Page 64 of The Housemaid
“How old is your baby?” he asks.
My face flushes with pleasure the way it always does when somebody asks me about my daughter. “Five months.”
“What’s her name?”
“Cecelia.”
“That’s nice.” He grins. “Like the song.”
Now he has scored big points because the Simon and Garfunkel song is why I named her that, although the spelling is different. It was my parents’ favorite song. It wastheirsong before that plane crash took them from me. And it made me feel close to them again to honor them that way.
We sit there for the next twenty minutes, eating our hotdogs and talking. It surprises me how down-to-earth Andy Winchester is. I love the way he smiles at me. I love the way he asks me questions about myself, like he’s really interested. I’m not surprised he’s done so well with the company—he’s good with people. Whatever HR told him to do with me, he’s done a good job. I’m definitely not upset anymore about the incident in Stewart’s office.
“I better get back,” I tell him, when my watch reads half past one. “Stewart will kill me if I get back late from lunch.”
I don’t point out the fact that Stewart works forhim.
He stands up and brushes crumbs off his hands. “I have a feeling hotdogs were not the lunch you were expecting from me.”
“It’s fine.” And it is. I had a great time eating hotdogs with Andy.
“Let me make it up to you.” He looks me in the eyes. “Let me take you to dinner tonight.”
My jaw drops. Andrew Winchester could have any woman he wants.Anyone. Why would he want to takemeout to dinner? But he asked.
And I want to go so badly, which makes it almost painful to have to turn him down. “I can’t. I don’t have anyone to babysit.”
“My mother is going to be in the city tomorrow afternoon anyway,” he says. “She loves babies. She’d be thrilled to watch Cecelia for you.”
Now my mouth is hanging open. Not only did he invite me to dinner, but when I presented him with a barrier, he came up with a solution. Involving hismother. He really does want to go to dinner with me.
How could I say no?
THIRTY-NINE
Step Two: Naively Marry Sadistic, Evil Man
Andy and I have been married for three months, and sometimes I have to pinch myself.
Our courtship was quick. Before I met Andy, all the men I dated just wanted to play games. But Andy wasn’t about games. From the night of our magical first date, he made his intentions clear to me. He was looking for a serious relationship. He had been engaged before, a year earlier, to a woman named Kathleen, but it hadn’t worked out. He was ready to get married. He was willing to take on both me and Cecelia.
And from my perspective, he was everything I was looking for. I wanted a secure home for me and my daughter. I wanted a man with a steady job, who would be a father figure for my little girl. I wanted a man who was kind and responsible and…well, yes, attractive. Andy checked off every single box.
In the days leading up to our wedding, I kept looking for flaws. Nobody could possibly be as perfect as Andy Winchester. He had to have a secret gambling problem or maybe a whole other family stashed away in Utah. I even contemplated calling Kathleen, the former fiancée. He’d shown me photographs of her—she had blond hair like me and a sweet face—but I didn’t know her last name and I couldn’t locate her on social media. But at least she wasn’t talking trash about him all over the internet. I took that as a good sign.
The only thing about Andy that isn’t ideal is…well, his mother. Evelyn Winchester is around a little bit more than I would like. And I wouldn’t call her the warmest person in the world. Despite Andy’s assurance that she “loves babies” and is “thrilled” to watch Cece, she always seems a bit put out when we ask her to babysit. And the evening invariably concludes with a set of criticisms of my parenting, thinly veiled as “suggestions.”
But I am marrying Andy, not his mother. No one likes their mother-in-law, right? I can deal with Evelyn, especially since she doesn’t have that much interest in me in general outside my apparent lack of parenting skills. If that’s the only thing wrong with Andy, I’m in good shape.
So I married him.
And even three months later, I haven’t quite come down from my cloud yet. I can’t believe that I have the financial stability to stay home with my little girl. I do want to go back to graduate school eventually, but right now I want to soak up every minute of my family. Cece and Andy. How could one woman get so lucky?
And in return, I try to be a perfect wife. In my little free time, I work out at the gym to make sure I’m in perfect shape. I bought a wardrobe of absolutely impractical white clothing because he adores me in white. I’ve studied recipes online and I’m trying to cook for him as much as I can. I want to be worthy of this incredible life he’s given me.
Tonight I kiss Cecelia on her baby-smooth cheek, taking a few extra seconds to stare down at her and take in the sound of her deep breathing and the scent of baby powder. I tuck a strand of her soft blond hair between one of her nearly translucent ears. She is so beautiful. I love her so much, sometimes I feel like I could just eat her up.
When I come out of her bedroom, Andy is waiting for me outside. He is smiling at me, his dark hair without even a strand out of place, every bit as gorgeous as that first day I met him. I still don’t understand why he picked me. He could have had any woman in the world. Why me?
