interviewing right now to be a cook! I served an authentic high tea, complete with five kinds of sandwiches, scones, pastries, you name it. The women couldn’t rave enough, and begged for the name of my caterer. When I told them I made everything, you could’ve heard a pin drop in that room. I honestly thought they were going to walk out in a huff, insulted to the quick I’d dared to serve them homemade food.”
“Did they?”
“Only one. Ruth Carlin. You know, to this day, she still demurs if I offer her anything. Just purses those thin lips of hers and insists she already ate. Which is weird, since that stick on stilettos looks like she hasn’t eaten in about two decades. I suppose I’d rather have her not eat my food than eat it and regift it to the toilet gods ten minutes later.”
Mira bit the inside of her cheek to keep from bursting into unprofessional giggles. “Sounds like it’s her loss.”
Shrugging through another sip, Helen forged ahead. “The upshot was that I became known as the quirky one who always cooked. And oh boy, did I ever. Of course Noah and Lucy came first. I was a room mother, and a Girl Scout den leader. To my children’s great chagrin, I chaperoned every school event from field trips to dances, and I shouted myself hoarse at swim meets and lacrosse games. Those two are the sunshine in my day.”
Wow. Mira knew her parents loved her. Or at least, they loved the idea of a daughter, someone to carry on the family name. But never once had she seen her mother’s face light up like Helen’s at any of Mira’s accomplishments. The boarding schools they shuttled her between didn’t have room mothers. Her parents hadn’t come to watch any of her speech tournaments, or her misbegotten half year on the track team in junior high. They hadn’t even made it to her high school graduation. It conflicted with the Cannes Film Festival, which was a must-see-and-be-seen week of events. She’d hungered for the kind of love Helen described so effortlessly.
“It doesn’t sound like you had any spare time to cook.”
“Oh, I carved out precious moments here and there. As they got older, it grew easier. I was always in the kitchen, tinkering with recipes, putting my own spin on things or dreaming up new ones. Soon my friends not only accepted my odd habit, but they embraced it. I cooked for committee meetings, for birthday parties, first communions, bridal showers, you name it. I even helped out my nephew with an engagement picnic.”
Which reminded Mira about her fast-approaching date. She didn’t want to cut Helen short, but she didn’t want to deprive Sam of the full effects of a leisurely toilette . “What brings you here today?”
“As a proud mother, I’m tickled to report that Noah graduated from Stanford in May, and Lucy’s starting her sophomore year at Cornell. However, woman to woman? Last year was miserable. That empty-nest syndrome you hear about? It is real, and brutal.”
“I’m sorry. You must miss them terribly.” Mira knew it to be true, because she’d witnessed the almost daily calls from Ivy’s mom when they roomed together. Just because her parents lived the mantra out of sight , out of mind didn’t meant that other parents shared their viewpoint.
Helen slid off the stool and began to pace the across the width of the front room. Her footsteps clattered on the hardwood floors, the sound bouncing off the empty walls. “After a quarter of a century, I suddenly had no reason to get up in the morning. No driving force in my life at all. It was a hard adjustment.” She shook her head, hard and fast. “No, to be fair, I didn’t adjust at all. That’s why I’m here.”
“I don’t understand.” Mira slipped off her stool as well, wanting Helen to know they were on an even level. The older woman whirled around, hands at her sides, clenching and unclenching, as though trying to grasp something.
“I don’t want the money.”
Her candidness threw Mira for a
“Did they?”
“Only one. Ruth Carlin. You know, to this day, she still demurs if I offer her anything. Just purses those thin lips of hers and insists she already ate. Which is weird, since that stick on stilettos looks like she hasn’t eaten in about two decades. I suppose I’d rather have her not eat my food than eat it and regift it to the toilet gods ten minutes later.”
Mira bit the inside of her cheek to keep from bursting into unprofessional giggles. “Sounds like it’s her loss.”
Shrugging through another sip, Helen forged ahead. “The upshot was that I became known as the quirky one who always cooked. And oh boy, did I ever. Of course Noah and Lucy came first. I was a room mother, and a Girl Scout den leader. To my children’s great chagrin, I chaperoned every school event from field trips to dances, and I shouted myself hoarse at swim meets and lacrosse games. Those two are the sunshine in my day.”
Wow. Mira knew her parents loved her. Or at least, they loved the idea of a daughter, someone to carry on the family name. But never once had she seen her mother’s face light up like Helen’s at any of Mira’s accomplishments. The boarding schools they shuttled her between didn’t have room mothers. Her parents hadn’t come to watch any of her speech tournaments, or her misbegotten half year on the track team in junior high. They hadn’t even made it to her high school graduation. It conflicted with the Cannes Film Festival, which was a must-see-and-be-seen week of events. She’d hungered for the kind of love Helen described so effortlessly.
“It doesn’t sound like you had any spare time to cook.”
“Oh, I carved out precious moments here and there. As they got older, it grew easier. I was always in the kitchen, tinkering with recipes, putting my own spin on things or dreaming up new ones. Soon my friends not only accepted my odd habit, but they embraced it. I cooked for committee meetings, for birthday parties, first communions, bridal showers, you name it. I even helped out my nephew with an engagement picnic.”
Which reminded Mira about her fast-approaching date. She didn’t want to cut Helen short, but she didn’t want to deprive Sam of the full effects of a leisurely toilette . “What brings you here today?”
“As a proud mother, I’m tickled to report that Noah graduated from Stanford in May, and Lucy’s starting her sophomore year at Cornell. However, woman to woman? Last year was miserable. That empty-nest syndrome you hear about? It is real, and brutal.”
“I’m sorry. You must miss them terribly.” Mira knew it to be true, because she’d witnessed the almost daily calls from Ivy’s mom when they roomed together. Just because her parents lived the mantra out of sight , out of mind didn’t meant that other parents shared their viewpoint.
Helen slid off the stool and began to pace the across the width of the front room. Her footsteps clattered on the hardwood floors, the sound bouncing off the empty walls. “After a quarter of a century, I suddenly had no reason to get up in the morning. No driving force in my life at all. It was a hard adjustment.” She shook her head, hard and fast. “No, to be fair, I didn’t adjust at all. That’s why I’m here.”
“I don’t understand.” Mira slipped off her stool as well, wanting Helen to know they were on an even level. The older woman whirled around, hands at her sides, clenching and unclenching, as though trying to grasp something.
“I don’t want the money.”
Her candidness threw Mira for a
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