There was a noise behind her; Grace turned to find a girl about Hallie’s age toting a toddler in her arms. She had auburn hair, and a smattering of freckles, with food stains trailing down her shirt. “She won’t stay down,” the girl said apologetically, her voice crisp with a British accent. “I’ll just play with her here for a while, if that’s OK?”
“Whatever!” Missy looked entirely unconcerned. “This is Lucy, my new gem of a nanny. She just moved out here, and doesn’t know anyone. Maybe you girls could chat?”
“Sure.” Grace smiled at Lucy, and joined her over by the range. “Welcome to L.A. I’m Grace,” she added.
“Grace, of course.” Lucy lit up. “So lovely to meet you! I’d shake your hand, but . . .” She held the baby up.
Grace grinned, holding up her plate of leftovers. “No need.”
“Missy, babe, before you go, I need some advice.” Amber looked deadly serious. “I have a benefit coming up, and I can’t decide on the right shoes!”
Missy stood. “Black tie, white tie, cocktail, or casual?” she asked, with all the focus of a military sergeant, and followed Amber out of the room.
Grace waited until they were gone, then took their place at the table. “I didn’t know there were so many variables when it came to shoes.” She gave Lucy a friendly smile, remembering what it had been like to venture into rooms full of strangers when she first arrived in town.
“Obviously,” Lucy replied. “That’s not even starting on the open-toe dilemma!”
Grace laughed, assembling her leftovers into a makeshift sandwich. “So you’re from England, huh? That’s a long way from home.”
“I’m on my gap year, before university,” Lucy explained. “I always wanted to travel, and with nannying, I get to go all kinds of places.”
“Sounds like fun.”
Grace turned her attention to her midafternoon snack while Lucy stowed the child in the temporary playpen in the corner. When she looked up, Lucy was sitting across from her, fixing Grace with an unflinching stare.
“I have a confession.”
Grace blinked. “Oh?”
Lucy smiled. “I actually asked Missy to bring me along today, so I could meet you.”
Grace felt embarrassed. Reports of her social standing had clearly been exaggerated. “I’d be happy to show you around, and answer any questions, but I’m not really the social one out here — that’s Hallie. Well.” She paused. “It was.”
“No. That’s sweet of you, but it’s not what I meant.” Lucy smiled again, perky beneath the kind of ruffled bangs Grace could only dream of. “You see, we already have someone in common.”
“We do?”
Lucy leaned closer, confidential. “Teddy Coates.”
Grace stopped. “You know Theo?”
“Very well.” Lucy nodded. “We met over the summer; I was nannying in the Hamptons with my last family.”
“Oh. That’s . . . nice.” Grace swallowed. “I mean, Theo’s a great guy.”
“The best.” Lucy sat back, and gave a little laugh. “This is such a relief! You have no idea what it’s been like for me, having nobody to talk to about this.”
“About what?”
“Teddy!” Lucy gave her a meaningful look. “You know what his family’s like, of course, so we’ve had to keep everything hush-hush. But he always speaks so highly of you, I knew our secret would be safe with you!” She reached across the table and took Grace’s hand, squeezing it. “You won’t tell, will you?”
Grace’s hand felt like deadweight in Lucy’s bony grip. “Tell what?” she ventured, clutching at the faint hope that she was totally misunderstanding the British girl. Lost in translation, it had to be.
“About us, silly!” Lucy beamed at her. “Teddy and I are in love!”
Grace stared at the strange girl in disbelief. Lucy was gazing at her serenely across the kitchen table, a tiny smile playing on the edge of her lips. Grace struggled to respond. “You . . . and Theo . . . You’re . . . ?”
“Lovers,” Lucy replied airily.
Grace choked on a slice of cold chicken. Even worse! “I . . . When . . . ?”
“We dated in secret all summer,” Lucy told her, a romantic sheen to her gaze. “Walks on the beach, trips out on his boat. He swept me off my feet!”
“A summer romance?” Grace asked hopefully.
“At first,” Lucy agreed, “but then we fell in love, and Teddy wouldn’t hear about ending it. He even wanted to transfer to Columbia, to stay close to me, but I couldn’t let him do that, so I found a job out here. It’s still hard.” She sighed. “But we talk all the time, and visit. We’ll make it work, until his family comes around.”
“Right,” Grace said faintly. She felt dizzy, like the earth was shifting beneath her. All this time, Theo had been with someone? In love! Why hadn’t he told her?
“I can trust you, can’t I?” Lucy suddenly looked at her, wide-eyed. “You can’t tell anyone. If this got back to his family . . . I wasn’t supposed to tell anyone but I’ve been dying to share it!”
“Uh-huh.” Grace tried to recover. “I mean, of course. But, why the secrecy?” she asked. “Theo isn’t the kind of guy to sneak around.”
“I know,” Lucy said, her tone sharper. She smiled quickly. “But his family wouldn’t approve, with my being a nanny. You know his grandmother.” She rolled her eyes.
“No,” Grace admitted. “I never met her.”
“That’s right, you haven’t.” Lucy looked smug. “She’s a sweet old lady, but she has all these outdated opinions, about class, and position. It’s all rubbish, of course, but we have to be careful. We don’t want her disinheriting him.”
“She would do that, just for dating you?” Grace frowned.
Lucy laughed. “We’re dating now,” she told Grace, with another smug look. “But this is only the beginning. One day, I’ll be part of the family. See, he gave me this.”
Lucy lifted a pendant over the neckline of her shirt. A simple silver chain, with . . . Grace gasped.
It was her necklace!
The periodic element pendant, the one she’d made for her craft project; the one Theo had helped her pack! He must have taken it instead of putting it in the storage box, and . . . given it to Lucy?