Page 27 of The Family Guest

Marjorie nodded. “A lovely area. Do you live near the park?”

“Not far.”

“Which one?” she asked, her tone sounding more and more like an interrogation. “There are so many.”

“Kingsington Park.” Gathering her backpack, Tanya hastily stood up. “So nice to meet you, Mrs. Merritt. If you’ll excuse me, I have a lot of homework to do.”

“Of course. I look forward to seeing you at dinner.”

“Same.” Smiling brightly, she pivoted and swanned out of the room.

Once she was gone, I took another sip of my G&T. “She’s lovely, isn’t she, Marjorie? She’s been a joy to have around.”

Marjorie stirred the ice cubes in her drink and then looked at me pointedly. “How did you find this girl?”

“Through an accredited exchange student program.”

“How much do you know about her?”

“Well, her mother died in childbirth. Her father’s a diplomat, and she goes to a posh private school outside of London.”

“Hmm.” Marjorie frowned. “Though she appears to come from an educated upper-class family, her English accent is not right.”

I cocked my head. “What do you mean?”

“Individuals who come from backgrounds like hers speak Queen’s English. Her accent is off. In fact, I can’t even place it.”

“Maybe being around American kids has messed with her accent,” I countered.

“That’s not all. She mispronounced the area of London where she lives. It’s Bel-gray-via, not Bel-grah-via. And there is no such place as Kingsington Park. It’s Kensington… Gardens. I find these faux pas very odd and somewhat disconcerting. Oh… and she also referred to my top as a sweater when every Brit I know calls it a jumper.”

“She was probably just nervous meeting you.” I sometimes joked with Matt that I should call his mother “Your Majesty.” He didn’t disagree.

Marjorie finished her drink. “I’m just saying you can’t always judge a book by its cover.” Standing up with her glass in her hand, she offered to help me make dinner.

As much as I appreciated her offer, I would have much rather had Tanya in the kitchen with me. We’d secretly share a glass of wine and laugh. And I could tell her anything without fear of being judged. Well, almost everything. My secrets were mine. Mine alone to bear.

My mother-in-law took the prize for being The. Most. Judgmental. Woman. In. The. World. If she knew my secrets, I’d be extricated from this family.

And that’s not all.

FIFTEEN

NATALIE

Dinner was livelier than usual as both Paige and Will were thrilled to see their grandmother. While Marjorie and Martin didn’t live that far away from us—San Francisco was a six-hour drive and only a little over an hour by plane—we no longer saw them frequently. Maybe three or four times a year for Thanksgiving, their birthdays, and occasionally for Christmas. Less and less since Anabel’s death as the kids’ busy school schedules and extracurricular activities took precedence. So, it was a bonus for them to have this unexpected visit.

With his controlling mother at the table, Matt was unable to dominate the conversation and talk about work or politics. Marjorie took the lead instead, focusing on the kids. She was delighted to hear that Will’s robotics team had won first prize and was advancing to the interscholastic state finals, and she was surprised by how much he’d grown. “You’re going to outdo your father and be far more handsome.”

Will beamed, proud of his achievements. I had the feeling that he was going to go to MIT one day and become an engineer. Break away from the family tradition of men going into finance.

Marjorie turned her attention to Paige. “Dear, you look like you’ve lost weight.” She wasn’t saying it as a compliment.

“A little,” replied my daughter, picking at her salad. With my mother-in-law’s help, we’d made a meal that Paige could eat without taking offense—penne with a pesto sauce, a kale salad with quinoa, and garlic-roasted asparagus.

“Are you feeling okay?” she asked, concern in her voice.

“She’s gone vegan!” jumped in Tanya, whom Marjorie had so far ignored.