“Well, you have plans now. I just opened a new restaurant two weeks ago. You have to try it. Dinner at nine?” He still liked eating late, and then he had another thought. “Please tell me you don’t have a husband with you.” He sounded hopeful and she laughed.
“I don’t have one.”
“Wonderful news.” She hadn’t seen him in twenty years, and he made it seem as though it was yesterday. He had always been an open, breezy, friendly person. He was perfect for the restaurant business, and people loved him, especially women. But he could be a man’s man too, when he had to be. She was glad she’d called him. And she had been reminded again that afternoon that Chicago was a small but sophisticated city. She had a feeling his new restaurant was going to be fancy. She stopped at Neiman Marcus on the way back to the hotel to see if she could find something dressier to wear that night than anything she had brought with her. She was traveling light, and everything she had was casual.
She found a perfect, simple, short black silk dress that showed off her legs, still one of her best features, and a pair of Manolo Blahnik black suede pumps with a low heel, the right height to work with her cast. She looked elegant when she tried the dress on and it fit perfectly. And she had a simple black jacket with her that would be perfect with the dress if it was chilly.
She was impeccably put together when Jacques picked her up at the hotel a few minutes before nine. She was wearing her still-blond hair loose, past her shoulders. She had it colored, but whatever gray she had blended in with the blond and you couldn’t see it.
Jacques jumped out of the car as soon as he saw her. He was driving a dark blue convertible sports model Bentley. She grinned when she saw it, and he rushed over to give her a big hug and kiss her. He was a little heavier than before, but other than that, looked very much the same.
“What a pleasure to see you, Maddie,” he said and sounded as though he meant it. The car was concrete proof of how far he had come and how popular his restaurants were. Unlike Bob Holland, she suspected that Jacques hadn’t married it, he had made every penny himself and looked as though he was enjoying it thoroughly. His restaurant was only a few minutes from the hotel, and the valet took the car keys from him immediately and parked the car in front. Everyone greeted him warmly when they walked in. They had one of the best tables in the house reserved for him, and the sommelier appeared with a bottle of Cristal champagne as soon as they sat down.
“I’m so glad you called me,” he said happily. “How are your children?”
“Busy, well, and happy.” She smiled at him. He still had the same knack of making everything seem festive. They had always had a good time together. And as she glanced around, she saw that the restaurant was beautiful, with important contemporary art hanging on the walls. There was a Damien Hirst right above their table, which Maddie noticed immediately.
“I have a daughter myself now,” he said proudly.
“I think I saw a photograph of her on your website,” she said, and he laughed mischievously.
“No, that is just a friend. Beautiful girl. From Venezuela. My daughter is only eleven. I never married her mother, but we’re good friends and I see her whenever I want to. I got them the apartment just below mine, so she can go back and forth between our two homes.” It seemed like a sensible arrangement.
“You never married?” Maddie asked him as they sipped the champagne, and he smiled.
“I don’t think marriage would suit me.” That had been her conclusion too when they dated. Monogamy was definitely not his strong suit, at least not then.
“Are you still collecting women?” She teased him and he laughed in answer.
“They are my drug of choice. And you, Maddie? Did you marry again?” She shook her head.
“I’m not sure it would suit me anymore either. It’s been a long time. And I do a lot of traveling for my work now. I’m away a lot, that’s hard to do when you’re married.” He nodded agreement, and the headwaiter handed them the menus. There were no prices on the one he gave Maddie. At Masson, only gentlemen saw the prices of the meals. The food was all very high-level French haute cuisine gastronomique, and Maddie was sure it was delicious. He showed her a picture of his daughter, Paloma, then, and she was a beautiful child.
“Fortunately, she looks like her mother, not like me. We spend a lot of time together, and I take her on trips with me. Her mother is a lingerie model, or she was. Now she stays home with our daughter.” He was obviously providing a nice life for both of them. Even when he’d been poor when he first came to America with a green card and nothing else, he was a generous man. “Are you happy, Maddie?” he asked her after they ordered dinner. It was a question Bob Holland had never thought to ask her, because he was so unhappy himself. He had forgotten that some people were. But Jacques spread joy and pleasure around him like gifts.
“Sometimes,” she said, looking pensive for a minute as she thought about it. “Sometimes I miss the old days when the kids were small and still at home. I hardly see them now, and Ben and Milagra live in California. I see them a couple of times a year. But my work is very rewarding. I still love what I do, more than ever.” He smiled as she said it.
“You have such an enormous talent,” he said admiringly.
“So do you. The restaurant is beautiful. You have a talent for great food and creating a wonderful atmosphere around you.”
“I stop in all my restaurants every night. It makes a difference. And I’m in Vegas a lot. If you have time, I’ll take you there. The restaurant is a lot of fun. It’s pretty in Palm Beach too. I have a house there, but it’s a little quiet for me. I want to open a Cuban restaurant in Miami next year, with dancing and a salsa band. Miami is hot!” He was always thinking about business, but he took time out to play too, sometimes a little too much so. She could easily guess that there were always women around him, in Miami, Las Vegas, and Chicago. “I became an American citizen last year,” he said proudly. “I’ve been here for twenty years now. You were the first woman I ever went out with when I arrived.”
“I remember,” she said softly. “You hardly spoke English then.” He still spoke with a heavy accent, but his vocabulary had improved immeasurably. He was an excellent businessman and had done extremely well, not as much so as Bob Holland, but she was sure that he hadn’t sold out either. Jacques was true to himself.
“Where are you going on this driving trip of yours?” He was curious about it.
“I’m going to stop and see a friend in Wyoming, and maybe after that, I’ll head to California to see my children there. I haven’t figured it out yet. I have to be in Shanghai in four weeks. I’m relatively free until then.”
“You should stay in Chicago for a while. It’s a fun city.” He reached for her hand and held it as he said it, and she felt the same warm thrill she had felt twenty years ago. He was sexy and warm, and attractive, and as they looked into each other’s eyes, a beautiful, young woman in a sexy, half-naked dress walked over to their table and smiled at Jacques. She spoke to him in Spanish, and he answered her quickly. Maddie caught something about seeing her later, and meeting her at his apartment, and Maddie laughed as the young woman walked away.