Read Online 03.She.Wanted.It.All.2005 by Kathryn Casey - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: Kathryn Casey
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daughters,” says Anita, an attorney and former prosecutor. “Some members slipped her hundred dollar bills to help pay for an attorney.”
One week, Celeste called Anita and said she had nasal cancer and needed surgery. She said she had nowhere to leave Kristina. Although she hardly knew Celeste, Anita told her she’d care for her daughter.
Forty-five minutes later Celeste and Kristina rang the bell. When Anita opened the door, she saw Celeste with a slight, quiet young girl with her mother’s athletic build, dark blond hair, and large blue eyes. “She was a little mouse, just scared to death,” says Anita, whose heart went out to the girl.
That week, Anita, a kind woman with thick, dark hair and a motherly manner, took Kristina to school and helped with her homework. At night she and Jerry tucked her in. “The whole time, Kris worried about Celeste. She kept asking when she’d be coming back,” she says. “She was this very sad but very sweet little girl.”
A week later Celeste returned and reclaimed Kristina. Not long after, she called again, this time asking for legal helpwith the custody battle. Craig had won, and the Washington court had ordered her to send Kristina to him in Washington. Anita met with her and with Kristina. Without Celeste in the room, Anita asked Kris, “Honey, what do you want? Do you want to live with your mom or with your dad?”
“I want to live with my mom,” Kristina answered.
Anita wrote petitions and tried to help, but the decisions went against Celeste. Days later Celeste put Kristina on an airplane in Austin, but Kristina never arrived in Seattle. During a Dallas layover, she refused to reboard. Although Celeste had repeatedly abandoned her, Kristina loved her mother so much she refused to leave her.
In Washington, Craig told Jennifer, “We have to let it be.”
That fall, many at the Austin Country Club noticed Steve Beard, a wealthy television executive, sitting alone at a table, eating dinner and staring out the window as darkness fell over the golf course. The death of his beloved wife had left the once gregarious man an empty shell. He asked around, looking for someone to hire as his house manager. Days later Celeste had the job.
In late 1994, Steve had no way of understanding who Celeste really was. Instead, he must have seen an attractive young mother who needed help and protection. As she had with so many others, Celeste told him her twisted version of her life, in which she was a victim, not someone who had destroyed lives across three states. “Steve was the kind of guy who figured he was a good judge of character. He went with his gut about people,” says a friend. “And Celeste was beautiful and persuasive.”
Chapter
3
“S teve Beard was an old-fashioned Texas busi nessman,” says a friend. “He was the kind of guy who’d take a little bit to get to know you, maybe even give you a little shit about something at first, but if he liked you, he was your friend for the rest of your life.”
Born on November 27, 1924, Steven F. Beard Jr. grew up in a modest Dallas neighborhood and came of age in an era when men earned a living while women stayed home and raised families. He was a member of the old school, a successful businessman who worked hard and made his own way in the world, relying on his wits and talents. He believed in keeping his private life private, and that it was his duty to take care of his wife and children. Later, his youngest son, Paul, would remember little about his father’s father, except that Steve had a falling out with him and rarely talked of the man. But Steve loved his mother, a tall, proud woman with a well-carved profile.
In early pictures, Steve was a handsome boy, with a crop of dusty brown hair combed determinedly to the side. Eventhen he had a wide smile and a slight paunch around the middle. After high school he had a hard time finding himself. He migrated to three colleges: Texas Christian University, Southern
One week, Celeste called Anita and said she had nasal cancer and needed surgery. She said she had nowhere to leave Kristina. Although she hardly knew Celeste, Anita told her she’d care for her daughter.
Forty-five minutes later Celeste and Kristina rang the bell. When Anita opened the door, she saw Celeste with a slight, quiet young girl with her mother’s athletic build, dark blond hair, and large blue eyes. “She was a little mouse, just scared to death,” says Anita, whose heart went out to the girl.
That week, Anita, a kind woman with thick, dark hair and a motherly manner, took Kristina to school and helped with her homework. At night she and Jerry tucked her in. “The whole time, Kris worried about Celeste. She kept asking when she’d be coming back,” she says. “She was this very sad but very sweet little girl.”
A week later Celeste returned and reclaimed Kristina. Not long after, she called again, this time asking for legal helpwith the custody battle. Craig had won, and the Washington court had ordered her to send Kristina to him in Washington. Anita met with her and with Kristina. Without Celeste in the room, Anita asked Kris, “Honey, what do you want? Do you want to live with your mom or with your dad?”
“I want to live with my mom,” Kristina answered.
Anita wrote petitions and tried to help, but the decisions went against Celeste. Days later Celeste put Kristina on an airplane in Austin, but Kristina never arrived in Seattle. During a Dallas layover, she refused to reboard. Although Celeste had repeatedly abandoned her, Kristina loved her mother so much she refused to leave her.
In Washington, Craig told Jennifer, “We have to let it be.”
That fall, many at the Austin Country Club noticed Steve Beard, a wealthy television executive, sitting alone at a table, eating dinner and staring out the window as darkness fell over the golf course. The death of his beloved wife had left the once gregarious man an empty shell. He asked around, looking for someone to hire as his house manager. Days later Celeste had the job.
In late 1994, Steve had no way of understanding who Celeste really was. Instead, he must have seen an attractive young mother who needed help and protection. As she had with so many others, Celeste told him her twisted version of her life, in which she was a victim, not someone who had destroyed lives across three states. “Steve was the kind of guy who figured he was a good judge of character. He went with his gut about people,” says a friend. “And Celeste was beautiful and persuasive.”
Chapter
3
“S teve Beard was an old-fashioned Texas busi nessman,” says a friend. “He was the kind of guy who’d take a little bit to get to know you, maybe even give you a little shit about something at first, but if he liked you, he was your friend for the rest of your life.”
Born on November 27, 1924, Steven F. Beard Jr. grew up in a modest Dallas neighborhood and came of age in an era when men earned a living while women stayed home and raised families. He was a member of the old school, a successful businessman who worked hard and made his own way in the world, relying on his wits and talents. He believed in keeping his private life private, and that it was his duty to take care of his wife and children. Later, his youngest son, Paul, would remember little about his father’s father, except that Steve had a falling out with him and rarely talked of the man. But Steve loved his mother, a tall, proud woman with a well-carved profile.
In early pictures, Steve was a handsome boy, with a crop of dusty brown hair combed determinedly to the side. Eventhen he had a wide smile and a slight paunch around the middle. After high school he had a hard time finding himself. He migrated to three colleges: Texas Christian University, Southern
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