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Finally, she came out with a weak, “I knew the man who owned the house when it burned down.”
The construction workers continued to look at her, waiting for another layer of information that wasn’t coming.
Rose didn’t want to show all of her cards. Not yet.
Charlie gave her a look that meant:Someday, you’re going to tell me the entire story.But Rose couldn’t imagine speaking it aloud.
Charlie clapped his hand on her shoulder and beamed. “Why don’t we give the construction crew a few days to go through the rest of the house? It’s massive. They can stabilize things for you—things like those pillars outside, those walls.”
The construction worker bobbed his head. “I want to bring another guy in to check out these roofs.”
Rose could hardly believe she was having this conversation. She’d never dreamed she’d ever see the interior of the Grayson Estate. But here she was, enraptured in the daydream of a place she’d thought lost to time.
She was a part of that time, in a way, she thought now. She owed patience to the old place. She owed it artistry and hope so many years after it had been abandoned.
Chapter Five
June 1994
Rose couldn’t help it. That night, long after she’d been dismissed to her bedroom upstairs, shivery from cocktails, she lay awake and stared through the dark, thinking about the mysterious Oren and the strange Mrs. Walden and the at-times vivacious Zachary, whose personality seemed to turn on a dime. Never had she encountered people like this in Mississippi. Never had she felt a sinister underbelly, as though the things people said could never be taken as the full truth.
The biggest curiosity, of course, was Oren and his “loss.” There had been mention of a funeral before Rose had said, “I’m sorry for your loss,” and Oren had abandoned the lounge for the surging darkness outside. Rose guessed someone had died in the fire. It stood to reason nobody had told her. Her life was a steady stream of children’s needs. Her life was meant to fade into the background and do what needed to be done.
But two days later was Rose’s first day off.
Rose woke up that morning at the crack of dawn. Evie was sprawled out beside her, as usual, her thumb tucked between her lips, her face still chunky with baby fat, and her eyes shifting dreamily behind their lids. Rose decided to carry Evie back to her bedroom so she could get a head start on her day. It was the first day that belonged totally to her. She had yet to strategize. But she knew she didn’t want to spend a lick of time babysitting—not even to tend to Evie when she woke up.
Rose tucked Evie back into bed, then tiptoed down the hall to shower and change into a sundress with yellow flowers. When she emerged, the clock in the hall read seven ten. She decided to go downstairs to the staff kitchen to have coffee and maybe grab a snack. Maybe she’d see the housekeeper, Miriam, somewhere. Miriam was the stand-in babysitter today. Rose wanted to warn her about the rash on the back of Hogarth’s legs. She wanted to remind her that Kate’s complaints about her teeth had already been dealt with; Kate had a dentist’s appointment next week.
Downstairs, Rose sat outside with a mug of coffee and watched the waves roll onto the white sand. She felt relieved and free in a way she hadn’t since she’d arrived, as though she’d just gone through a great trial and emerged victorious on the other side.In the future,she told herself now,I’ll have so many days off. I’ll work for myself. I’ll be the one to say if I work or if I don’t.
This felt laughable, of course. Nobody in her class made their own schedules. They took what they could and made money as much as possible.
Miriam emerged with a stern smile and a nervousglint in her eye. “What are you going to do for your day off?”
Rose stretched her arms over her head. “I was just thinking about that.”
Miriam sipped her coffee. It was clear from the outset that she didn’t really like children, that she’d taken this “extra day with the kids” with disdain and annoyance. But she didn’t let that annoyance shake off on Rose, for which Rose felt grateful.
“I’d like to see more of the island,” Rose admitted. “Since I’m not allowed to leave the grounds during the workday.”
“Why don’t you ask Baxter to drive you in?” Miriam suggested, speaking of one of the staff members in the kitchen. “He’s headed to the market in fifteen minutes.”
“How will I get back?”
Miriam made a face as thoughgetting backwas beyond her.
Rose decided she didn’t care. She leaped up and hurried back to the kitchen to discover Baxter in his white apron, making a list of groceries on a pad of paper.
“Let me guess,” he said now with a warm smile. “You want a ride to town?”
“Am I so transparent?”
“All the babysitters want a ride to town every once in a while,” he said.
Rose’s heart sank.Does it mean he wants to say no?
“Count yourself lucky,” Baxter declared. “I didn’t like the last babysitter much. I didn’t always say yes. But you? You haven’t made me angry yet.”
