Skinny Dipping (The Au Pairs 2)

"Good girl. Pick you up at seven." Garrett grinned. '"Bye, Ali. Later, Perry," he told Ryan, bouncing the tennis ball on his racket as he disappeared behind the hedges.

Ryan cleared his throat. "Well. Have fun tomorrow night," he said brusquely. "By the way, I think Laurie's in her office," he said, talking to Mara as if she was just one of the many people who worked for the Perrys. He turned back to Allison, helping

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her up from her seat, and the two of them disappeared into the house.

Everything Mara had been hoping for--getting back together with Ryan, the two of them picking up exactly where they'd left off--was dashed before the summer had even begun. But before she could sink any further into her sadness, the ground suddenly began to shake, and Mara looked out to see a silver helicopter land on the lawn, whipping the tall grass to the ground.

An emaciated woman wearing a billowing African muumuu stepped gingerly out of the side door, futilely shielding her hairdo against the wind and yelling at the copilots. Several children tumbled out after her, screaming loudly for their breakfast.

Anna Perry and the Perry kids had finally arrived.

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the perry kids have a lot to learn, and medication to take

ANNA PERRY SAT IN FRONT OF THE GAMING TABLE in the Perrys' state-of-the-art screening room, drumming her fingers against the green felt. Next to her sat Laurie, her fingers poised on a laptop computer. The sixteen-foot-wide projection screen in the front of the room showed a colorful PowerPoint presentation page that displayed PERRY CHILDREN SUMMER GOALS in marquee lettering.

Mara sat across from them, pensive and tense after the early-morning encounter with Ryan and his new girlfriend. Next to her were two empty chairs. Jacqui and Philippe were late. A bearded, bespectacled gentleman in a shabby tweed suit, holding a notebook, sat on Anna's left. Mara wondered who he was.

A slim eleven-year-old girl walked in, a skinny teen Mara had spied leaving the helicopter earlier. She hadn't recognized the girl from far away, but now she could see that she was someone very familiar indeed.

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"Madison!" Mara called. "Hi, sweetie!"

The newly svelte Madison allowed Mara a cool nod. Last summer, Mara had been Madison's champion, defending her against a mean ballet teacher and bucking her up when William teased her. Mara attempted a hug, but Madison stood out of arm's reach.

"Anna, do you like this shirt on me?" Madison asked, turning to whisper in Anna's ear. The little girl with curly hair who favored oversized T-shirts and shorts had grown up to become a Jamie Lynn Spears clone with flat-ironed locks, wearing bootleg jeans and a tight tank top that showed off her midriff.

A few minutes later, Madison kissed the air next to Anna's cheek and pranced out the door, just as Jacqui rushed in, her hair wet, followed closely by Philippe. The two of them seemed to be sharing some secret joke, and Mara noticed Anna's lips pucker at the sight of them.

"Philippe! Vous vous etes bien installe?" Anna said graciously in a perfect French accent.

"Out, madame, il est tres beau ici," he said, giving her the full benefit of his smile.

Anna glowed. "Well, Kevin and I are so glad to have everyone here for the summer," she said grandly. "I take it, Jacqui and Mara, you've met Philippe. Philippe, Jacqui and Mara have worked for us before, so they can fill you in if I forget to mention anything. This will be very short, as I have

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a committee meeting at the Parrish in a few minutes." Anna was forever dropping names and making allusions to various nabobs of Hamptons society, which always went over the heads of the au pairs.

"First, let me introduce you to Dr. Pell Abraham, William's new therapist. Dr. Abraham will be monitoring William for his hyperactivity disorder. Jacqui, I don't need to remind you what happened in Palm Beach. Needless to say, we can't have that happen again. My scars have disappeared with laser therapy, thank God. Laurie, can we have the lights, please?" Anna asked. "First slide. Thank you," she said, as the PowerPoint page gave way to a screen showing a photo of William sticking his tongue out, next to a bullet-pointed list of his "issues." At Anna's direction, Laurie had put together a PowerPoint presentation on the Perry children, as neatly organized and soullessly rendered as a corporate sales pitch.

"As you can all see, we're hoping to send William to Eton next year, and they won't accept him if he fails to qualify due to his mental illness," Anna said, using a laser pointer to highlight the words ADHD disorder -- new prescriptions. "Dr. Abraham will be conducting experiments and focusing on how William's family life affects his condition. Please don't mind him as he sits in on activities or asks questions."

Mara blanched. Not only was Anna getting rid of the kid, she was sending him clear across the ocean. Eton was an elite English boarding school that counted the future king of England as an

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alumnus. Anna had found a way to further her social-climbing aspirations as well as divest herself of her most difficult stepchild. Worse yet, this summer there was going to be some weird doctor following him around and taking notes. That should do wonders for William's behavioral problems.

Laurie clicked the remote, and Zoe's screen came up. "We think it would be wonderful if Zoe learned to speak another language this year. Kevin and I were so pleased when she started reading that Portuguese children's book last summer. But we think she should really branch out to a more . . . ah, historically and culturally rich language. Something a little more challenging. We've chosen Russian. I studied Chekhov in college, and I think it will be wonderful for her to get a head start on the classics."

A seven-year-old studying Russian? How were they going to manage that? Mara had barely passed Spanish. It was just like Anna to choose a language that neither of the foreign-born au pairs spoke.

"As for Cody, Dr. Abraham has alerted me to the fact that he has begun to exhibit warning signs that hint of a borderline personality. So he will also have to be monitored very closely."