“We’re not farmhouse chic, Toby,” she’d said. “We’re going for mid-cench here.” He remembered that specific day, when she’d hired a decorator (“I’m actually called an interior designer”), a thick-ankled penguin of a woman named Luc, to come in and assess their design situation in the apartment in the city. She went through binders with Toby and Rachel and soon determined that (a) Toby had no interest or authority and was only there to prevent the kids from interrupting; and (b) after a series of flash card questions, Rachel’s preferred style was midcentury modern. “You’re mid-cench!” the
...more
