Olivia had come home from France a week early for her grandmother’s wedding, and Jean-Pierre was with her. They were both deeply tanned after all the places where they had vacationed in August, with the last week of their vacation on his father’s Perini Navi yacht in Italy. Olivia looked radiant, and her mother and grandmother agreed that they had never seen her happier. And they loved Jean-Pierre.
Gwen was wearing a navy blue silk Chanel suit and looked very dignified. She said that she and her mother had switched roles, and Gwen was playing the mother of the bride. Jeremy Stubbs stood next to her for most of the festivities. They had had dinner together a few times since they met in the hospital. He still couldn’t believe his good fortune to be getting to know her. And she was to start pre-production on her new movie in two weeks.
The groom looked like the happiest man alive as he watched Gabrielle come down the stairs gracefully to where he stood with a sprig of lily of the valley in the lapel of his formal morning coat. It was his first wedding and he wanted to do it right, in morning coat and striped trousers. They exchanged their vows with tears in their eyes and Federico cried openly when the minister declared them husband and wife.
The champagne flowed, the lunch was delicious, four musicians played chamber music for the ceremony and champagne after, and a livelier group replaced them, so there was dancing during and after lunch. The guests stayed so long that it became something of a thé dansant, reminiscent of Gabrielle’s youth. They had their honeymoon all planned for October, after Federico’s retrospective show.
It was the perfect elegant, intimate wedding, and Gwen’s apartment the ideal setting for it. Gwen had invited a few of her friends from the film world too, who were either major directors or big stars. She introduced Jeremy to everyone, it was a cavalcade of famous names and faces all day. And at the end of it, Gabrielle and Federico spent their wedding night at the Four Seasons like newlyweds and went back to their warehouse on the Bowery the next day.
Gabrielle was back at work that afternoon. Federico smiled at her. He loved knowing she was finally his wife.
* * *
—
On the day of Federico and Gabrielle’s wedding, Eileen drove Pennie and the boys to Boston to settle Pennie into Harvard. She had rented a van for everything Pennie was bringing with her, and Max had come along to help. The children had figured out by then that Max was more than just their mother’s assistant, and didn’t object once they got used to the idea. They liked him, he was nice to them, and fun to be with.
They had catered two weddings that summer, several dinner parties, and were doing a big charity event in New York the following week. Eileen’s business was flying, and they were the talk of Greenwich as the hot new event planners and caterers in town. Eileen hardly had time to talk to Jane anymore, but Jane understood and was thrilled for her.
Paul was meeting them in Cambridge with Mathilde after a weekend in Cape Cod, and Mark and Seth were going to drive back to Greenwich with them. Mathilde’s boys were with their father for the weekend. The five boys had been having fun together, spending the summer in Paul’s new pool and in and out of his house. Eileen was happy for him, and their divorce was going to be final in six weeks.
They got to Cambridge at eleven and to Pennie’s dorm assignment in Straus Hall, one of the best locations, near the heart of Harvard Yard. She was to be in a three-person suite, and Paul was shocked when Pennie told him that all the halls were coed. She was going to have two roommates in the suite, and had met them all on Skype. She was distracted and a little disoriented watching all the freshmen students arrive with their belongings and their families to move into the dorms. She saw clusters of boys watching them, several she thought were very good-looking. She had had a text from Tim that morning wishing her luck. She had seen him a few times that summer, and it was still strange to think that they had conceived and lost a baby and almost got married only a year before. It seemed so long ago now. Things had turned out so differently than they’d hoped or planned or feared. For all of them.
Olivia was distant history for Paul now, and Mathilde seemed like the perfect fit. Max was unexpected and an important addition to Eileen’s life, and her brand-new business was thriving. And Pennie was standing on the threshold of her future with life rolled out before her like a red carpet as she entered the hallowed halls of Harvard, which was her dream come true. Her life was just beginning with everything she brought to it from the past.
The day was exhausting getting everything hooked up, connected, and put away. Max handled the technology, Eileen and Mathilde put away her clothes, while the boys played outside and waited for them to finish. Paul assembled equipment and a bookcase, and installed a small refrigerator, then helped Max with the stereo and internet to the best of his ability.
Pennie went to a freshman orientation while they were working on her room, and they all went to the family picnic that afternoon. And then suddenly it was time to say goodbye. She clung to her mother for a moment, as they exchanged a look between mother and daughter. Eileen could almost see her take flight with fresh new wings, and prayed that they would hold her and she would make wise choices with her life.
She hugged her father, thanked Max and Mathilde, and ran over to say goodbye to Seth and Mark. Then she disappeared into the building where she would live for the next year, make new friends, and learn what she needed for her future.
The twins climbed into their father’s car and they left. Max drove the now-empty van off campus and Eileen cried for a minute. But everything that was happening now was as it should be, in the proper order. It was easier now because Max was with her.
