The Au Pairs (The Au Pairs 1)

Mara's eyes widened at the view--it was amazing. Eliza picked at her cuticles--she'd been a guest at the house before, and besides, the Thompsons' old place had almost the same view (maybe even better since their next-door neighbors, a prominent Hollywood actor and his starlet wife, had liked to sunbathe nude on their terrace). Jacqui yawned--the sight didn't hold a candle to the golden beaches of Angra dos Reis in Costa Verde. No one braved a comment on the seagullicide program.

The house smelled sweet but slightly suffocating. Immense bouquets of freshly cut flowers were placed everywhere in carefully considered arrangements. The sculpted glass coffee table was decorated with a spray of fat, blooming, Georgia-peach-colored roses in a crystal decanter. Matching sideboards spilled over with hollyhocks, irises, and calla lilies, and an enormous Ming vase in the foyer held a magnificent cluster of six-foot-tall acid-yellow sunflowers.

Laurie's cell phone rang with a piercing shrill. "Laurie here!

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Anna, hi! Yes, they've made it! No, I didn't see an invitation from Calvin Klein yet. Oh, okay. I'll try." She shut the phone off and told , "Anna says hi!"

She led them to the kitchen, an airy, light-filled rustic wood room with shiny marble countertops and no visible appliances. Laurie breathlessly explained that the cabinets were cut from original floorboards salvaged from an eighteenth-century French chateau. To keep the serenity of the line, the refrigerator, freezer, and dishwasher had been recessed and built into the antique cabinets. Oh. My. God. Mara kept having to remind herself to close her gaping mouth.

The kitchen led to a formal dining room that could easily seat thirty. An immense baroque chandelier hung from the double- height space. Next to it was a second dining room for everyday meals and a breakfast room with a "cozy" nook. The first floor also had an indoor lap pool, a yoga studio, and a fully equipped Nautilus gym. The billiards room was a by-the-book re-creation of King George's library, complete with a first edition Shakespeare folio underneath a locked glass case. Laurie caressed the glass as if it were her own treasure.

On their way to the back exit they bumped into Ryan, who was holding a book and climbing up the stairs. "How'd you like the renovation?" he asked. "The house certainly didn't look like this last year," he added a little wistfully.

"It's very nice," Mara said politely.

Ryan winked. "Laurie, don't forget to tell them about the

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mirror in the bathroom. It's an exact reproduction of Marie Antoinette's!" he said with mock enthusiasm.

The girls' expectations shot up when Laurie told them the house contained several guest bedrooms. Now, that was more like it. Eliza hoped she would get the same room she'd had when she visited last summer while the Thompson's house was being fumigated. But the preternaturally perky assistant led them outside, all the way to the servants' quarters--a small, tidy cottage a good five-minute walk away, where they were deposited in a small room on the topmost landing.

It couldn't have been more different from the main house. The attic bedroom consisted of a bunk bed, one single bed, two bureaus, a ratty armchair, one bathroom, and a lone lightbulb hanging from the ceiling.

A spider made its way across the grimy carpet, the lone occupant to welcome them to their new home.

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don't worry, girls, this is a oartnershio

"Twenty thousand square feet and all three of us have to share one godforsaken room?" Eliza griped, smoking out of the tiny attic window.

Mara kept silent, unpacking her suitcase. Since Eliza had taken the single bed and Jacqui the top bunk, she had been left with the claustro-inducing bottom bunk, but she wasn't going to complain. She was still flabbergasted by the size of the estate. (Twelve acres, Laurie had told them in a hushed tone.) Mara didn't realize real people actually lived this way--that marble bathrooms the size of her whole house weren't just something you could find in an episode of The Fabulous Life Of ... on VH-1 or something out of an It's Good to Be ... special on E! As far as she could tell, the Perrys weren't famous, but they were sure loaded.

"Eh." Jacqui shrugged. "What can we do? Is not like we have choice," she said, borrowing Eliza's cigarette to light her own.

"Could you guys not smoke in here?" Mara asked, waving her hands in dismay.

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Eliza blew a smoke ring in response.

A rap on the door caused the two girls to stub out their cigarettes on the soles of their shoes. Eliza kicked the butts under the bed. "Come in!" she said brightly.

A maid in a black-and-white uniform peeked into the room. "Mrs. Perry calling. Follow me, pliss."

The three of them were led to the backyard, a stunning

expanse of greenery surrounding an Olympic-sized pool that flowed into a small waterfall, emptying into a bubbling Jacuzzi tub. Mara spied tennis courts in the distance, a putting green, and a basketball court. Back home in Sturbridge, their backyard was a sliver of brown, fenced in on each side by chicken wire. There were several chairs rotting from too many winters left outdoors and an ancient hibachi by a dying maple tree.

Several kids were chasing each other with Super Soakers on the patio, and a little boy with water wings was running between everyone's legs, screaming. In the middle of the chaos stood a slim, frosted blonde in a metallic gold bikini and stiletto mules.

"Cody! Stop making that noise! Stop it! Let go of my leg ... let go of my leg!" She wrenched his tiny baby hands from a bronzed calf the size of a chicken wing."Ugh." The woman grimaced in distaste. She straightened up, only to be met by a nineyear-old boy wielding a loaded water gun.

"GOTCHA!" The kid squealed.