Katherine pulled back the heavy curtains in her mother's room to let in the morning light.

"Good morning, Mom," she greeted with a smile, doing her best to hide her despair at the sight of her mother's pale thinness. All her zing was gone.

"Good morning, sweetie," she greeted in a weary voice.

Katherine had been home for three agonizing months. Her mother, Dora, had been able to do more three months ago than she could now. She had still dined and sat with them in the evening then, but now she was too weak to get out of bed.

"What would you like for your breakfast this morning?" Katherine asked, moving to adjust the pillows behind her.

"Nothing, thank you. Just some tea." Dora started coughing uncontrollably, and Katherine, unable to help, stood by with a handkerchief in case she needed it.

The hardest part was not being able to help. Katherine could fetch and carry and keep her mother company, but she couldn't help her. Dora was never going to get better, and it broke Katherine's heart.

"Are the girls around today?" Dora asked as she always did.

The girls were Katherine's younger sisters. There were three of them, and they avoided the sick room as much as possible, so Katherine had taken to telling Dora that they were away most of the time.

"I'm not sure. I haven't seen them today, but I'm sure they are because Dad's guests start to arrive today." Katherine's father, George Randolph, was determined to carry on as if nothing was amiss in his life, and he didn't have a dying wife.

"That's nice. The girls will enjoy all the company. I hope you get to spend some time with everyone." Dora started coughing once more. "Who knows," she gasped, "maybe someone will recognize you."

Katherine gave a small smile. Very few people recognized her outside of certain New York social circles. She had never used the name Randolph for work. She used her mother's maiden name Rhodes, and the small, coastal South Carolina community where they lived, didn't have much use for high fashion. Katherine's sisters hadn't a clue about her career because they didn't have much interest in Katherine since she was ten years older than the oldest.

"I doubt it, Mom. Besides, I'm going to hang here with you. I thought we could binge-watch Lost again. We haven't seen it since it came out years ago."

"Katie, you need to spend time with other people, too," her mother admonished.

"I've spent the last ten years going to parties. I can miss a few now." Besides, it was her father's attempt to find husbands for his youngest daughters. George had no hope for Katherine in that department.

The thought made her immediately think of Alistair, and she grew sad, which must have been reflected in her expression.

"You're sad again. Are you thinking of him?" Dora asked, watching her daughter closely.

"Yes," Katherine agreed as she moved toward the door. "I'll get your tea."

In a moment of weakness, when her mother had been fading, Katherine had told her about the man she loved. She hadn't mentioned specifics or a name, only that she had fallen madly in love. She had wanted her to know him, even if it was in a vague way.

Dora's room was off the kitchen and overlooked the garden.  Katherine's room was next to it, and a bathroom connected the two rooms, making caring for her mother easier.

"Good morning, Miss Katie. How is your mother this morning?" Abigail Just, the housekeeper, asked.

"About the same, Ms. Just. She only wants tea this morning." Katherine started the kettle for the water.

"I'll make a few pieces of buttered toast. It won't hurt, will it?" Ms. Just said as she moved around Katherine to start the process.

Ms. Just was a tall, thin woman with snow-white hair who had worked for her family since Katherine was a girl. She kept her own counsel and didn't tell tales or gossip; Katherine greatly respected her.

"What would you like for your breakfast?" she asked Katherine.

"I had mine hours ago," Katherine said with a calm smile because it was expected of her.

Katherine only had a few hours of the day to herself in the early morning, and she valued them because they gave her a chance to reflect on who she was and wanted to be.

"Did you want to go over the menus for tonight's dinner in about an hour?" Ms. Just asked.

"Sure, do the flowers still need to be arranged before the guests arrive?" Katherine asked as she dunked the tea bag into the hot water. "I can arrange them during Mom's nap if it helps," she offered.

"That would be lovely. You have a way with them that no one else does," Ms. Just said as she smeared butter on the toast that Dora probably wouldn't touch.

"Thank you. Have you seen the girls yet? Mom is asking for them."

"No, but when I do. I'll let them know." Ms. Just said as she avoided meeting Katherine's eyes. She knew that the likelihood of getting the girls to spend some time with their mother was nil.

