The Trouble With Quarterbacks - R.S. Grey Page 0,71
with a few books—”
“What?” Erin groans and cuts her off. “You know how much that throws off our entire day. Now she’s going to be cranky for the whole afternoon.” She reaches out to snatch the lunchbox from Candace and then looks to me as if I’m going to back her up on this. What the fuck?
Candace’s smile falls. “I know. I did try to have her lie down, but she must have been too energized. She did rest for a bit when I rubbed her back.”
“You see—that’s just it! You coddle her, so it’s no surprise she doesn’t want to go to sleep. At home, we turn out the lights and shut the door. She goes to sleep just fine.”
“Hey, I think you should maybe ease up a bit.”
Erin’s eyes slice to me like I’m Public Enemy No. 1 now. “Are you kidding me? Now I’m getting advice from you?”
“Mommy, Ms. Candace did tell me to lie down—”
Erin yanks the door open and grabs Margaux’s hand tightly. “I don’t want to hear it. You have Mandarin lessons this afternoon and piano. How are you going to concentrate now? Hmm?”
They wander off down the hall as Erin continues berating her young daughter, and I feel sorry for the kid.
I shake my head in disbelief as I look back to Candace. “That was…”
I’m at a loss for words.
Candace only shrugs and tries to play it off. “Unfortunately, quite common. Welcome to parenting on the Upper East Side.”
“Jesus. Mandarin? She’s what, three?”
“Oh, that’s how it goes. Every child here is learning at least one other language, some of them two. Mika can speak nearly perfect French. It’s lovely.”
She smiles then, forcing it, but I can tell Erin really rattled her. It’s not a surprise. No one should speak to another human like that.
“Margaux’s mommy is so mean. Ms. Candace is nice! She rubs my back when I can’t fall asleep too!” Briggs says, going over to wrap his arm around Candace’s leg. It’s difficult with all the toilet paper, but Candace leans down to embrace him.
“And don’t you worry, I’ll keep doing it.”
“Good. Don’t listen to that mean lady,” he tells her emphatically.
“I agree,” I say, aiming an apologetic smile her way. “Briggs, how about you and I ask Ms. Candace if she wants to come to dinner with us?”
“Like a date?!” he exclaims, his eyes going wide. “I’ve always wanted to go on a date!”
I laugh. “What do you know about dates?”
“A lot!” he claims. “I know all about them! First you have to ask out the person you like.” He turns to Candace. “That’s you. Then if the person says yes, you have to get a babysitter, and you can’t just go in your regular clothes. You have to be very fancy and nice if you want to go on a date.”
“Wow. You do know a lot about it,” I add, and he grins proudly.
“And then after the babysitter comes, you can leave and eat oysters and drink campaign.”
“Drink what?” I ask, wondering if I heard him right.
“Campaign! Like the stuff grown-ups put in those cups that Mom says I can’t touch or I’ll get in trouble.”
“I think you mean champagne,” Candace says gently.
He stomps his foot in annoyance. “That’s what I said!”
“Right, well, that sounds very lovely. I’d love to join you,” Candace says, a blush forming on the tops of her cheeks. She’s looking down at Briggs instead of me, and I wonder if it’s due to nerves.
She explains she still has to finish with pick-up and then clean up her classroom. I ask her when she’ll be done, and we promise to meet her out in front of the school then.
When we leave, Briggs insists we have to go get really dressed up while we wait for Candace to finish. There’s a kids’ clothing store on our walk home, and it’s a good excuse to duck away from the photographers out on the street.
Briggs marches right up to the clerk behind the counter and speaks with very enunciated words. “Excuse me, I am going on a date. I need to be fancy. Like a prince.”
The shopkeeper looks to me for confirmation, and I nod in agreement.
“Of course, right this way. I think I have just the thing for you,” he says to Briggs, talking to him like he’s his most loyal customer.
Briggs follows after the man until we make it to the back corner of the shop where there are outfits for kids to wear to weddings,