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Annie clutched the braid in her hand and then, clearing her throat, let it go and dropped her arm. She wasn’t going to survive this day if they didn’t at least talk about what had happened.
“Right, but I just thought—”
“Annie!” Lindsay’s voice rang out across the yard. “I have my brush!”
Annie looked at Helen and smiled. “I told her I’d braid her hair like mine.”
“Smart girl.” Helen reached out to touch one of the braids. “Looks good on you.”
They walked back to the house together, then went their separate ways. Helen headed back into the kitchen to prepare the meal with Lori, and Annie went into the living room, where she could braid Lindsay’s hair duringSesame Street.Lindsay hugged Annie when she was finished and then settled onto her lap to watch Big Bird.
* * *
It was easier to avoid everything until they sat down to dinner. She played Barbie dolls with Lindsay, who shadowed her all day. She talked football with Louis’s father, Dean. She and Kelly ran to the store to pick up a last-minute bag of ice because the ice maker was acting up again—the one less-than-perfect thing in Lori’s house she’d encountered so far.
Louis’s mother, Betty, spent most of the day in the kitchen with Lori and Helen. Annie listened to them chatting and laughing, and it made her feel weird and out of place, as if she were a child, not an adult. As if she’d be relegated to the children’s table with Lindsay at dinnertime.
Dinner was planned for three o’clock, and a few minutes before, she went upstairs to freshen up. She unraveled her braids and pinned her hair back. She instantly looked older; her hair wavy from the braids instead of curly. She was leaning over the sink, applying mascara, when she heard someone else come into the bedroom. She leaned back to see who it was.
Helen had gripped the bottom of her T-shirt to pull it over her head when Annie cleared her throat.
Helen jumped and dropped her hands. “Jesus! I didn’t know you were there.”
“I didn’t mean to scare you,” Annie said. “I was trying to avoid that.”
“I came up to change. Try to look a little nicer.”
“Me too. Or at least my hair.”
Helen stood waiting.
“Sorry, I’ll just… I’ll let you have some privacy.” Annie felt strange saying that. Helen seemed to have no reaction to the previous night’s activities. Maybe she didn’t remember? That seemed unlikely. Or maybe this was just how Helen dealt with emotional upheaval—she shut down.
Annie turned back to the mirror and picked up a tube of brownish-red lipstick, hoping for a more mature look. Helen, now wearing a dark green button-down blouse, stood in the doorway, watching as she dragged the tube across her bottom lip, tapped it along the top, then pressed her lips together.
“I hope you’re not upset with me,” Helen said, looking down to fiddle with one of her buttons.
“Upset? I’m not upset. I’m…” She was confused. She was wary. She was concerned. “Are you upset?”
“No!” Helen’s response was emphatic, but then she shrugged. “Yes? It was a bad idea, but I’m not upset with you.”
“Who are you upset with, then?”
“Myself,” Helen said. “You brought me with you, introduced me to your friends, and I took advantage—”
“You did not take advantage of me.” Annie cut her off. “Let’s be really clear here. That isn’t what happened.”
Helen’s eyes widened.
“I think we need to talk about it, but we really don’t have time now.” The time was early this morning. The time was in the greenhouse. There were pockets of time all day they could havemanaged it, but now it was too late, dinner was about to be served, and everyone was waiting for them to come downstairs.
“Sorry,” Helen said. “You’re right. God, you’re right.”
Annie nodded. “Okay, then.” She took a deep breath and smiled nervously. “I know you worked hard today.”
“The fun kind of work. Better than sitting around thinking about the kids all day.”
Annie wanted to reach out and give her hand a comforting squeeze. Yesterday, she would’ve done it. Last night, she had. Instead she said, “There’s a phone in the office. Why don’t you go give them a call before dinner?”
