Nine Lives - Danielle Steel Page 0,38
eighteen on board. They sailed fairly far off the coast, and then came back to eat lunch in a protected cove near Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat. As they sat in the outdoor dining area, waited on by two stewardesses, eating lunch prepared by a fabulous chef, he talked about his years of racing all over the world, climbing Everest, his thirst to conquer impossible odds, including his marriages. Her life had been peaceful and uncomplicated compared to his, and certainly not exciting. In many ways, Maggie found he hadn’t really changed since their time together at seventeen and eighteen, despite the luxurious trappings. He was bigger and older and had more expensive toys, but the drive he’d had then was still the same, and she suspected probably always would be. And he was just as kind and gentle as he had been as a boy. She wondered if her father had been that way, endearing but thrill seeking. At nine, she couldn’t have assessed it. She thought her father was a hero, but maybe he had been as driven to take risks as Paul was. She was grateful that she’d had the sense to marry Brad and have a quiet life for almost twenty years. Paul’s unquenchable thirst for danger would have terrified her. But Paul was still alive, and Brad wasn’t, so nothing was predictable, as Paul had pointed out. And oddly, she still felt the same attraction to Paul she had at seventeen, and she could feel that he was attracted to her too, but they had nowhere to go with it. They would be off to their own lives again in a few days, miles from each other, living different lives. It was obvious to her that he was thoroughly enjoying his life just the way it was. He seemed to have no regrets that he was divorced.
They were lavishly but discreetly waited on all day. The crew never intruded on them. There was a constant stream of food or drink if they wanted it. They swam off the boat after lunch, and laughed like old times, like two kids. She remembered what a good sense of humor he had, and how much fun he was to be with. She had forgotten that about him. He could make anything seem special, even when they were both poor, and teenagers.
“I was always impressed that you wouldn’t sleep with me,” he said after they swam, as they lay in the sun close together on sunbeds.
“I knew you were leaving, and I was afraid that if I got pregnant, I’d never see you again.”
“That was smart of you. You were a woman of principle even then.”
“Just not a risk-taker, like you.” She laughed, and he grinned. When they got too hot in the sun, they went swimming again, and chased each other in the water like children. At sunset, they finally sailed back toward Monaco, and he looked at her seriously.
“What are you going to do now? Are you really going to get a job?”
“I have absolutely no idea,” she said. “I don’t know why anyone would hire me. I’m a great car pool driver, I make good pancakes and a decent meatloaf. Other than working in a diner, or driving an Uber, I’m not qualified for much of anything. I like to think I was a good wife, but who knows.” Brad had been so easy to please. She wondered now if she had done enough for him. Maybe she should have done more.
“Did he leave you any money?” Paul asked her softly, worried about her. She nodded, but didn’t say anything specific. “Do you have to get a job?”
“I can’t sit on my ass for the rest of my life doing nothing. I’ll drive myself crazy. I was thinking I might work in an art gallery or something.” She still loved art in all its forms, although Brad had never been interested in it. He liked numbers.
“Why don’t you come skiing with me this winter?” Paul suggested out of the blue.
“I haven’t skied in years. I learned in college, but Brad didn’t like it. He played golf with his clients, and baseball when he was a kid and football in high school.”
“I go helicopter skiing in Canada every year. But I was thinking more like Courchevel, which is fancier and would be more fun for you. You could hit the bunny slopes, and I could ski the three valleys, which is fairly challenging. I don’t have anyone to go