I sat down at one of the tables. The girls ran over to me.
“We didn’t do it,” they clamored.
“I know you didn’t,” I said, staring off into space.
“Ohh.” Enola looked at my phone and the video of the water pouring into my condo. “Ophelia shouldn’t be allowed to take a bath by herself. She’s been obsessed withTitanicand is always trying to flood the place.”
She handed the phone back to me matter-of-factly.
“Sorry about your TV. That doesn’t look like it’s going to be salvageable. I hope the nanny Mike hired had insurance.”
“We’re moving anyway,” I said.
Tess set the tea down in front of me.
She and the girls looked at me expectantly as I sipped it.
“So what did you think of the nanny?” Tess prompted.
“The governess, you mean?” I said dryly.
Annie and Enola, wearing little matching aprons, shifted on their feet.
“She’s terrible.” I grimaced. “There’s no way I’m hiring her, especially not after I accidentally called her Miss Trunchbull.”
Tess let out another peal of laughter.
“It’s all your fault,” I reminded her.
“I know, and I’m sorry!” She reached out and stroked her hand over my head, her thumb brushing my temple. Her touch made my scalp tingle.
“No, you’re not.”
“No, I’m not,” Tess admitted. “She’s totally awful. We’ll find you a better nanny, girls.”
“Actually,” I said, sipping my tea. “I don’t think we’re going to go the nanny route. Considering how poorly that worked out for Mike, maybe we’ll just handle things internally.”
Enola and Annie jumped up and down and hugged me.
Tess gave me a soft look, like she was seeing me for the first time.
“We’re going to stay with you!” Annie said happily.
“You’re going to school, and Tess will watch you after,” I corrected. “The private school has lots of after-school programs, like horseback riding and fencing.”
“But we want to stay with you all day!” my sisters begged.
“You’ll have fun in school,” Tess told them. “And I’m going to make you a super tasty lunch!”
12
Tess
My phone rang at ass o’clock in the morning.
“Turn it off,” Maeve mumbled from the bottom bunk.
Eyes still closed, I batted around for the phone. My hand hit it, and it promptly fell off the top bunk and crashed to the floor.
