The book opens on the line, “You're
saying my grandmother is a thief?” I thought that meant
this was about someone who traced back families and ancestry and
such. No, the grandmother in question is alive. You see Marine, our
title character, is a teacher who is helping her aunt over the
holidays by working in the aunt's shop. The man who uttered the
opening line, Conrad Wright, is a business tycoon who apparently is
not worried that his grandmother is forgetting things, getting
scarily skinny, and generally looks lonely and sees no need to hire a
companion for her. They use the word companion quite a bit. I'm
waiting for the blue telephone booth to appear out of nowhere.
Marine had meant to get Conrad to hire
someone from an agency to look after his grandmother. Conrad
eventually decides a companion might be a good idea. Grandma does
get in the way around Christmas and whatnot. Since Marine's had
lunch with grandma twice and actually seems to care about her, Conrad
offers her the job. She turns him down. She's just got this
temporary job until she goes back to teaching. Conrad eyes her a
little too much and tells her that she looks more like a student than
a teacher. She calls him on his use of flattery to get what he
wants. He doesn't care. She accepts the position. So, of course,
he has to ask if it was because of his flattery. No, of course not!
She decided that she'd do it when he said that Grandma got in the
way. ...which was several sentences ago and she could have taken the
job earlier if that was her thought.
Anyway, Conrad doesn't like being
called out on saying his grandma was in the way, so he asks Marine if
abandoning her aunt is really okay. Marine elaborates that she's not
really needed at the shop. Conrad asks if that means she's in the
way like his grandma. Her response: “If it makes you happy to
think so, then, yes, you're probably right.” Then they haggle
about time commitment. She wants a Monday through Friday, 9-5 deal,
but Conrad says that if he's getting a companion for his grandma,
it'll be a 24/7 deal. Marine says she has an apartment and has no
need to stay at his house, where Grandma lives. They talk about
traffic and driving times and finally Conrad talks her into a
compromise, which really isn't. She'll drive out to their house on
Monday, stay the week, and decide about it then. Well, fine. She'll
be there around 10. Conrad tells Marine he'll be looking forward to
seeing her. She shoots back that she'll be looking forward to seeing
his grandmother.
Conrad's an ass, and I really don't
want her to fall for him, but this is a romance novel. During their
exchange, her heart kept beating faster and she was blushing and
such. They're gonna bang. And end up together. And I'm sure that
something will come along to make him not seem like an asshole. Of
course, that'll have to be a pretty impressive something. You'll see
why in a bit.
By the way, I'm pretty sure this is set
in Australia. The first scene takes place in downtown Sydney,
there's a lot of talk about being on the coast, and Marine mentions
the bush versus the coast when she's driving later. Wait. If this
is happening in Australia, the potential for awesome just got much
higher. Everything there is trying to kill people. (Yes,
everything.) So, we could have Marine as a weapons expert taking out
giant, poisonous spiders. Or maybe the grandma has throwing knives
to cut poisonous snakes in half lengthwise as they open their mouths
to bite. A girl can dream.
That night Marine is having dinner with
her aunt, uncle, and two cousins, like they do every Friday night.
It takes until dessert for the aunt to ask about the meeting with
Conrad Wright. Marine tells her all about it. Uncle is distressed
that Marine will be staying in Conrad's house when he has that kind
of reputation with the ladies. A cousin breaks in that Marine is 23
and Conrad has to be at least 32 so they're not kids. Huh. Their
ages are the reverse of each other. Also, why is the age difference
often this large in romance novels? Not that people 9 years apart
shouldn't date, it just seems to always be that way. Never, like, 2
years. Weird. Anyway, the family agrees that, whatever the
circumstances, Mrs. Wright needs someone to look after her.
So, Marine spends the weekend getting
her flat ready for her to not be in it, and makes the drive up the
coast to the Wright estate. I hope she doesn't find the wrong one.
