“It is what my grandmother taught me,” she says. “You try.”
She hands Lily back to me. Other nannies start watching us. Now I’m sure they’re judging me. The moment of truth.So you say you’re a nanny,I’m sure they’re thinking.Well, prove it.
Slowly I lift Lily up to my face and then…grrrrr. I accompany the burrowing with a funny sound. For this I spent twenty weeks at Quantico?
But—success! Lily giggles.
I put her on my lap and bounce her a little.
She giggles more.
Marianna waves to a toddler, who runs over to join us. “This is Bella,” she tells me. “Bella loves Lily.”
Bella tickles Lily’s bare toes.
Is this a good idea? Bella has come directly from the sandbox. Could she be exposing Lily to lice? Herpes? Lyme disease?
I’ve got to learn to relax.
Marianna opens a small plastic bag filled with Cheerios and pours some into Bella’s hand. Which reminds me: I’m starving. I haven’t eaten since breakfast.
“The people I work for are friendly with Lily’s mama and papa,” Marianna tells me. “Very nice people. Felicia and Paulo Velasquez.” A foreign name. Possibly Mexican? I make a mental note to mention them to Metcalf. “They bring me up from Colombia,” she adds. “They sponsored me for a green card. I am here now for good. And I like it here so much.”
Marianna looks like she’s in her twenties. Moving here alone was a brave thing to do.
“Do you miss your family back home?” I ask.
“Yes,” she says. The beautiful smile shrinks a little. “But where I lived is very dangerous now. Not good for a young woman. Here is better for me.”
I would stay longer, but the dogs are getting restless. They’re probably hungry. So am I. The Cheerios are making my mouth water, but I hold my lips tightly shut. I don’t want Marianna to see me drool like Jane.
“I hope to see you soon,” I tell Marianna as I get ready to go. “And thank you for the tip.”
“You are welcome,” she says. “I wish you good luck with everything.”
Is it my imagination, or did she pause a little before that last word?
CHAPTER 13
WE GET BACK TO the house, and Lily is clearly hungry. How do I know? She’s putting her fingers halfway down her throat. And she’s too young to be bulimic.
When I hear the front door open, I’m hoping it’s Amber. More to the point: I’m hoping it’s Amber’s breasts. No such luck. It’s Ben Harrison himself.
And he’s not what I expected. I thought he’d be a smooth operator whose charm and smile hid a dark side. I was wrong.
The dark side is right out there for the world to see.
Ben is a gray-haired, thick-necked guy in his fifties who looks like he might have played football at OhioState, striking fear into the hearts of opponents. He’s well over six feet tall, large and imposing, with massive shoulders but a small head. He looks like an apple on a tree.
Ben grunts something that sounds like “Hey.” Is that a hello? I’m not sure. He doesn’t seem to notice that we haven’t met before.
“Hello,” I say. I’m holding Lily in my arms. “I’m the new Isobel.” I realize how dopey that sounds.
Another grunt. “Uh.”
“I mean, I’m Isobel’s replacement.” Did he even hear me? Hard to say. What a charmer. No doubt he matriculated at the Pablo Escobar School of Social Graces.
Ben removes his blue blazer and throws it on the back of a silk-upholstered chair in the hall. Then he loosens his tie and tosses it on top of the blazer. Am I supposed to hang them up? Lily reaches out to him.
