The Housemaid(28)

He rubs his eyes with his fingertips. “Not really.”

“Do… do you want to talk about it?”

“Not really.” He squeezes his eyes shut for a moment. He lets out a sigh. “It’s not going to happen for us. Nina is not going to get pregnant.”

My first reaction is surprise. Not that I know much about it, but I can’t quite believe that Nina and Andrew aren’t able to pay their way out of this dilemma. I swear I saw on the news that a sixty-year-old woman got pregnant.

But I can’t say that to Andrew. They just saw one of the leading fertility specialists. There’s nothing I know that this person doesn’t. If he said Nina won’t get pregnant, that’s that. There’s not going to be a baby. “I’m so sorry, Andrew.”

“Yeah…” He rakes a hand through his hair. “I’m trying to be okay with this, but I can’t say I’m not disappointed. I mean, I love Cecelia like she’s my own, but… I wanted… I mean, I always dreamed of…”

It’s the deepest conversation we’ve ever had. It’s kind of nice that he’s opening up to me. “I understand,” I murmur. “It must be so hard… for both of you.”

He looks down at his lap. “I need to be strong for Nina. She’s devastated about this.”

“Is there anything I can do?”

He’s quiet for a moment, running his finger along a crease in the leather of the sofa. “There’s this show Nina wants to see in the city—she keeps mentioning it. Showdown. I know it would give her a lift if we got tickets. If you could ask her for some dates and book orchestra seats, that would be great.”

“Done,” I say. I can’t stand Nina for lots of reasons, but I can’t imagine what it must be like to get this news—my heart goes out to her.

He rubs his bloodshot eyes again. “Thanks, Millie. I honestly don’t know what we would do without you. I’m sorry about the way Nina treats you sometimes. She’s just a little temperamental, but she really does like you and appreciates your help.”

I’m not entirely sure that’s true, but I’m not going to argue with him. I’m going to have to keep working here until I’ve saved up a reasonable amount of money. And I’m just going to have to do my best to make Nina happy.





EIGHTEEN





That night, I wake up to the sound of shouting.

The attic is incredibly well insulated, so I can’t hear anything being said. But there are loud voices coming from below my room. A male voice and a female voice. Andrew and Nina.

Then I hear a crash.

Instinctively, I roll out of bed. Maybe it’s none of my business, but something is going on down there. I have to at least make sure everything is okay.

I put my hand on the doorknob to my room, and it doesn’t turn. Most of the time, I’m used to the fact that the door sticks. But every once in a while, I get a jab of panic. But then the knob shifts under my hand. And I’m out.

I descend the creaky steps to the second floor. Now that I’m out of the attic, the shouting is much louder. It’s coming from the master bedroom. Nina’s voice, yelling at Andrew. She sounds almost hysterical.

“It’s not fair!” she cries. “I did everything I could and—”

“Nina,” he says. “It’s not your fault.”

“It is my fault! If you were with a younger woman, you could have a baby like you want! It’s my fault!”

“Nina…”

“You’d be better off without me!”

“Come on, don’t say that…”

“It’s true!” But she doesn’t sound sad. She sounds angry. “You wish I were gone!”

“Nina, stop it!”

There’s another loud crash from inside the room. Followed by a third crash. I take a step back, torn between knocking on the door to make sure everything is okay and wanting to scurry back to my room and hide. I stand there several seconds, paralyzed by my indecision. Then the door is yanked open.

Nina is standing there in the same lily-white nightgown she was wearing the night she caught me and Andrew in the living room. But now I notice a streak of crimson on the pale material, starting at the side of her hip and running down the length of the skirt.

“Millie.” Her eyes bore into me. “What are you doing here?”

I look down at her hands and see the same crimson is all over her right palm. “I…”

“Are you spying on us?” She arches an eyebrow. “Are you listening to our conversation?”

“No!” I take a step back. “I just heard a crash and I was worried that… I wanted to make sure everything is okay.”

She notices my gaze directed at what I’m almost sure is a blood stain on her gown. She looks almost amused by it. “I just cut my hand a bit. Nothing to worry about. I don’t need your help.”

But what was going on in there? Is that really why there’s blood all over her nightgown? And where is Andrew?

What if she killed him? What if he’s lying dead in the middle of the bedroom? Or worse, what if he’s bleeding to death right now, and I have a chance to save him? I can’t just walk away. I may have done some bad things in my life, but I’m not going to let Nina get away with murder.