"You're a treasure, Ms. Just. I couldn't do it without you." Katherine smiled at her once more as she picked up the tray and carried it across the kitchen to her mother's room.

*******

Two hours later, having read the paper and gone through the mail from the day before with her mother, Katherine returned the tray to the kitchen when Ms. Just informed her that the flowers were in the drawing room when she was ready.

"Would you like to review the menus now?" she asked Katherine, taking in her exhausted appearance.

Katherine nodded. "Yes, I think I'll also cut a few roses for mother's room."

Dora loved roses, and they would brighten her room.

"That's a good idea. Would you like me to have Stan do it for you?" Ms. Just asked. Stan was the gardener, and Katherine had always wondered if he and Ms. Just had an intimate relationship as well as a working one.

"No, thanks. I think I prefer to do it myself." Katherine pulled up a stool from the corner of the kitchen and sat at the counter where Ms. Just had laid out the menus for that evening and the entire week. "It makes me sad. Mom should be doing this." Katherine swallowed back the tears that were always close to the surface as she ran her hand over the paper as if it would wipe away the sadness.

Ms. Just laid a comforting hand on her shoulder for a moment, then pulled up another stool.

They had been well into it for half an hour when her father arrived in the kitchen without warning.

"There you are, Katie! I've been looking all over for you!" It came out as an accusation.

"I'm putting the menus for the week together, Dad. Did you need something?"

George looked over her shoulder, looking at Katherine's choices. "No, I don't want what you've planned this evening. We need to go big. We only have a few very important people here tonight, and we need to impress them." George insisted. "Your mother can handle it."

"No, Dad, she can't," Katherine softly said. She knew her father hadn't seen Dora in a few weeks since he had been traveling, maybe even longer.

Katherine watched his jaw flex either in impatience or distress, but Katherine couldn't be sure which. Dora and George's relationship had always been a mystery. They were more partners than husband and wife, and Katherine had never seen a moment of genuine affection pass between them in her lifetime.

"Fine, but it needs to be bigger!" he insisted once more. "My first guests have already arrived, and we're going to talk business in my study. I don't want to be disturbed. Would you let the girls know that they are here, that they should look their best, and be ready to help me entertain our guests this evening!" It wasn't a request, and Katherine nodded her agreement.

"I can help entertain as well, Dad," Katherine offered. She didn't know what devil had made her do it. Perhaps she was testing the waters to see if anything had changed over the years she had been away.

George took in Katherine's appearance, noting her old jeans and t-shirt and how her hair was piled sloppily on her head. "No, I need you to ensure everything is running smoothly behind the scenes. The girls will handle the guests."

It didn't upset Katherine in the past when he would push her into the shadows because it used to be his wife he would show off, but now it was his other three daughters, and it stung that she wasn't good enough. Either way, it had never been Katherine, and it never would be. She had to accept it.

"If only he knew!" Ms. Just exclaimed as she closed the menu folder and stood after he had left the room.

"Knew what, Ms. Just?" Katherine asked with a tilt of her head. The outburst was so unlike her.

"I know what you've been up to, Katherine Rhodes. Your mother tells me everything. I've watched all your shows and seen all your photos on the society pages of the papers has sent to her. You put your sisters to shame. You could run circles around them if given a chance." Ms. Just crossed her arms in a defensive action, and Katherine pushed back tears once more.

Who knew she had a champion in Ms. Just? It was unexpected.

Katherine stood and walked toward her, placing her hands on her shoulders.

"Thank you, Ms. Just. I needed to hear that, especially today." She leaned down and placed a kiss on her cheek.

"I think it's time you call me Abby," Ms. Just insisted.

Katherine nodded. "Would you mind calling me Katherine? I prefer it over Katie."

"Of course, it suits you much better," Abby agreed.

Stan, a big burly man with grizzly hair, banged through the door at that moment and looked at the two of them.

"Stan, we're calling Katie Katherine now!" Abby informed him.

"Fine by me. Do you have any coffee?" He asked as he sat on one of the stools the two women had vacated.

Katherine smiled at his simple response.

"You go see to those flowers, Katherine. I'll take care of the menu, maybe even ask your mother's advice just this one time. It might take her mind off things for a few minutes."

"Thank you, Abby." Katherine left the kitchen with a smile.

It was all about the little moments.