They had lunch in an outdoor dining room they used in the summer, next to the pool, and after lunch they all went swimming. Then the grown-ups went for a walk, and the housekeeper kept an eye on Sylvie and Laure at a table near the pool.
“Do you think they’re talking about how mad she is at Papa?” Laure whispered to Sylvie, as she scribbled in a coloring book, and Sylvie shrugged.
“Don’t tell Mama I told you that, or she’ll get mad at me,” Sylvie told her, wishing that she hadn’t, but she knew that Laure was worried too. Their father seemed to be away a lot these days. He never did that except when he was helping to make a movie of one of his books, and he wasn’t doing that at the moment. He said he was going to start another book, but he never went anywhere and hardly left the house once he did, so they knew he wasn’t writing.
“The girls seem to be doing okay,” Venetia commented as the four sisters walked down one of the tree-lined paths on the grounds. There were tall shade trees overhead. The women were relaxed after their lunch and a swim afterwards.
“I think they feel that something is off, they just don’t know what it is,” Nadia said quietly. “Nicolas is gone most of the time now. I think Sylvie suspects something.”
“He should be gone all the time,” Olivia said through pursed lips. “He should move out.”
“That’s a big statement to the kids,” Venetia said cautiously. “I think you’re right to take it in stages,” she said moderately.
“Why? Why drag it out?” Olivia countered, then turned to Nadia. “He’s involved with another woman, they’re having a baby. He doesn’t belong in your home anymore.”
“Maybe not for me. But he’s still their father. It’s going to be a huge change for the girls when he moves out. Laure is only seven, and they worship him. And no matter what he’s done now, he’s still a wonderful father.”
“They’ll have to get used to it.” Olivia wouldn’t temper her position. “They’re old enough to understand. They must have friends with divorced parents, even in France.”
“I want to make this as easy as I can for them,” Nadia said, and Olivia looked at her sharply.
“For them, or for yourself? Are you just trying to leave the door open so he can come back if he breaks up with the girl?”
“He hasn’t even left yet,” Nadia said quietly.
“That’s my point. You should have thrown his ass out after Cannes. What are you waiting for, Nadia? She’s having a baby, and it sounds like he’s almost living with her.”
“I’m just not ready to take such huge steps. I need time to get used to this too.”
“Do you want him back?” Athena interrupted both of them. It was probably the most important question of all.
“I haven’t decided. He did a stupid thing once years ago. It was just a one-night stand. I was pregnant. I didn’t want to end our marriage, and he felt terrible about it. I stayed and he never did it again. This is different. He’s up to his neck in it. At first I just thought it was a horrible indiscretion, a moment of madness, and we could recover from it. I’m not so sure of that now. In fact, I’m sure we can’t. The whole world knows about it. The baby will tie him to Pascale forever, even if they don’t stay together. And even after spending half my life here, I don’t think I’m French enough to live with this and pick up where we left off. It’s just not possible. I loved him so much. Now I’m not sure what I think, or how I feel. It’s like there’s too much noise in my head to know what I want.”
“You can’t love a man who has made a laughingstock of you,” Olivia said coldly. “That’s pathetic. You should hate him by now.”
“I don’t,” Nadia said honestly. She was a gentle soul, and not given to extreme reactions like her sister.
“I’d leave Harley in a hot minute if he cheated on me.” They could see she meant it. Olivia took no shit from anyone. She was a rigid, uncompromising person, even in matters of the heart. She was a colder person than her younger sister.
“I’m not sure what I’d do,” Venetia said thoughtfully, as they turned back on the path and headed toward the château. Of all of them, she seemed to have the best marriage, although Nicolas and Nadia had seemed close to it. “I love Ben so much, it would break my heart. I’m not sure I’d go so far as to divorce him, maybe for the kids’ sake, but I don’t think I’d ever feel the same about him again.” She was trying to imagine herself in Nadia’s shoes, and had a hard time doing it. At the thought of it, a shiver ran down her spine. She hoped Ben would never cheat on her, and, in spite of all her exuberance and joie de vivre, she thought it would kill her and she’d go dead inside. The idea of losing the life and man she loved was unbearable, just as it was for Nadia now. Nadia still felt dazed and numb. She felt as though she’d been underwater since the Festival in Cannes. “What would you do?” Nadia asked Athena, who had just picked a wildflower from the side of the path and was twirling it in her hand.
“That’s what my carving knives are for. That’s why I always keep them with me.” She had a professional set in a fancy case that was her prize possession. Her sisters laughed at her response, and then she grew serious.
“I honestly don’t know what I’d do if Joe cheated on me and knocked someone up. We’re not married, but we might as well be. He’s not just my lover, he’s my best friend. We’re partners in everything we do, we give each other advice. We insist that we’re separate people because we’re not married, but I’m not sure that’s true. We’re so much in harmony with each other, sometimes we say the same thing at the same time, or come to the same conclusion about a project. Sometimes we even show up dressed alike, which is really weird. We love the same food, same people. It all works. I think if I found out he was cheating on me, it would destroy me. And the bitch of it is I love Nicolas. He’s part of our family now. I’d love to sit down with him and ask him what the fuck he’s doing. It sounds like he went nuts for a minute, and now he’s stuck with the massive consequences of it.”
“He feels terrible about it,” Nadia said, grateful for Athena’s more temperate point of view.
“He should have thought of that before he got into bed with her,” Olivia said harshly. Her brief time as a judge hadn’t made her any softer. In fact, she had gotten noticeably tougher since she’d been on the bench. Harley was a hardline guy too. He was older and politically conservative. Nadia didn’t know what Olivia’s excuse was. She definitely made her younger sister feel like a total failure because she wasn’t being harder on Nicolas and didn’t feel ready to rush into a divorce. Nadia had never been an indecisive person, but this was the biggest decision she had ever had to face, and she wanted to do the right thing for herself and her daughters. Their mother was leaning more in Olivia’s direction, Nadia knew, although Rose was more compassionate for all concerned.