Chapters (51)
- Cover
- Praise for A Season for Second Chances
- Also by Jenny Bayliss
- Dedication
- One
- Two
- Three
- Four
- Five
- Six
- Seven
- Eight
- Nine
- Ten
- Eleven
- Twelve
- Thirteen
- Fourteen
- Fifteen
- Sixteen
- Seventeen
- Eighteen
- Nineteen
- Twenty
- Twenty-one
- Twenty-two
- Twenty-three
- Twenty-four
- Twenty-five
- Twenty-six
- Twenty-seven
- Twenty-eight
- Twenty-nine
- Thirty
- Thirty-one
- Thirty-two
- Thirty-three
- Thirty-four
- Thirty-five
- Thirty-six
- Thirty-seven
- Thirty-eight
- Thirty-nine
- Forty
- Forty-one
- Forty-two
- Epilogue
- Acknowledgments
- Discussion Guide
- About the Author
- What’s next onyour reading list?
“They’re children, they’re meant to be challenging. If you ask me, Guy needs to grow a pair,” said Ameerah.
Camille smiled.
“I think Charles will be a good father,” Jenna mused, and the others made agreeing noises. Nory thought Charles would make a wonderful father; he was deeply kind-hearted underneath all his bluster—but even if they’d all thought he’d be a terrible father, they were hardly likely to voice it in front of his bride-to-be.
“Maybe I won’t go the nanny route if I decide to have children,” said Ameerah thoughtfully. “Maybe I’ll surprise you all and go full-on smothering parenting. I’ll become the chairwoman of the PTA, a school governor, a carpool legend, and the queen of the school bake sale.”
“Oh my god,” Nory laughed. “Your kids are going to hate you.”
“Oh yeah.” She smiled wickedly. “I will be all up in their grill. I will make attached parenting look slack.”
“I wish Guy had some of your enthusiasm. He’d like the children to go to boarding school like he did.”
“Charles and I have already agreed that there’ll be no boarding school for our children. Depending on my work situation we’ll probably have a nanny, but she won’t live in.”
“I will take my child into court with me and breastfeed while the prosecution makes its case,” Ameerah announced.
“You’re going to be popular with the white male septuagenarian judges,” said Nory.
“Something happens when you have children,” Camille said quietly, more to herself than the others. But there was something in her voice, something bordering on vacant or removed, that made the other women attentive. “I can’t exactly explain it. I’ve continued to work at my business, and it’s doing really well, thank god, but the bigger clients—magazines and stuff—suddenly seem to have less interest in me since I became a mother. They take me less seriously. As though I can’t really be invested in my business or be investible if I have children.”
“It doesn’t surprise me,” Ameerah began. “I talk the talk, but in truth, I dread what it will mean for my career. I’ve known women who have been completely unable to get back in once they’re out.”
“It isn’t just work, though,” Camille continued in that small voice. “I don’t think people see me as whole anymore.” She gave a little awkward half laugh. “My husband certainly doesn’t. Maybe I’m not. Sometimes I catch him looking at me as if he’s wondering what went wrong.”