Page 38 of The Housekeeper

“Well, I won’t pry,” she said. “Just know that I’m here, if you ever want to talk about…anything.”

“Elyse,” Sam cried. “Come on. Hurry up!”

“Coming!”

“You really don’t have to do this,” I said as she pulled her shapeless mauve shift up over her head to reveal a well-tonedbody in a black one-piece bathing suit.I should look half as good when I’m her age,I thought, then wondered if anyone would notice. It had been weeks since Harrison and I had been intimate. He’d barely looked at me since our fight.

“Are you kidding me?” Elyse asked. “I’ve been looking forward to this all morning.” She walked toward the pool, then stopped, staring back at the house. “Oh, look, kids,” she said, waving toward my mother’s bedroom window. “There’s Grandpa.”

“Where?”

“There. In the window. See?”

I craned my neck to glimpse my father standing by the window, looking down at us.

At Elyse.

I wasn’t sure if I actually saw the wide grin on his face or if I only imagined it.

“Hi, Grandpa,” Sam shouted, waving.

“Hi, Grandpa,” Daphne echoed, jumping up and down.

My father acknowledged their greeting with a nod, then turned away.

“Your mother’s been quite agitated this morning,” Elyse confided. “Your father hasn’t left her side.”

“Can I ask you something?” I asked her, not sure exactly what question I had in mind.

“Of course.” Elyse looked toward the pool where my children were waiting. “Give me two more minutes, kids. Then I’m all yours.” She tilted her head, waiting for my question.

“It’s about my father.”

“Yes?”

“How is he treating you?”

“How is he treating me?” she repeated. “He’s been lovely. Why? Is there a problem?”

“How lovely?” I pressed.

She looked confused. “I’m not sure I understand the question.”

“My father,” I began, then stopped, began again. “My father can be…complicated.”

“Makes him that much more interesting,” she said. “Most men are rather simple creatures, don’t you think?”

“It’s just that when he was younger…” I said, trying a different approach.

“Elyse!” Sam called.

“One second, sweetheart!” she called back. “Go on,” she said to me. “When he was younger…?”

“Well…he wasn’t the most faithful of husbands.”

She looked genuinely shocked. “Really? He seems so dedicated to your mother.” She glanced toward my mother’s bedroom window.

“Yes, he is, but…”