Kady and her stepmother

 When Bassy brought his new wife home from his rendezvous in Sunlit Tides, he neglected to tell her that he had a teenage daughter - a teenage daughter from his relationship with one of her singing rivals, Madison Avenue.

When the two finally met, they had difficulty seeing eye-to-eye.  Cherise complained that Kaydence was 'always reading' or doing some homework on her electronic device (which was a gift from me, by the way, she uses hers more than my kids use theirs)

 Kaydence complained that Cherise hardly even spoke to her.

Now, Kady and the butler her dad had hired, Tasha Sorenson, had become quite close in the brief time Tasha had been working for the family. Tasha had become a confidant to her, especially late at night when she would be unable to sleep.  In fact, Tasha was the first person she'd confided in her desire to write.

The next morning, the morning after the couple had returned from the honeymoon, Kady, at Tasha's suggestion, heard stirring upstairs, so she went up to see who was awake. 

 "While Dad was knocked out sleeping," I said,

 "I saw my stepmother staring out of the window."

 "Good morning.  Did you rest well?" I asked her, attempting to make conversation. 

 "To my surprise, I saw a smile crease her usually serious face.  'I guess you could say that I did,' she answered me. 

 "I could tell she was still a little tired so rather than press my luck further I let her go back to sleep." 

 

 Apparently Kaydence wasn't the only person who had been confiding in Tasha the butler.  Cherise had been complaining about her to Tasha as well.

So Tasha, the butler and impartial observer, played mediator in this impasse between stepmother and stepdaughter.  She suggested they go do something fun together, get to know each other a little bit.

 They did as Tasha had suggested, went out to see a movie.  They got so engrossed in the movie that time basically flew.

 Even made silly faces at each other afterwards.  The movie they had seen was a screwball comedy, after all.

 A few days later, they did something much more to Kaydence's liking - entered a hot dog eating contest.  She is Bassy's daughter, after all, and she likes food.

  

 They entered alongside two people neither of them knew.  But as they proceeded to stuff their faces, it was clear that Cherise wasn't used to scarfing down that much food.

 Even poor Kady had to take a break....

 ...before returning to her plate.  By then, though, the woman next to her had already won the contest.

 Poor Cherise, though, couldn't take anymore, and her hot dogs ended up behind some flowers on the ground in the park.