with her.” It was a typical answer for her, Tammy didn’t like getting sucked into family gossip, or passing judgment on the others. She had a strictly live and let live attitude about all of them.
“What do you think about her?”
“I’m not marrying her. It works for him, or he wouldn’t be marrying her. And she seems to be crazy about him.”
“She’s crazy about the wedding and the idea of marriage. I can’t think of two more different people.”
“Sometimes that works.” Tammy smiled at her grandmother. They talked about the refugee situation and the violence in Europe for a while, and how it was affecting the economy in France, and ultimately the luxury business, and then Tammy hugged her and left for her run around the reservoir.
Margaret was pensive after she left. She always felt as though she knew nothing more about the private side of Tammy’s life than she’d known before. As gentle and kind as she was, and attentive to her grandmother, she kept her deepest thoughts to herself, and didn’t share them with anyone. It made Margaret sad for her. She needed more than new products at Chanel and haute couture shows to focus her attention on. She needed someone to care about, as much as she did her work. She had achieved the impressive goals that her mother aspired to for her, but it wasn’t enough, and Margaret wondered if Tammy would ever let someone in behind her walls. There was no sign of it yet.
She had been at Chanel for ten years now, with a two year hiatus to go to business school at Wharton, which had projected her forward at an even more rapid rate. Her career was on the fast track, but she seemed to have no personal life at all.
As she ran around the reservoir, Tammy wondered why she never opened up to her grandmother. She was the least judgmental and most open-minded of her entire family, but Tammy liked keeping her private life to herself. It was so much simpler that way. And she didn’t want advice from any of them. She knew what she wanted, and she had most of it. The rest would come one day. In the meantime, she had an orderly life that worked perfectly for her.
* * *
—
When Bart left Kate’s apartment on Sunday night, he kissed her. They had no set plans to meet again, but hoped it would be in the next few weeks. The weekend had been just what they both wanted, a peaceful time, some meals together, great sex, and they had gone to the movies on Sunday afternoon, eaten popcorn, and held hands. It was like being kids again, without kids, which was a great relief to him, and good for her too. From what he could tell, she had stopped talking about Claire’s new romance, and didn’t think about her other children once during the weekend.
“I’ll try to get back in a week or two,” he promised, as he kissed her again and then waved when he got in the elevator with an elderly woman with a French poodle who smiled when she recognized him. He smiled back. It had been the perfect weekend with Kate. It always was. He could count on her for a good time, and an oasis of peace in their busy lives. He followed the woman with the poodle out of the building, and hurried to the car and driver waiting for him at the curb. The rat race he loved was about to begin again.
He couldn’t wait to get back to Washington, but he smiled thinking of Kate as the car drove away. While she hung his silk dressing gown in her closet, until the next time, Kate was smiling too.
Chapter 4
Anthony got up at five on Monday morning as he did every day, and left for the gym at five-thirty. He was careful not to wake Amanda. He ran there in the early morning darkness and got there in twenty minutes. The run was a good warm-up for his workout. It cleared his head and always made him feel ready to face the day.
Once at the gym, he got on the treadmill, followed by a bike he put on the highest setting, going uphill. He was soaking wet by the time he finished and headed for the steam room. It was nearly seven A.M. by then. After he showered at the gym, he dressed for work, in jeans and a T-shirt,