Page 54 of After Anna

“How do you know that?”

“She told me. She thinks he favors Caleb.” Maggie arranged the glasses on the tray, then went for some napkins.

“That would be natural, wouldn’t it? Caleb’s his son. He doesn’t even know her.”

“I know, but I don’t think he does anyway. We’re a family of four now, can you believe it?”

“Good luck.” Kathy snorted. “I’m at a lacrosse game, and Josh is at travel basketball. You each take a kid. Divide and conquer.”

“There you go.”

“You want to walk tomorrow?”

“No, if you don’t mind, let me get her situated.” Maggie wondered if Anna might prefer some healthier snacks, so she went to the refrigerator, rummaged around the produce drawer, and found some oranges and an apple. She put them in a separate bowl on the tray, making a note to herself to ask Anna what kind of fruit she liked.

“I get it. Stay in touch. Congratulations! Love you!”

“Love you, too. Bye.” Maggie hung up as she heard the sound of footsteps coming down the stairs, the tread too heavy to be anybody but Noah, who entered the kitchen and crossed to the base cabinet, where they kept a few tools, a tape measure, and steel wool.

“Of course I need an Allen wrench. My days of Allen wrenches will never end.”

“How’s the bed?”

“Great.”

“Does Anna like it?”

“Loves it.” Noah found the Allen wrench and stood up, eyeing the fancy copper tray. “Look at you. The hostess with the mostest.”

“I know, right?”

Noah glanced over his shoulder, then lowered his voice. “Anna is telling Caleb that she’s buying a Range Rover. Are you just going to let her go buy a car? Doesn’t she have to ask our permission?”

“I don’t know, I haven’t thought about it.” Maggie liked to be more spontaneous than Noah, who did everything step-by-step. Their difference in temperaments was by now a well-established fact, in the way of marriages. He was The Scientist, and she was The Italian, though she suspected that sometimes it sold her short.

“Don’t we have to figure that out? She’s under our roof, so she has to follow our rules, doesn’t she?”

Maggie smiled. “It’s not like we have any rules about cars.”

“We don’t let Caleb buy anything he wants with his money.”

“He has $37.”

“That’s not the point. It’s the principle. Can she just buy a car without our permission, even if she has the means? We’re a family. We should function like one.”

“Can’t we talk about this later?” Maggie glanced upstairs.

“She shouldn’t get a Range Rover. I think there are used cars that are a better value, and even if she has the money, it might make sense to finance a car. The rates are low now, and it will teach her how to pay a monthly bill.”

“We’ll see.” Maggie reached for the tray, but Noah stopped her.

“One more thing. Did she have a boyfriend at school?”

“I don’t think so.”

“She must have dated, some.”

“No, she didn’t.” Maggie didn’t understand why he was asking. “It’s a girls’ school, remember? It’s not like she had a lot of opportunities.”

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