“Ah, dinner. That’s another domestic dilemma, isn’t it?”
“I could get them something,” I heard myself say.
“That’s very kind of you. Why don’t you girls show...”
“Dee,” I said.
“Dee to the kitchen.”
I followed the girls’ smooth blond heads down the narrow hallway, feeling like a total interloper.
“Make yourself at home,” James said behind me.
Right. Anything less like home would be hard to imagine. The kitchen was the size of a dragon’s cave, with concrete countertops and modern light fixtures that looked like they belonged in an art museum. Or a dungeon.
I had a flash of memory—Aunt Em, sitting me down at the farmhouse table before she shooed me outside to start my chores. Apple slices and peanut butter almost every day, the same snack that she fed Toni, the same snack she gave us on all those visits before our mother died. No store-bought treats, no homemade cookies, nothing that could spoil our dinner from Aunt Em, no, ma’am. Still, there was something reassuring about the routine. About knowing what you were getting. About watching her bustle around the kitchen making dinner while I recovered from whatever had happened at school that day.
I took a deep breath and opened the fridge.Apples.Hooray. “Do you have any peanut butter?” Did Irish children eat peanut butter?
Sophie slid off her stool. “I’ll get it.”
“I’m fairly certain I know where the tea things are,” James said. “If you’d like a cup.”
“I don’t want to intrude.”
“Not at all. I could join you,” he suggested.
“It’s not...” I met his expectant gaze.Oh. “That is, would you like some tea?”
He smiled charmingly. “Tea sounds wonderful. Girls, do you want tea?”
“I want soda,” Lily said.
I looked at James, who shrugged. “I’m having tea,” I said brightly. “With milk and sugar. How does that sound?”
It sounded okay.
“This is very nice,” James said when he and the girls were all seated at the island with tea and a plate of peeled apple slices. “We’ve been lost since our last au pair left. Our housekeeper does what she can, but she’s not exactly stimulating company for the girls. However did Glenda find you?”
“Oh, she didn’t... I mean, I’m not... I’m just helping out.”
“Well, we’re very grateful. Aren’t we, girls?”
Sophie stuck an apple slice into her peanut butter.
Lily glanced from her father to me. “I guess.”
“So, what is it that you do when you’re not ‘helping out,’ Dee?” James asked.
“I’m a graduate student at Trinity. In the writing program.”
He smiled slightly. “And now all is explained. How are you finding school?”
“I haven’t started classes yet.” Sophie had spilled her tea. I wiped it up. “I’ve mostly been looking for a place to live.”
“Ah yes, the Dublin housing shortage. As global companies move in, it’s definitely increased demand for rental properties. We need more construction in this city.”
“I passed a construction site this morning.”
