“What time do I need to say goodbye to Flynn?” Ted asked.

“James is taking them to the marina at 11:30. The EAs will give you a time check at 11:15.”

“Holly’s a little worried about Milo and Spencer being a bad influence on Flynn. They’ve gotten in trouble a couple times at school, though it’s hard to tell what that actually means. She wonders if we’re not being strict enough with Flynn. What do you think?”

Zanne didn’t like getting involved in parenting quandaries, but when Ted asked a question, it wasn’t rhetorical. What could she say? She knew that Flynn’s friends vaped; Ilya had seen them sucking on their devices when he waited for Flynn after school. The nanny had searched Flynn’s backpack but so far hadn’t found a device or a JUULpod, so Erin and Dawn had agreed it was best not to alarm Holly and Ted. Still, it didn’t take a child psychologist to see that Flynn was growing up, becoming both more secretive and bolder. He’d cut gym class twice last semester, correctly guessing that his parents wouldn’t consider that a real violation because they only cared about academics. How Ted could walk clear-eyed through the moral blight of the entertainment industry and still have these blind spots about the contradictory nature of the ones he loved, was a mystery. Still, Zanne knew Ted’s questions wouldn’t go away. The smart bet was to provide a different perspective than Erin or Dawn or the nanny or any of the other type As around here. Not every little thing was cause for panic.

“When I was around Flynn’s age, I misbehaved,” Zanne said. “Nothing major, but my father got called into the principal’s office once or twice.”

“No, Zanne. Not you.” It should have been a joke, but it wasn’t. He sounded sincerely surprised.

“Yes.”

She didn’t say that it was the year her mother died, and that up until then she hadn’t been out of California before, hadn’t known this man she’d been sent to live with. Noah Fineman was a stranger, married to someone else and with two other daughters who called him Dad like it was the easiest thing in the world. He and Zanne had clashed badly. He’d died when she was twenty-eight, and in many ways, it was as if her life had started over then. She went to rehab again; it had taken her three tries over six years, but finally it stuck. She left academia and got the job with Ted and came back to LA.

“Well, you turned out great. Thanks, Zanne.”