Housemoms by Lancaster Jen

Author:Lancaster, Jen
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Little A
Published: 2023-11-01T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Thirteen

CECE

One week before sorority rush

“They hired you? Are you sure?”

Fudge scowls at me from across the counter. First she wants me to get a job, and now she’s questioning the job I get. Make up your mind, darling! “Why do you seem so skeptical?” I ask.

Typical Hayden. She wants what she wants, and when she gets it, she finds she doesn’t want it anymore. Take that day in the pool, for example. She trots out that story as evidence of my bad parenting whenever she can, but she insisted on swimming alone that day, and then when I finally allowed her to get in the water without her nanny—because I was supervising her—she pulled the drowning act. This is a fact because that first pool in the Lake Forest house was only four feet at its deepest; it was what’s called a “cocktail pool.” We didn’t put in the new saltwater diving pool until Hayden passed her deep-water swimming test. She conveniently forgets she didn’t need to be saved that day; she just needed to stand up. The water only came to her shoulder. She was never unsafe, not for a moment. The only victim was Mr. Geary’s cell phone, which I immediately replaced and upgraded.

Her mistrust in me is Chip’s doing. He and Hayden were thick as thieves, always two against one, either off sailing or having little adventures on the Lake Forest property with woodland creatures. They were such a self-contained unit, there was no space for me, especially as she got older and he’d try to pit her against me, buying her affection with bags and trips. It was his idea that she spend a year traveling. And he’s the one who gave her the black card.

As I’ve come to understand more every day, Chip is largely a terrible man, but he was a wonderful father—so engaged. He called her every night when he was on business trips, and he’d arrange his schedule so that he never missed one of her water polo games. (To reiterate: she’s always been a strong swimmer.) Every girl needs her daddy, so I took a back seat in the parenting realm. I think that’s why their falling-out was so devastating for them both.

Hayden says, “I ask because I can’t imagine who’d give you a job.”

“Fudgie, darling, I’ve received offers of employment before.”

“When?” She looks at me like I’m a madwoman.

I explain. “Before graduation, I had my choice of career paths! In fact, I had jobs lined up at the Tate, at Hauser & Wirth, and LACMA. I was so busy trying to choose between London, New York, and Los Angeles that it never occurred to me that your father would propose in the interim, making all my choices moot. Oh, was your grandfather upset! But I rationalized with him. I said, ‘Daddy, marriage is the only possible scenario where you don’t end up paying my rent.’ I mean, can you imagine me living somewhere on a gallerist’s wages? I was quite persuasive.

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