Adding Up To Family

“Very well, I think. And you’re right,” Becky added with a smile as she sat down on her sofa. “His daughter does remind me of me when I was her age.”

Celia immediately got to the heart of the matter. “Did you have any trouble getting along with Stephanie?”

Celia wanted to make sure that Becky was happy with this choice. Even if she felt she had brought the right two people together, she didn’t want to impose her will on either of them, especially not on a young woman she had grown particularly fond of over the last three years.

“It was a little awkward at first,” Becky admitted. She tucked her legs under her. “I think that’s because she’s had a few less-than-satisfying relationships with the housekeepers her father hired in the past. But it didn’t take me much time to get her to open up just a little. More will take a while,” Becky freely admitted. “After all, the process does require time, but I feel like we’ve made a really good start.”

“I’m so very glad to hear that,” Celia told her. “But to be honest, I also hear something else in your voice.”

Becky wasn’t sure she understood what the woman was getting at. She didn’t want to jump to any conclusions. “Mrs. Parnell, I don’t think that I under—”

“I hear some hesitation in your voice, Becky,” Celia told her honestly. “Is there anything wrong?”

The woman’s concern was gratifying, Becky thought. But she was quick to set her mind at ease. “Oh no, not with them,” she assured her employer.

“Well, whatever’s wrong is certainly not with you,” Celia responded. “But I can tell that there’s something bothering you...”

Becky sighed. Since the woman was asking, she didn’t try to put her off. That would be lying. “To be honest, it’s about my apartment.”