looked terrific. She was blossoming and radiant, and she and Ben were both happy about the baby.
Both sisters observed Nadia carefully to see how she was, and decided that she looked well. She told them about Greg’s house and showed them photos on her phone, and they were vastly impressed by how beautiful it was.
“I know who he is,” Venetia commented. “Ben did a deal with him a few years ago. What about him as a prospective date? I think he’s from Texas, and rich as hell.” Nadia shook her head.
“I know. He’s a terrific guy, and we’re friends. He’s just not exciting. Something’s missing.” He wasn’t Nicolas, but she didn’t dare say it, given how that had ended. “I’m not ready to date.”
“Please don’t tell me you’re waiting for another French cheater to show up,” Olivia said in her usual blunt way.
“Maybe so,” Nadia admitted. “Maybe American men are too wholesome for me.” She was still trying to figure out what was missing for her with Greg, and hadn’t yet.
They spent a warm, cozy evening together, and Will joined them for dinner. He chatted with his uncle Ben and his grandmother, and then left the table before dessert to read in his room.
The evening ended at midnight, and Nadia went home with her mother. The three sisters were having lunch with their mother the next day. Rose was treating them to lunch at La Grenouille and Athena was arriving from L.A. that afternoon. After that they were going to Venetia and Ben’s home in Southampton. Rose was joining them for the weekend, before going to Palm Beach for New Year’s. It was going to be a family-filled week, which is what they all wanted. They never tired of each other. At breakfast the next day, Rose looked at Nadia, and spoke quietly over her morning tea.
“Are you all right? Is everything okay in Paris?”
“I’m fine,” she said softly.
“Have you seen much of Nicolas?”
“Not really. He’s writing a new book, and he picks up the girls downstairs and takes them to his place or out to dinner. We’re perfectly friendly when we meet.” But something in her eyes told her mother that she was not healed yet after everything that had happened. It worried her.
“Does he see the baby?”
“I honestly don’t know. Pascale left him in Brittany with her mother, so Nicolas must not see him often. I don’t know if he goes to Brittany to visit. Maybe he will when he’s older.” She didn’t need to think about it and tried not to. It wasn’t her problem. It was his.
The girls had fun at the luxurious lunch with their mother, and with Athena the night she arrived and the following day, and then they all left for the Hamptons. Nadia was happy to see that her mother was well and looked terrific. Age never seemed to touch her, and she never slowed down. It made Nadia think that she might be fine without a man too. But her mother was thirty years older, and had been widowed at sixty-two. She hadn’t given up on men at thirty-six, so Nadia realized she might be premature in planning a life of celibacy, which Venetia pointed out to her when they all went for a walk on the beach. Nadia loved the Hamptons in winter. There was a rugged beauty to it that suited her mood.
Two days later, Rose left for Palm Beach, the others were planning to spend New Year’s Eve together except Olivia and Harley, who went back to the city for a New Year’s Eve party with friends. The others stayed in the Hamptons and saw the New Year in together with a delicious dinner cooked by Joe and Athena, and excellent French champagne. It was Nadia’s last night with them. She had to fly back to Paris on New Year’s Day, which would land her in Paris late that night so Nicolas could return the girls to her the next morning. She was letting him have them on New Year’s Day. Athena and Joe were staying longer. She was going to tape one show in New York with a famous chef before they went back to L.A.
Nadia was having breakfast with Venetia and Athena in the kitchen on New Year’s Day, before she had to dress for her flight. Olivia called Venetia on her cellphone, and Venetia looked shocked at whatever Olivia had said. She asked a series of rapid-fire questions, and it sounded to