then burst into a bigger smile. “Harrison tells me that we’ll be able to know the sex of our child between the eighteenth and twenty-sixth week. As soon as we do, we’ll design the nursery. I hope you will help me do that,” she said. “It’ll be such fun.”
“Oh, I’m not any sort of expert when it comes to designing and decorating.”
She nearly lunged forward to take my hands into hers. “Of course you are. I want you to feel as much a part of this as you wish, Emma. Even years afterward, I would hope you would visit to see him or her, not telling him or her who you really are, of course, but I imagine you’ll be curious, don’t you think?”
She was waiting for my response. I was struggling to find a suitable feeling, a reaction that wouldn’t end with my rushing out of the room and down the stairs. She held her smile, anticipating.
“Of course,” I said, trying to smile. My whole body seemed to tighten, but she was waiting with obvious anticipation. “How could I not be?”
“Exactly.” She let go of my hands. “After all, you’ll be the one who first feels my baby move. And you’ll hear his or her first cry. I haven’t decided yet whether I will be present during the delivery. Harrison and Franklin, Dr. Bliskin, think I should be. I should be standing there with open arms.”
“I imagine you should be,” I said.
“We’ll see. Now, take a shower, a bubble bath, whatever you like. You’ll find some of my clothes hanging in the closet. Choose what you wish to wear. There are shoes to match every dress, skirt, and blouse. The dresser drawers are filled with your underthings and socks. There is a selection of lipsticks in the vanity-table drawer, but I bet I know what you’ll choose.”
“Oh?”
“And this is my favorite perfume,” she said, showing me the bottle. She sprayed it on her wrist and brought it to my nose. “Isn’t it wonderful? Makes you think of the first day of spring.”
“It is nice. Thank you.”
“I’ll give you an hour, okay? I’ll need an hour. It’s been a long day for us both, but a wonderful day, don’t you think? It’s always wonderful when you meet someone you know you will like.”
She hugged me. “Welcome to Wyndemere,” she said, and walked out.
I still hadn’t taken a step. Her words and enthusiasm, and the speed with which I had been rushed here, were altogether so overwhelming. I felt nailed in place, felt like a pawn on a chessboard played in a game with an outcome known years ago.
Moving like someone sleepwalking, I started to unpack the few things I had brought. The bathroom was impressive, big, with a full-size tub and a separate shower stall, marble walls, and floors that, although they were clean to the point of sterilization, nevertheless looked like they were still made of the original building materials. The brass fixtures resembled antiques, in fact.
Towels and washcloths, bubble baths and soaps, shampoos, and all sorts of facial creams were neatly organized on the shelves. I had the feeling that everything in this bathroom was a duplicate of what was in Samantha’s. After all, from what she had told me, I understood that the control of this room and everything in it had been given over to her.
I showered but didn’t wash my hair. Afterward, I sat at the vanity table, wearing the pink silk robe that had been hanging on the bathroom door. I brushed my hair and then looked at the lipsticks. There was a variety of shades of two similar colors, very close to what Samantha had been wearing, which wasn’t that much different from what I usually wore. Thus I understood what she had meant when she said she thought she knew what I would choose. How did she know that?
I went to the closet. When she had told me some of her things were in it, I anticipated three or four dresses, a few blouses, and a few skirts, but the closet, which was almost as wide as my apartment living room, had racks with clothing from one side to the other. Shelves to the right were loaded with shoes, shoe boots, and additional slippers. If this was what she called some of her things for my temporary use, how much did she possess?
When I sifted through the garments, I realized one quarter of the rack was devoted to maternity dresses. As soon