The Heathers are getting ready for an event so I've got all three kids working on a craft in the Platz's family room. Kendal is a sweetheart. A quiet 6-year-old with big eyes and - I learn - a lot of secrets. She loves to whisper things to Juliana who then translates her friend's needs.
Kendal needs to use the bathroom, Juliana says, pausing to look up at me from her finger painting.
Do you know where to go darlin? I ask and Kendal shakes her head solemnly.
Juliana stops what she's doing to explain.
Kendal knows where the bathroom is. But so does Scary and she's seen him before. So you'll have to go with her.
Scary? I ask. From the basement? I thought he disappeared when I moved in, I say trying to assuage the little girl's boogie man fears.
I take in the fear on her face and don't think Kendal's glassy eyes can get any wider. I jump up and fill the silence with chitter chatter the way Juliana does with her quiet friend.
Okie doke. Here we go, I say.
Holding my hand tightly we walk past the basement door and up the stairs towards the second floor bathroom. I can hear the Heathers talking from behind the closed door of the master bedroom. I imagine them seated side by side at the large bathroom vanity, staring at themselves and each other simultaneously. Their friendship confuses me. They seem close but I also hear them say things to each other, cutting jabs, that I could never say to my siblings. The Heathers seem the true definition of a love/hate relationship.
Your doing a cats eye? Are you sure about that...at your age? I hear Heather Platz say.
Bitch! Heather Johns laughs. I think I see Kendal wince at the sound of her mother's exclamation. As if she's heard that word before.
As we head into the guest bathroom the women seem to have recovered, laughing about their husbands and how they won't notice anything anyways. Love and hate. Allies in a war I don't yet understand.
Kendal sits on the toilet and I turn around to give her privacy. The bathroom is all white granite with brass accents. It's a real hassle to keep clean but I appreciate the design choice — the airy welcome of the white space counters the closed doors that line the upstairs hallway.
Secrets live behind closed doors.
As Kendal washes her hands I think I hear the front door open. I step out and look over the bannister and see the Stephens walk in together, ready to pick their wives up for the party. Kendal scoots out of the bathroom and snuggles up beside me. As I turn to give her a little side hug I see something below. A flash. Two hands brush for just a second as the one Stephen reaches out to grab hold of the other's laptop. The moment passes so quickly I don't know if it even happened. I look at Kendal who rests her head on my arm.
Scary, she whispers.
YOU ARE READING
The Au Pair
Mystery / ThrillerWhen an au pair tasked with caring for the kids of two privileged couples becomes enmeshed in their secrets, she learns that having too much in common can get you killed. Two couples share the same names, the same street, the same membership at the...