(Don't worry. The puns come free of charge.) I just realized, he's
Mr. Wright! Now I really hope they don't end up together,
just to break the expectation. Then again, romance novels generally
like to play inside the lines of genre. Anyway, Marine is wondering
what type of house she'll find. Perhaps it'll be infested with
deadly plants! But really, they exist in Australia too. Just as she
thinks she's missed the house, Marine sees a sign for the Wright
estate, and she turns onto the driveway.
Oh, hey. A gorgeous, giant seaside
house with a gardener outside. How unexpected. Marine gets herself
and her suitcase to the door and uses the giant knocker. A middle
aged housekeeper named Flora answers and lets Marine inside. She
mentions something about how she doesn't think Mrs. Wright needs a
companion, but then again it's a lot to ask keeping this whole place
clean and looking after grandma. Then Flora goes to find Annie so
Annie can show Marine to her room. While Marine is waiting, she
notices how incredibly dirty the house is. Wow. What awful maids.
Yes, there are just two of them for this giant house, which is kinda
dumb, but everywhere is dusty and dirty, and also covered in
priceless antiques. Well, except Marine's room. There's pink
everywhere, even pink velvet curtains, and it's all clean.
Apparently, it took all weekend to clean it.
Annie tells Marine where Mrs. Wright's
room is. Marine asks where Mrs. Wright, herself, is. Probably in
her room. “Old Mrs. Wright never goes out of her room unless it's
necessary.” The stairs are hard for her and Annie and Flora have
so much cleaning to do they can't possibly be around to help her with
them. Or something. Also, Flora had directed not to tell Mrs.
Wright when Marine arrived because she knew Mrs. Wright would only
get in the way. What a terrible place to live. It's certainly
poisonous emotionally, if not necessarily with all sorts of critters.
Also, Annie guesses that Mrs. Wright is probably napping because
that's all she seems to do. It's not-quite 10:30 AM. Marine asks to
be told when Mr. Wright gets back, no matter how late it is. Annie
agrees and walks out of the room. Marine waits for Annie to leave
the hallway, then goes and knocks on Mrs. Wright's door.
She was not napping, after all.
However, her room was dark and stuffy. At first Mrs. Wright doesn't
recognize Marine, but when Marine introduces herself, Mrs. Wright
remembers her. She's so touched that someone actually cares about
her. Poor thing. After getting permission, Marine opens the drapes
and the windows to air out the room, which is filthy. Mrs. Wright is
also still in her bathrobe with uncombed hair. I guess if Flora and
Annie don't take care of the house, why would they feel compelled to
take care of someone in it?
Marine asks if Conrad ever visits Mrs.
Wright in her room. Mrs. Wright is shocked at the idea. Then Marine
notices the burnt toast that Mrs. Wright has picked at for breakfast.
I'm ready to lay another fault at Flora and/or Annie's door, but
Mrs. Wright made her own breakfast. Look at the microwave and stuff
Conrad put in her room so she wouldn't be a bother to anyone! Isn't
it wonderful? Marine looks at the meager food supplies Mrs. Wright
has, and sees a cockroach in her pantry. Marine slams the door shut.
She tells Mrs. Wright she's very glad to be there and that she's
going to be making changes.
So, you were wondering what else Conrad
had done to make me dislike him when he wasn't even in that part of
the chapter. He did nothing about Flora and Anna, for starters. I'm
guessing it'll come out that him employing them will be some sort of
very sweet act that allows something good to happen somewhere else,
but he really needs to talk to them about actually doing the job
they're paid to do. Also, he truly must not care about his grandma
at all. Also, also, if there's one cockroach in Mrs. Wright's room,
the whole mansion is probably infested. That'll be a hefty
exterminator bill.
My guesses for the next chapter: Marine
will angrily confront Conrad about living conditions for his grandma
and the state of the house. Conrad will say something disarming that
makes Marine blush, but not forget her anger, damn it. Then a sea
monster will rise from the depths and beach itself just outside the
Wright estate. Grandma will go charging down the beach, fight it,
kill it, and cook it up for dinner.
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