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Fuck.
~
“We weren’t doing anything,” I tell Betty for what seems like the hundredth time since we started talking in the parlor.
What is she even doing here?
“Really?” She lifts her cup of tea to her lips. “You were on top of her. Out there in the garden. In plain sight of my granddaughter.”
“With our clothes on,” I add. “We were just playing.”
What? Did she think I’d have sex in front of my daughter?
“So you weren’t doing anything.” Betty sets down her cup.
“We were playing a game with Maisie,” I explain. “That’s why she was there.”
“And did she know of this game you were playing? And who was this woman you were playing with, anyway, hmm? Is she the new nanny?”
“She’s an intern at my restaurant,” I answer.
“I see. But she’s living here?”
I pause a moment before answering. “Yes.”
I’d lie, but I know Betty will find out the truth anyway. In fact, she may already know it.
“With you and Maisie?”
“Yes.”
“On the same floor?”
I frown, because I know what she’s getting at. “Cathy and I – ”
“Oh, her name is Cathy?” Betty asks me. “How old is she?”
“Twenty… six,” I answer after a quick calculation. “She’s not as young as you think.”
“So you think it’s okay for you to play with her? To fuck her?”
My jaw clenches and I throw her a warning glance. “Betty…”
“So Maisie doesn’t have a nanny? I haven’t seen one.”
“No,” I confess. “I fired the last one because she wasn’t doing her job properly.”
“Were any of them?”
“I haven’t had time to get a new one.”
Betty frowns.
“In the meantime, Maisie is going to daycare.”
“Daycare?” Betty’s eyes grow wide with horror. “So she’s at one of those germ-infested facilities in the hands of inept strangers? Jackson, have you lost your mind?”
“They’re not inept,” I argue. “They know what they’re doing, and Maisie likes them.”
“Maisie likes everyone.”
That I can’t argue with.
“It’s not every day,” I say in an effort to ease her displeasure. “Some days, I have Maisie with me at the restaurant.”
“Where she could easily grab a knife and chop off her finger,” Betty says sourly.
Of course she wouldn’t approve of that, either.
“And during weekends, she’s here at home with Cathy. Cathy watches over her.”
“So she babysits and gets paid with sex?” Betty asks.
I narrow my eyes at her as my patience inches dangerously close to its limit. I don’t care what she thinks of me. I already know I’ll never live up to her expectations, not after I let Evelyn die. But I’m not going to let her talk shit about Cathy when she doesn’t know a thing about her.
“Watch your words, Betty. You may be my mother-in-law, but I – ”
“Oh, I don’t think I’m your mother-in-law any longer,” she cuts me off. “I’m not Evelyn’s mother anymore now that she’s not here. You don’t have to think of me that way. But I am Maisie’s grandmother, and there’s nothing you can do about that. And I will not tolerate my granddaughter living in a house with a stranger when she could be living with me.”
“Maisie’s not living with you,” I say adamantly. “We’ve been over this before.”
A million times.
“Well, she’s definitely not living here while you bring random women from your restaurant over to play with.”
“I haven’t brought any other women over,” I tell her.
“So Cathy’s the first to have caught your fancy? Even so, she’s a stranger.”
“She’s not. She’s an old friend.”
“Is she, now?”
Of course that’s not good enough for Betty.
“And how long is she staying? Until you find a new friend?”
I stay silent because I’m still trying to come up with the answer.
Think, Jackson. If I don’t say something that will satisfy her, something that will get me out of this argument, I’ll lose. She won’t leave until she takes Maisie with her, and I’ll be damned before that happens.
“Fine,” I say. “I’ll tell you the truth.”
Betty’s eyebrows arch.
“Cathy isn’t a friend and she’s not some random woman,” I say. “She’s my fiancee.”
Betty’s eyes grow wide. “What?”
It’s the best I can come up with.
“Cathy is my fiancee, which means she won’t be going away anytime soon. When I marry her, she’ll be Maisie’s new mother.”
Betty snorts.
“They adore each other, which you would have noticed if you weren’t too busy focusing on other details,” I add.
She doesn’t seem to have heard that. “So you finally admit that the two of you are fucking in this house?”
“Never in the same room with Maisie,” I tell her.
Still, she shakes her head.
“My point is, you don’t have to worry about Maisie being with Cathy. Cathy loves her and I trust Cathy completely.”
“Well, I don’t,” Betty says. “I don’t even believe you.”
Of course not.
“Fine.” I stand up. “I’ll call her and you can ask her.”
“No.” She stands up as well. “I’ll talk to her.”
I frown. What? Did she notice that I was lying and suspect that I would tell Cathy to do the same? Which is exactly what I was going to do, of course.
