Nine Lives - Danielle Steel Page 0,39
with me. I’m between women at the moment,” he said, looking boyish and mischievous, and honest with her. They were still friends, after thirty years apart.
“I’m not sure if that’s a compliment or an insult,” she said as she laughed at him, “to be invited as filler.” They were still oddly comfortable with each other because they had been so close as kids. They still felt like teenagers when they were together. She had always been able to say anything to him and in a way, neither of them had changed. They were just older, and richer. His lifestyle was impressive, and his boat was fabulous, but he was still Paul, in spite of the luxuries that surrounded him, and she hadn’t changed either. He wasn’t a show-off in an obnoxious way. He just lived well. Very well.
“We could go skiing after Christmas,” he persisted. “I assume you’ll be with your son during the holidays.”
“Yes, I will.” She wouldn’t give that up for anything. He was the main event for her, the only event now, and she wouldn’t let anything interfere with that.
“You could bring him if you want.”
She smiled at him.
“He has to go back to school then.” She thought about it, and it might be fun to go skiing with Paul, as friends. Sooner or later, he’d be involved with another woman and she wouldn’t have the chance. And she liked the idea of coming back to Europe. He would be fun to do things with. He always had fun.
“I’ll be on the boat in the Caribbean during the holidays. I always send it over in the winter. It’s great to have it there. And I have friends who show up. Would you meet me in Courchevel after the holidays, Maggie?” he asked her with the look of a cocker spaniel pleading for a treat, and she laughed at him.
“Maybe. You might meet the love of your life before that. If you do, my feelings won’t be hurt if you cancel the invitation.” She had no expectations, which made everything easier between them.
“I won’t cancel it. And I met the love of my life thirty years ago,” he said, suddenly serious. “I just didn’t know it then. I was too young to recognize it until you were long gone, and I had no idea how to find you.”
“What does that mean?” She was startled by what he said.
“Just because we didn’t see each other doesn’t mean I stopped thinking about you or loving you. I always have. Feelings like that don’t just vanish into thin air.”
“You could have found me if you wanted to. I didn’t go far,” she said. She couldn’t imagine that he had loved her for thirty years.
“Would you have married me if I’d found you?” he asked her longingly. She looked at him squarely when she answered him.
“No. You were everything I was afraid of, and my mother warned me about. She was right. People who wantonly risk their lives the way you do, and are addicted to it, are dangerous for those who love them. I don’t want to end up like my mother, dying young, with dementia, because the losses were too much for her.”
“You’re stronger than that,” he said solemnly.
“I hope so. But I still wouldn’t take the chance. It’s too dangerous. Brad never scared me or broke my heart. He died in the end, but he wasn’t risking his neck or my heart when he did. You’re dangerous, Paul. You always were, and now you have all the tools and skills to do it better. You’re still racing, you go helicopter skiing. You probably still skydive and mountain climb and do all the other crazy things you did. You couldn’t even afford it then, and managed it anyway. I can’t do that to myself, or my son. He needs stability in his life, now more than ever.” And so did she. She didn’t want to give that up.
“He has you for that,” Paul said thoughtfully.
“Yes, he does. And I’m not sure you’d be a good influence on him. He has some of that thirst for risk that my father had, and you do. I try to keep a lid on it, but I know it’s there, just waiting to spring out.” She looked concerned as she said it. She worried about Aden, a lot. She could sense her father’s genes in him.
“I like him already,” Paul teased her.
“If you ever invite him to do something dangerous with