“Are you okay?” He looked at her with a tender smile, and she nodded, wiped away her tears, and blew her nose. Her firstborn had left the nest.
“I’m going to miss her so much,” she said sadly, but happy for her.
“She’ll come home more than you think. She’s going to miss you too.” But Eileen knew it would never be quite the same again. The years would fly and she’d be off to her own skies. The time Pennie wanted so much, and waited for, had finally come. She was grown and well on her way.
It was nice being with Max for the drive home to Greenwich. Eileen would have been too sad without him. He was wise for his years, and their age difference didn’t bother either of them. It didn’t seem to matter at all.
“You know, I hope it’s not rude of me to say it,” he said cautiously, as they sat stuck in the traffic jam of departing parents, all feeling the same emotions she did, of simultaneous loss and pride. “Paul is a nice guy, but I can’t for a second imagine you with him. You’re so different.”
“We are. We never should have gotten married, or we should have given up a long time before we did. He’s much happier now, and so am I. Mathilde suits him much better.”
“She’s more his style,” Max agreed, and smiled at her. Mathilde was milder, less exuberant and energetic than Eileen. Eileen was already missing Pennie, but she was happy with Max. “And do I suit you better?” he asked her.
“It looks like it, doesn’t it?” she said with a smile, and leaned over to kiss him. She couldn’t have predicted it, or any of what had happened. A year before, Pennie had been pregnant and lost a baby, she’d been married to Paul and thought she would be forever, she was depressed about turning forty, Paul was cheating on her and she didn’t know it, and he was madly in love with Olivia. Eileen wondered what had happened to her, and if things had worked out for her too. Life had a way of sorting things out better than one could imagine or plan for oneself. Everything in her life had changed for the better in the past year, and her future looked bright.
“Are we all set for the event on Tuesday?” he asked her.
“I think so. I’ve gone over all the checklists.” He was sure she had. He knew her now. New York magazine had called her for an interview and said they were the hot new catere
rs and party planners of the moment. The charity event they were about to do was going to be a big one for them, and would put them in the eye of everyone who mattered in New York. And New York magazine wanted to get the scoop first. They were thinking of putting Eileen and Max on the cover in their chef hats and jackets if the event on Tuesday turned out well. The interview was due to come out in October, which was going to be a big month for them, with two more weddings. And two more still coming up in September. They were starting to make real money, and Eileen had found the career she had always dreamed of, just not in the field she expected.
“Would you ever want to open a restaurant?” Max asked her casually, as they reached the highway to take them back to Connecticut.
“Maybe one day, not yet. I’m having too much fun doing catering and event planning.” She had thought she would be doing small dinner parties. She didn’t expect it to take off the way it had. The Melling wedding had launched them. “Maybe when I’m older,” she said about the restaurant with a smile. That had changed too. A year before she was dreading turning forty, and thought her life was over. And instead it had begun again, better than before. Now she felt younger and could see a bright future ahead.
“I’ll ask you again about the restaurant in a few years,” he said. “When we both grow up, if that ever happens,” he said, and they laughed.
Chapter 18
The article about Eileen and Max came out in New York magazine in October. The charity event had been a big success. They were on the cover, back-to-back, wearing their chef hats and jackets.
She’d gotten her divorce papers the same week and it seemed mildly anticlimactic after everything else that had happened. She felt nostalgic for a minute and then put the papers away. She was free now.
Pennie was loving Harvard. They were going up for family weekend in a week. The time had flown since they’d taken her there in August. She loved her classes, was dating a few boys, and Eileen and Max had a long list of parties, weddings, and events to cater. The time had flown since Pennie left.
* * *
—
Gwen was busy on the set of her new movie, but she called her mother and Federico the night before they left on their honeymoon. They were going to see Olivia and Jean-Pierre in Paris for dinner. Olivia was there again, and they had invited her grandmother and Federico to a new restaurant.
Gwen was still seeing Jeremy Stubbs, whenever she got a day off from the movie. He had visited her once on the set and been on Page Six with her when they were seen having brunch at the Mercer in SoHo on a Sunday morning. They referred to him as the “Mystery Man,” since no one knew who he was, which suited both of them just fine. They were trying to keep it that way, for now. They were planning to visit Olivia in Paris when they had time. Gabrielle had been right about movies and men.
* * *
—
Federico and Gabrielle drank champagne after they boarded the plane to Paris, and talked about what a success his show had been, and about her next one. Then they both went to sleep so they’d be fresh when they landed.
It was a sunny October day when they arrived. The weather was crisp. They already knew all the places they wanted to go to retrace their footsteps of the past, when they were students in Paris and had met.
They went through passport control and the customs officer looked at Gabrielle in surprise, and pointed to her age on her passport.
“Bravo, Madame!” he said, finding it hard to believe that she was ninety-three years old.
