“Not me,” said Charlie. “From what Mom has told me, I want to be like Gram.”
The girls arrived fifteen minutes early to MOMA, having effectively traversed through the subway system with Emily’s phone app. Spencer and Mark were waiting inside the lobby. Anne trailed behind the other four, who conversed easily about the artwork. Charlie loved a huge picture of a man that was made up of thousands of tiny photographs of other people. Emily loved everything in the Impressionist exhibit.
“I can’t believe I’m actually looking at ‘Starry Night,’” said Emily. “It’s a lot smaller than I thought it would be. Look. People are taking pictures of it. I thought you weren’t supposed to. They just kind of wait ‘til the guard wanders off.”
“Maybe it’s okay as long as you don’t use a flash,” suggested Spencer.
“I’ll get you next to the painting.” Charlie pulled out her phone and took a picture of Emily standing by the famous painting.
“Ma’am,” said a guard who happened to pass by. “Picture-taking is not allowed.”
“Okay, sorry,” said Charlie, giggling.
Emily, totally mortified, gave a scathing look toward Charlie. And both boys stifled laughter. Charlie immediately posted it on the internet. “It’s not like they’re going to put us in jail.”
Anne stood for a long time looking at the Monet paintings. He was her favorite. She loved the colors and the peaceful impact of the artwork. In contrast to the Van Gogh, the Monet’s were huge, covering entire walls.
As the group moved through the museum, Spencer seemed to be spending more time near Emily, while Mark was talking to Charlie. Anne was surprised that the pairs were reversed from her prediction. But both pairs seemed to enjoy a good bit of verbal sparring, and Anne congratulated herself on a successful matchmaking effort, at least for the span of the day.
Arriving back in the museum lobby, Anne said, “I wanted us to do a tour of some kind, double-decker bus, maybe. But it’s kind of late, I guess.”
“Hey,” Spencer said. “We should all go on the Twilight Tour. It’s a boat that takes you on the Hudson. I think it costs about thirty bucks. Is that too much?”
“Since we got theater tickets for free, we could afford that,” said Anne, glancing at the girls to see if the idea was agreeable.
“I’m gonna want a warmer coat and a hat, if we’re out on the water at night,” said Emily.
Spencer quickly checked out the departure time. “If you hurry, you’ve just got enough time to go back and change. But you’ll need to catch a cab.”
Anne and the girls took a cab back to the apartment. Rayna was still at the lobby desk. “Hey what are you guys up to?”
“We’re going on a twilight cruise on the Hudson River. We just came home to change into warmer clothes.”
“And we’re going with Mark and Spencer,” said Charlie. “Mom’s really trying hard on this matchmaking thing.”
“Charlie, I didn’t plan for y’all to be together all day. That just happened.”
“Mom,” said Emily. “If we didn’t like spending time with them, we would’ve ditched them a long time ago. You know that.”
“Yes, it’s true. You’re both pretty good at ditching guys—much better than you are at keeping them. We’ve got to hurry. Will we have any trouble getting a cab?” she asked Rayna.
“Probably no trouble. You might have to go around the corner. Or I can call one for you.”
“That’s a great idea. Fifteen minutes?”
“Done.”
Seventeen minutes later, a breathless Anne returned to the lobby. “The girls are almost ready. Is our cab already here?”
“No,” said Rayna. “I got you a limo instead. Is that okay?”
Anne’s face fell. “Oh Rayna, I don’t think we can afford—”
“It’s free,” said a voice from behind her, “if I can tag along.”
Anne turned to find Gherring sporting a congenial smile. He must’ve forgiven her for the Henri thing.