within, Mom, that’s true. But it comes from a contentment which in turn comes from independence, achievement, freedom, self-respect, those are the things from within that give a person happiness, that’s what that turn of phrase means.”

Margaret shrugged, taking another sip of her martini. “I suppose you can turn a phrase any way you like. But when it comes down to it, and I can tell you this from a lifetime of experience, you have to choose to be happy, you have to learn to be happy. It doesn’t just happen. And all the money in the world, all the friends and all the parties won’t fill that hole.”

“Friends? You filled that boat with actors, Mom!” Amy snorted.

“I don’t want strangers crawling around on my yacht! At least those people were reputable, as far as an actor can be.” Amy slumped and Margaret went on, “I have to admit, I just don’t understand you, Amy. We’ve given you everything you ever needed or wanted. You wanted adventure, I sent you and your brothers yachting across the globe! You wanted more friends, I arranged it.”

“What I wanted was the freedom to find my own friends, Mom. What I wanted, what I still want, is the chance to live my own life.”

“But that’s just what you’re doing, Amy. And it’s an amazing life!” Amy huffed, but Margaret went on, “Listen to me, darling. I know what you’re going through because I went through the same thing. I married your father young, too young, and he was considerably older. And I liked that at first, he was sophisticated and worldly and that was a turn-on. I knew I could learn a lot from him, and that’s what I wanted, what I needed. And at one point, after I’d gotten a little older myself, I started bristling at him. He was still being a paternal influence, but that’s what I wanted less and less. I started thinking about having my own life, my independence.”

Amy had never heard this story, and the mental images they conjured were more than troubling. Amy set down her forkful of salad, no longer hungry. “You left Dad?”

“No, dear, of course not. But I thought about it. Luckily I had a friend, Aunt Jeannie, who talked me out of it. And that was the best thing I ever did. Turns out it wasn’t more than another few years before … before things fell apart, but … I wouldn’t trade those few years for anything in the world, Amy. Independence may seem enticing, seductive, but it’s family that matters most, Amy. Family is the only thing you can rely on, never forget that.”