“Divorce is easier here. I don’t even feel ready for it now. But cheating is not okay, and I’m going to lose all respect for myself if I don’t do something about it.”
“Just make sure it’s what you want. Not what someone else tells you that you should want, or should do.”
“I don’t know if you’re ever sure if you walk away from someone you love. There are always things you love about them. I still love him. I probably will for a long time. But he’s not letting go of Pascale, and the baby complicates everything. He probably loves me too, just not enough to do the right thing.”
“You’re young, Naddie, and beautiful. You’ll find a good guy,” Athena said gently.
“Maybe.” Nadia didn’t look sure. “I think it’s going to be hard to trust anyone again. I thought we had it all sewed up forever, and we were a sure thing. I was wrong.”
Joe came home from the restaurant then. He was at his restaurant every night. And he checked on Athena’s restaurants in Santa Monica at lunchtime. She owned them but rarely went herself. She had managers run them for her, with Joe supervising. Joe was more hands-on at his own restaurant, and catered to an elite clientele who expected him to be there. The success of his restaurant was because he was there himself, watching every detail.
Their week with Joe and Athena flew by, and they were sorry to leave. Both girls were wearing their Minnie Mouse ears from Disneyland when they left, and Laure had a little pink rolling traveling bag with Minnie on it that Athena had bought for her. She was pulling it along behind her with all her treasures in it. Nadia’s eyes were damp when she hugged her sister and thanked her. Then they went through security, waved, and boarded the plane for New York. They were planning to stay with Rose in the city for three days, and then head to Southampton for a week to stay with Venetia and Ben and their children.
Rose was waiting for them when they arrived. Sylvie and Laure told her all about their adventures with Athena, and Rose took them to the office with her the next day. She showed Sylvie and Laure around, explained to them about layouts and photographs, and how they picked the photos to go with a story.
At the end of the tour, Sylvie announced that she wanted to work at a magazine one day, and Laure said she wanted to be a dog doctor, which made them smile. She’d had a ball with Athena’s menagerie.
Rose took the afternoon off and they went to the Statue of Liberty and the top of the Empire State Building. It was turning into a fun summer for them. Their week in the Hamptons with Venetia and Ben’s family was even better. Running on the beach, building sandcastles, wading in the ocean, swimming at their beach club. It was a real vacation. Sylvie and Laure couldn’t keep up with Venetia’s sons. They were too big and rough, but they had fun playing with India, who worshiped them.
Nadia and Venetia took long walks on the beach, talking about life, their businesses, children, and marriages. Venetia was always easy to get along with, and she was protective of her younger sister and smart about many things. She had a good head for business. But what Nadia noticed most was how happy she and Ben were together. They seemed in harmony most of the time and did a lot to help each other. Ben walked on the beach with Nadia too, and told her how sorry he was that Nicolas had behaved so badly and made such a mess of things.
“He has a lot of growing up to do,” he commented. But he doubted that Nicolas would achieve it soon enough for Nadia. He thought she needed someone to share her life with, not someone who put everything on the line, risked all, and created a public scandal. She didn’t disagree with him.
They had agreed to come to the château for the last week of summer vacation, and Olivia said she might come too. Nadia had seen more of her sisters that summer than she had in a long time, and was grateful for it. And she saw her mother in the Hamptons on the weekend, when she came to Venetia’s house for dinner.
They flew back to Paris with their souvenirs and memories. Nadia knew it was a summer she’d never forget, and her family was getting her through it. She was eager to get back to work when she got home. She had an appointment with her lawyer. She was going to try and cut her losses with Nicolas. It had taken her two and a half months to make the decision. But she was ready now. At least she hoped so.
* * *
—
Nicolas came to see the girls the first night they were back, and Nadia left him alone with them. He hadn’t seen them in nearly three weeks, and she didn’t want to interfere. They were tired from the trip and went to bed early. After they did, Nicolas came to see her in her little office. She was going through all the mail that had piled up while she was gone. All of France took vacation in summer, so she knew that nothing important would happen in her absence, and her office kept her informed whenever her clients called.
“It sounds like you had a good trip.” He smiled at her and sat down in a chair across from her desk. He had been in the South the whole time they were gone and had a dark golden tan.
“We did. I’m seeing my lawyer tomorrow,” she said calmly, and he looked surprised.
“Why now?”
“I think it’s time. You’re doing what you’re doing, and I want to get on with my life. I feel like an idiot while you have a whole other life with Pascale.”
“I want to try and put things back together with you after the baby comes,” he said, looking distressed by what she’d said.
“That’s over two months away, and who knows how you’ll feel then. This doesn’t work for me. We’re lying to the girls. It’s not healthy for anyone. It isn’t for you either. You say you want to come back ‘later,’ so you’re not fully engaged with Pascale, even though you’re having a child. You’re trying to hedge your bets with me, in case it doesn’t work out with her. That’s not who I want to be, in your life, mine, or anyone else’s.”
“You’re starting the divorce?” He looked like he was going to cry, and she wanted to, but she was trying to keep the conversation matter-of-fact and as unemotional as she could.
“I want you to move out and get your own apartment.” She didn’t “want” him to, but she thought it was best if he did. She wanted Pascale to never have happened, but they couldn’t turn the clock back, and she was real, and her baby too. “I want to be legally separated from you. The girls need to know the truth. You pretend to live here but you don’t. It’s confusing all of us.” He nodded. He understood what she was saying. Their life had been a disaster for three months, because of him. It would be almost another three until the baby came. “We can figure out the divorce later, but for now we need to face what’s happening. I’m not really part of your life anymore.” Tears filled her eyes and he moved toward her and reached across her desk, but she backed away. “Don’t. Let’s not make this any harder than it already is.”