“I don’t know. I always ruled it out before. It’s hard to say what I’d do. I’ve been trying to let go of the idea of having kids. We went through so much agony over it.”
“Sometimes letting go is the right idea too. Only you can know. And you’re young enough to take some time to figure it out. The nice thing about adoption is that there’s no clock ticking. You can look into it when you’re ready, or not. Children are wonderful, but you don’t have to have kids to be happy. I just thought I’d let you know that ours was a real success story. We were always glad we did it.” And he smiled at her then. “He’s much smarter and better looking than we were. He says he might like to meet his birth mother one day, but he hasn’t been compelled to do it so far. He doesn’t seem too interested, but he might look into it later. My wife wasn’t too crazy about the idea, but we’d have helped him find her if he asked. She was a fifteen-year-old girl in Utah.”
“That’s everyone’s ideal situation but hard to find. I was always scared about some drugged-out kid in the Haight-Ashbury. You never know.”
“You can be careful, if you decide to go that route. I just thought I’d mention it as a viable option. I usually don’t volunteer that he’s adopted, but it seemed worthwhile saying something to you.”
“Thank you,” she said quietly, as they smiled at each other, and he reached across the table and held her hand. Ellen thought about what Bob had said about his son when he took her home that night. She had never seriously considered adoption, and she still wasn’t sure she ever would. But maybe one day she might if she married again. She didn’t want to adopt as a single mom. For now, it didn’t seem like the pressing issue it had been before. She was alone and had a lot to think about. Her divorce was going to be final in April. And it would be a whole new life after that. It already was.
The night before his children were due to arrive from California, they had dinner again. He looked genuinely excited in anticipation of their visit. His daughter had just announced that she was bringing her boyfriend, which hadn’t been part of the plan, but Bob was good humored about it.
Ellen had found a Christmas present for him, and gave it to him at dinner. It was a first edition of a book he had said he had loved as a young man, one of the original Sherlock Holmes books, which had inspired his career. He had lost it in the flood in Tribeca, and had been upset about it. It felt good to replace it for him, and he looked touched when he opened the package.
“I have something for you too,” he said, with a tender look. “I was hoping I’d see you again closer to Christmas.”
“I didn’t know if you’d be too busy with your children, so I brought yours tonight.”
“Let’s all have dinner together the day after they arrive. I’m taking them to ‘Twenty-one.’ ” It sounded like a good plan.
They went back to her apartment afterward, and he built a fire in the living room, while she told him that she’d had an offer on the house in London. It wasn’t fabulous, but it was a good solid offer at a respectable price, on good terms.
“I’m tempted to take it. I’m ready to give up that house. I want to move on. I don’t like knowing it’s just sitting there, like a relic of the past.” It was a past she wanted to put behind her. The more she thought about her life with George, the more she realized that it had been wrong for her, and she had compromised too much. It was what he had expected of her, and she had willingly complied. In retrospect, she hadn’t respected herself, only him. Bob had understood that long before she had, and he could see her changing every day. She was more definite, more sure of herself, delicate about it but willing to state her opinions. He was impressed to see how much she had grown in the short time he’d known her.
“What are your plans for New Year’s?” he asked her, as they sat next to each other on the couch, looking into the fire. “My kids will be gone by then. They want to go back to California to spend it with their friends. You don’t get to hang on to them for long at this age.” He said it without regret and had come to accept it—he was happy they were coming at all. He knew that one day, with partners and children of their own, it would be more difficult. He figured he had a few years left the way things were, but not many. Otherwise like Ellen, he was alone. Even for people with children, the holidays could be lonely or hard.
“I don’t have any plans,” she said, turning to look at him. He was already keeping her busier than she’d anticipated when she moved to New York. She hadn’t expected to have a man in her life, or even a male friend to take her out to dinner. And now her mother was busy with Jim, which was a big change. She no longer had to keep her mother company—she was out almost every night, and working harder than ever. “We used to go to friends in the country on New Year’s, typical British house parties, always very jolly. They love their weekend parties. It’s a nice way to see the new year in.” And like everything else in her previous life, they were now a thing of the past.
“How about dinner at my place?” Bob suggested, and meant Jim’s apartment where he was still living. And Jim would be in St. Barth’s with Grace. “We can cook dinner together and sit by the fire, and look at floor plans of my new apartment,” he teased her. “Or stand in the plaster dust and dream.” She laughed at the thought.
“I’d like that,” she said simply. “I don’t like making a big deal of New Year’s Eve. And this year, I think we all have a lot to be thankful for. I was so upset on Thanksgiving about my divorce, but I realize now that after Ophelia, we’re all lucky to be alive. This could have been a very different New Year’s Eve, for any of us.” Her whole life had changed since the hurricane, in a much better way than she could ever have dreamed.
And as he looked at her, Bob pulled her slowly into his arms and held her close to him as he kissed her, and she could feel herself melt into him. It was a new beginning, one neither of them could have expected, and better than anything he could have written.
“You’re the best thing that’s happened to me in a long time, probably ever,” he said with amazement. The mysteries of life were unpredictable and precious, with unexpected blessings where you never thought they would occur.
“It sounds awful to say, given the destruction it caused, and the lives that were lost, but Hurricane Ophelia didn’t leave any of us where it found us,” Ellen said to him. Ophelia had changed each of them in important ways.
He nodded as he listened to her, and the fire crackled in the grate as he pulled her closer and kissed her again. The future was looking very bright.
To my darling Toto,
for being so brave,
for all you went through,
for living through what others
can only imagine,
may the memory of it dim,
and may you be forever blessed,
I love you, Mama.
And to all my beloved children,
Beatie, Trevor, Todd, Nick, Sam,
Vanessa, Maxx, and Zara,
with endless gratitude for all that you are,
and all my love and heart always,
Mom/ds
By Danielle Steel
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 PARIS
About the Author
DANIELLE STEEL has been hailed as one of the world’s most popular authors, with over 650 million copies of her novels sold. Her many international best sellers include Magic, The Apartment, Property of a Noblewoman, Blue, Precious Gifts, Undercover, Country, Prodigal Son, 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
@daniellesteel
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