* * *
I watch from the building’s lobby as Edward’s cab pulls away and disappears into the flow of traffic.
I have three days on my own; three days to decide if I want to be part of this family, three days to work out exactly what Robert’s game is and how I can beat him at it.
25 What the Nanny Saw
Monday 19 December
Samantha Belson looks surprised as I catch her eye across the busy service station cafeteria. Perhaps she was expecting someone different, someone older or less whatever it is I am.
I recognized her as soon as I entered the food court, her once blonde hair now dyed a natural brunette, her petite shoulders bundled up thick against the Pennsylvanian weather. I don’t know where she lives but I agreed to meet her here, at a busy freeway service station, just outside of Philadelphia, a two-hour drive from Manhattan.
Up close she looks younger than her sixty years; good bone structure I guess; a simple, stress-free life. After the Holbecks, I’m sure that’s what she would have wanted.
She rises to shake my proffered hand.
‘Harriet?’
I nod; her guard is still up.
‘It’s Harriet Reed,’ I say, introducing myself formally, and I note she bristles slightly at my British accent – another thing she wasn’t expecting, another potential barrier rising between us. ‘Thank you so much for meeting me,’ I continue, trying to exude a trustworthiness that I have no idea whether I possess. ‘I really appreciate you coming here today. I know it’s a pretty unusual request.’
I pull out my chair and sit, hoping she will do the same, and after a cautionary scan of the cafeteria she does. We face each other, two strangers, across a bright yellow table.
Something about me, or the situation, seems to have settled her enough to make her stay. She must sense I’m no direct threat and it’s glaringly obvious I’m here alone.
‘How did you find me?’ Samantha asks, leaning back into her seat appraisingly.
‘Using a very blunt instrument,’ I answer honestly. ‘I messaged every single Samantha Belson in her sixties that I could find online.’
Samantha chuckles in spite of herself. ‘Fair enough. I suppose it worked. Was I the only one who responded?’
‘No. But you were the only one who responded in the right way. You seemed concerned about being contacted in relation to the family at all, concerned about the questions being asked. The questions wouldn’t really have bothered anyone but you.’
She tenses as she realizes the truth of my words. Her own caution gave her away.
She toys with her empty takeaway cup. ‘Yes, well, no one had mentioned their name to me for years. They were ghosts to me. Ghosts I didn’t want to stir,’ she says, her voice gentle as a primary school teacher’s. ‘So, who exactly are you in all this, Harriet Reed?’ She looks at me with fresh eyes, as interested in what I might have to tell her as I am in what she can tell me.
‘Nobody. Just an observer. With concerns,’ I answer, deciding it’s probably best not to tell her I’m marrying directly into the Holbeck family just yet. ‘I’m not a reporter, or anything like that, if that’s what you’re worried about. I was just concerned about what happened to you after the accident. I thought perhaps something might have happened – after you left their employment.’
‘I see,’ she says, shifting forward in her seat.
‘The Holbecks are an unusual family, we both know that, but it’s hard to know exactly how unusual they are, if you catch my meaning. I needed to see to what extent they stray from the norm.’
Samantha gives a terse laugh that confirms she knows exactly what I’m talking about.