Page 20 of Watching Henry

Hadley rolled her eyes and even in the dim light Florence saw her do it. Her chin was sharp, her nose a little up-tilted, it occurred to Florence that Hadley was an attractive woman. The kind of girl that always had friends at school, the kind that didn't worry about her perfect skin or her perfect hair or anything else.

The kind of girl that she'd always hated because she was ashamed of the jealousy she felt.

“I'm very obviously far more qualified than you to do this job,” she said.

Hadley shrugged. “Maybe on paper, but you don't seem to be great at reading a room.”

“What's that supposed to mean?”

“I mean that these kids obviously need some love and understanding. But you're intent on making them into little princes and princesses with good table manners. They're obviously suffering here and I'm not sure that all your qualifications actually qualify you to be a loving caretaker.”

“There are more important things in life than being liked or even loved,” Florence said.

Hadley shook her head and drank from her wine glass. “That's sad.”

“Listen, we can argue all you like about what children need, but the issue at hand is more important.” For a second there the conversation had seemed like it was going to veer into more personal territory than Florence really wanted.

“I agree,” Hadley said, sitting up and putting her wine on the wide arm of the chair. “There's really only one thing that can happen here. We both stay. We split the job.”

Florence narrowed her eyes. The idea had occurred to her, of course. But could she really work with this woman?

Then she remembered the length of time she'd spent with Henry. Time during which the twins would have been alone had Hadley not been there. Perhaps there was enough work for two.

“Keep talking,” she said.

???

In the end, it all came down to the fact that neither she nor Florence were to blame for this mix up. “We were both hired by a parent, and both of us are required by that parent to stay here,” she said. “We don't have much choice really.”

“A good point,” Florence conceded.

“And we're both getting paid,” Hadley added.

“Another good point. But how is this going to work? I'm sure that you'll agree that we have rather different ideas on child-rearing and care.”

Hadley blew out a breath. “I suggest we divide each day into two. We each take half the day. I don't interfere with what you're doing and you don't interfere with what I'm doing.”

Florence was quiet for a moment. Hadley could see moonlight glinting off her glasses. “What about times when we're outside of the house. Field trips, for instance?”

“Well, if we both have to be there then I guess we take it in turns being the boss. You be the boss for our first trip, and I'll follow your lead. But the next trip, we switch roles.” The plan was starting to come together, and she figured she'd let Florence be boss first to sweeten the deal.

Florence sucked air through her teeth in thought.

“We don't have much choice,” Hadley said. “We need to make this work. We're both adults, we should be able to deal with this. And I get that we have different approaches, but that doesn't mean that we can't both agree that these children need help.”

“Mmm.” Florence nodded slowly. “Okay, yes, I see that.”

“And it'll mean that we both get some time off, which seems like it'll be necessary. Or that there'll be someone to pick up the slack when Henry throws a fit like he did tonight,” Hadley pressed on.

“Yes,” Florence said. She turned her head, looking up at the stars, Hadley thought. And her profile was outlined against the sky, even and pleasing and Hadley found that she was prettier than she'd thought. “Why is this job important to you?” Florence asked, suddenly turning back.

Hadley blew out a breath. “I need it,” she said, finally.

“Why?” Florence asked. “You're obviously rich, I've been around enough wealth to see that.”

“I just need it,” Hadley said. “You'll have to trust me on that one. Besides, I want it. I want to be here, I like these kids. What about you? Why is it so important to you? If you're so well-trained then you could just walk into another job, right?”

“You'd be surprised,” Florence said so softly that Hadley almost didn't hear her. “This is my life,” she continued, more loudly. “It's what I do and what I love doing. I might not be as touchy-feely as you think I should be, but I honestly care about all my children. Everything I do is to make them better people, more successful, happier in life.”