When We Were Sisters: An unputdownable book club read about that bonds that can bind or break a family. Emilie Richards
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for a temporary job. It turns out that when this position ends, her plan is to move to California to be near Raoul’s father. She doesn’t want her son growing up without a role model.
I can certainly relate to that.
Elena arrived about an hour ago to go over everything one more time and meet Kris. While we waited for him we went over schedules and food preferences. I showed her where to find every cooking and cleaning utensil, as well as my extensive lists of the children’s friends and the professionals we use for everything from steam cleaning carpets to filling cavities. I’ll carry my cell phone, but I want as few questions as possible.
Tomorrow the airport shuttle picks me up at the crack of dawn. I could have asked Kris to drive me, but starting tomorrow he has new responsibilities. Somebody will have to get the children to school every morning. Most days Elena won’t come in until noon.
Now Elena and I were strolling through the yard, and she was admiring the last gasp of my roses. “Your garden is so pretty.”
“The landscaping crew will come and do whatever’s needed. If you look out the window and see men in bright blue shirts mowing and trimming, pay no mind.”
“That’s good, because I don’t know a thing about plants.”
“And I know way too much, as you can see.”
I would miss my garden. Late October was definitely not a peak, but I still had the roses in bloom and clouds of windflowers, along with bright Peruvian lilies and late-blooming daisies.
“Can we ever have too much to love?” she asked.
“I used to have garden parties out here with my friends. Little tables with sandwiches and cakes, everyone in skirts and floppy hats. Silly but fun.”
“No more?”
“Our children grew—we got too busy.” I thought of Talya, who had always helped me pour tea. “Some of us are gone now.”
“New friends will take their place.”
In this case I knew better. As I had predicted, the Weinberg house was already on the market, and no matter who moved in, things in the neighborhood would never be the same. Michael had already closed on a new town house in our school district, and he would probably be moved in by the time I returned. When I had gently questioned his haste, he’d claimed Channa was looking forward to the change, as well, but I wondered. At the conversation’s end he had offered me Talya’s dressing table. I hope he hasn’t banished everything that’s a reminder of the woman he and his daughter have lost. I’ll cherish the table and keep it for Channa, just in case.
“Do you have any questions?” I asked. “About anything we went over?”
“Mr. Lenhart knows I must pick up Raoul from day care at six-thirty? They will charge for every minute I’m late.”
“If something does happen, you’ll bill him for those minutes, right?”
“I will, but my time with Raoul is precious. I don’t want to miss any of it.”
“Don’t forget, in an emergency you can call the women I’ve highlighted on my list.”
She shook her head. “That will be Mr. Lenhart’s job.”
I realized how far ahead of me she was. “You’re right. If he has an emergency, he can fix it. The list is just in case he doesn’t.”
She smiled, showing pretty, even teeth, but I thought the smile said, he’d better.
As if in emphasis, Elena glanced at her watch. “I’m sorry, but I need to leave in a few minutes.”
Luckily Kris took that moment to walk out to the back deck, then down the steps toward us.
I smiled at him when he reached us, but his was only for show. He’s still angry with me, and I try not to be reminded of my grandmother, whose anger destroyed my childhood. Luckily I’m an adult, and this time I haven’t lost the power of speech.
I made the introduction, and Elena offered her hand. Kris’s smile was warmer when he focused it on her, as if he realized she wasn’t the culprit.
“I hope you’ll enjoy working for us,” he said.
“Miss Robin made a list of all your expectations, Mr. Lenhart.”
“Call me Kris.”
She smiled, but I knew that he would be Mr. Kris no matter what he told her. When I asked Elena to call me Robin, she’d told me that in Colombia, where she had lived for the first part of her life, there was a useful line between domestic help and employers, and she planned to observe it here. In turn I had told Nik and Pet to call her Miss Elena.
“Do you have any questions for me?” he asked, as I had earlier.
“I explained to Miss Robin I have to leave here at six, not a moment later.”
“Pet and Nik should be fine for a little while if I’m not home right on time.”
She was still smiling politely. “I can’t leave them without supervision. If there was a problem, I would blame myself.”
Kris looked taken aback. “Could you just leave them for a few minutes while you fetch your son and bring him here?”
“His day care is half an hour away.”
He recovered. “I’ll do my best.”
She examined him much the way I remember examining algae under my ninth grade microscope. “I’m sure your best is perfect.” She said goodbye and left to pick up her son. Kris watched her go.
“You couldn’t find somebody more flexible?” he asked after she disappeared from sight.
“Kris, if you really can’t get home on time, feel free to hire someone to come in when Elena leaves. But the other woman I interviewed refused to stay beyond five-thirty. I bought you an extra half hour to make it back from work.”
“We’re paying her enough to make some exceptions.”
“She has a life and a son.” I couldn’t help adding, “Sometimes there’s not enough money in the world to convince a parent anything in life is more important than their child.”
“And apparently sometimes there is. You know, like a job you can’t say no to?” He let that rest a moment before he added. “So what about your life?”
He had turned my salvo around and aimed it right at me. “Me? I’ve been busy setting everything up to make our transition as easy as possible. So I’d appreciate a moratorium on criticism. See how Elena does. If you’re not happy, feel free to make arrangements that suit you better.”
“Are you packed and ready?”
“I guess I was saying goodbye to the garden.”
“It’s on its way out, isn’t it?”
I wanted to stand here with Kris’s arms around me and start our goodbyes. I wanted us to forgive each other and move on. Distance in miles doesn’t have to mean emotional distance. I’m not leaving forever. But he was a yard away, arms folded against his chest. The signs were clear he didn’t want to move closer.
“It’s on the way out. I’m glad I’ll be back in time to get it in shape for the spring.”
“I wonder—would you have been as willing to go off with Cecilia if the garden was in full bloom?”
I watched my windflowers dance in the breeze. “Please don’t make this opportunity sound like an extended vacation and shopping trip with my sister, okay? I’m jump-starting my career.”
“You could do that right here.”
“Which part of ‘this is important to me’ eludes you, Kris?”
“How much of ‘you need to spend more time