Free Mine Are Spectacular! by Janice Kaplan Page B

eyebrow. Bradford knows how I feel about giving kids too much too soon. Just because you can afford to do everything doesn’t mean you should. Catching my drift, he adds quickly, “Maybe we’ll start with a trip this fall up the Taconic to go apple-picking. Ever done that?”
    â€œYup,” Dylan says disappointed, dreams of the Great Wall dashed by visions of manual labor. “Mommy and I do it every year. Last year I ate so many apples I threw up in the car on the way home.”
    â€œWe won’t let that happen this year,” Bradford promises. “Skylar can keep tabs on you.”
    â€œIt’s going to be fun having her,” I say. “We’re so excited Skylar’s coming home from her summer trip in two days. It’ll be great to be all together.”
    Dylan grunts. Maybe I’m the one looking forward to it. Well, mostly. I’m a little wary of the arrangement—Skylar will be alternating weeks at her mom’s house and ours. But I know we’ll make it work. I have this cockeyed image of a happily blended extended family, with Skylar good-naturedly offering me back-to-school fashion tips. And she’ll be my ticket into all those bubble-gum movies I secretly love but am embarrassed to go see myself. Teens need an adult to get into R-rated flicks. And any self-respecting adult needs a thirteen-year-old girl in tow to fully enjoy
The Princess Diaries.
    â€œSkylar called from Rome today,” Bradford says, clicking his own chopsticks. “She liked the Vatican, but she had more fun at Prada.”
    â€œI wouldn’t worry,” I say. “Some people consider Prada a religious experience.”
    â€œWe’ll get to hear all about it,” Bradford says. He looks at Dylan, who’s avidly working his way—with chopsticks—through a plate of Peking duck. Then he turns to me and shakes his head. “I’m a little worried about Skylar,” he admits. “After two months in Europe with her mother, she sounded sort of nasty about you and me when she called.”
    I nod. “Don’t worry, I’ll win her over,” I say bravely.
    Bradford takes my hand. “Thanks, honey. I’m glad you’re ready for this. Because Skylar may not make it easy.”

Chapter FOUR
    THE PHONE RINGS at two a.m. and Bradford doesn’t stir. What is it about men? Women wake up in the middle of the night because they hear leaves falling off the trees. Guys can sleep through Armageddon and never shift sides.
    I lean across Bradford to pick up the phone. I’ll let him sleep for another fifteen seconds, but I know it’s going to be for him. Probably one of his firm’s brokers in Japan or London or wherever the heck they trade when it’s the middle of the night here, calling with an urgent message. Talk about making money in your sleep.
    But it’s not business. At least not Bradford’s business.
    â€œHi,” Kate says when I grab the receiver. “What’s up?”
    â€œMe, I guess,” I say groggily, rubbing my eyes. “But I wasn’t up before.”
    â€œGlad you are now,” says Kate. “I’ve got a great idea.”
    I sit up and punch the pillows behind my back to settle in. Undisturbed, Bradford rolls over in his sleep and flops a warm arm across my thigh. I lower my voice so as not to wake him, but who am I kidding. He lets out such a loud snore that Kate anxiously asks, “You okay?”
    â€œOf course,” I say. “I’m in bed. Where are you?”
    â€œTortola, British Virgin Islands,” she says, as if I should have known. And I probably should have. How could I have forgotten the bathing suit? My synapses don’t work as quickly as they should at two a.m. Or at forty-one.
    â€œHow’s Owen like the bikini?” I ask.
    â€œLiked it,” Kate says curtly. “For the few minutes he got to see me in it. He had to leave right after we