She smiled and shrugged, feeling as young as she had been when she first went to the Beaux-Arts. “It’s just a number,” she said to him. “We’re on our honeymoon,” she said proudly. Federico beamed at her, still a handsome man, and she had mischief in her eyes when she looked at him.
“Congratulations!” the officer said to both of them, handing them their passports. They headed for baggage claim at a rapid pace, eager to get started on their honeymoon, as the customs officer watched them go, smiled, and wished them well.
To my darling children, Beatrix, Trevor, Todd, Nick, Sam, Victoria, Vanessa, Maxx, and Zara,
May you be ageless forever, fill your life with rewarding work, good people, and great joy!
I wish you each long life and great love and happiness,
with all my love,
Mom/d.s.
By Danielle Steel
THE NUMBERS GAME • MORAL COMPASS • SPY • CHILD’S PLAY • THE DARK SIDE • LOST AND FOUND • BLESSING IN DISGUISE • SILENT NIGHT • TURNING POINT • BEAUCHAMP HALL • IN HIS FATHER’S FOOTSTEPS • THE GOOD FIGHT • THE CAST • ACCIDENTAL HEROES • FALL FROM GRACE • PAST PERFECT • FAIRYTALE • THE RIGHT TIME • THE DUCHESS • AGAINST ALL ODDS • DANGEROUS GAMES • THE MISTRESS • THE AWARD • RUSHING WATERS • MAGIC • THE APARTMENT • PROPERTY OF A NOBLEWOMAN • BLUE • PRECIOUS GIFTS • UNDERCOVER • COUNTRY • PRODIGAL SON • PEGASUS • A PERFECT LIFE • POWER PLAY • WINNERS • FIRST SIGHT • UNTIL THE END OF TIME • THE SINS OF THE MOTHER • FRIENDS FOREVER • BETRAYAL • HOTEL VENDÔME • HAPPY BIRTHDAY • 44 CHARLES STREET • LEGACY • FAMILY TIES • BIG GIRL • SOUTHERN LIGHTS • MATTERS OF THE HEART • ONE DAY AT A TIME • A GOOD WOMAN • ROGUE • HONOR THYSELF • AMAZING GRACE • BUNGALOW 2 • SISTERS • H.R.H. • COMING OUT • THE HOUSE • TOXIC BACHELORS • MIRACLE • IMPOSSIBLE • ECHOES • SECOND CHANCE • RANSOM • SAFE HARBOUR • JOHNNY ANGEL • DATING GAME • ANSWERED PRAYERS • SUNSET IN ST. TROPEZ • THE COTTAGE • THE KISS • LEAP OF FAITH • LONE EAGLE • JOURNEY • THE HOUSE ON HOPE STREET • THE WEDDING • IRRESISTIBLE FORCES • GRANNY DAN • BITTERSWEET • MIRROR IMAGE • THE KLONE AND I • THE LONG ROAD HOME • THE GHOST • SPECIAL DELIVERY • THE RANCH • SILENT HONOR • MALICE • FIVE DAYS IN PARIS • LIGHTNING • WINGS • THE GIFT • ACCIDENT • VANISHED • MIXED BLESSINGS • JEWELS • NO GREATER LOVE • HEARTBEAT • MESSAGE FROM NAM • DADDY • STAR • ZOYA • KALEIDOSCOPE • FINE THINGS • WANDERLUST • SECRETS • FAMILY ALBUM • FULL CIRCLE • CHANGES • THURSTON HOUSE • CROSSINGS • ONCE IN A LIFETIME • A PERFECT STRANGER • REMEMBRANCE • PALOMINO • LOVE: POEMS • THE RING • LOVING • TO LOVE AGAIN • SUMMER’S END • SEASON OF PASSION • THE PROMISE • NOW AND FOREVER • PASSION’S PROMISE • GOING HOME
Nonfiction
PURE JOY: The Dogs We Love
A GIFT OF HOPE: Helping the Homeless
HIS BRIGHT LIGHT: The Story of Nick Traina
For Children
PRETTY MINNIE IN HOLLYWOOD
PRETTY MINNIE IN PARIS
About the Author
DANIELLE STEEL has been hailed as one of the world’s most popular authors, with almost a billion copies of her novels sold. Her many international bestsellers include Moral Compass, Spy, Child’s Play, The Dark Side, Lost and Found, Blessing in Disguise, Silent Night, and other highly acclaimed novels. She is also the author of His Bright Light, the story of her son Nick Traina’s life and death; A Gift of Hope, a memoir of her work with the homeless; Pure Joy, about the dogs she and her family have loved; and the children’s books Pretty Minnie in Paris and Pretty Minnie in Hollywood.
daniellesteel.com
Facebook.com/DanielleSteelOfficial
Twitter: @daniellesteel
Instagram: @officialdaniellesteel
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The Numbers Game Page 23
