Nine Lives - Danielle Steel Page 0,75
said to have the best eye and the best reflexes in racing, and nerves of steel to go with them.
Paul raced in Italy in September, had another lucky race, and won first place this time, uninjured. Every time he finished a race alive, she felt as though he had returned from the dead. She didn’t care if he won or lost, she just wanted him to survive it. That was her only prayer for him.
She spent a week in Chicago and a week in New York, visiting galleries, trying to get ideas for the gallery she wanted to open online. She had a list of artists now that she wanted to represent, and little by little she was getting closer. She attended parents’ weekend again at BU, and then flew to Paris to meet Paul. His debacle with the IRS still wasn’t over, but they were getting closer to a settlement with him. They were going to take a huge financial bite out of him, but no more than he had expected, or was willing to give up. And finally at the end of October, they arrived at a number that satisfied both Paul and the government. He had adjusted his international corporations and investments sufficiently to satisfy them, without crippling himself completely. Both sides had a healthy respect for each other when it was over. He was able to come to the States again without fear of a warrant being issued for his arrest for tax evasion, and Maggie invited him to spend Thanksgiving with them in Lake Forest. He accepted. He and Aden couldn’t wait to see each other. Maggie loved the idea of his joining them there at last. He had never seen her home, and she wanted him to, even though it was simple and not as grand as any of his. She wanted him to meet Helen and Jeff, who was dying to meet him. Helen was too, for other reasons, since Maggie had been with him for almost a year by then.
Before they returned to the States, after the settlement with the IRS, they flew to London from Paris, and Paul bought another apartment. It wasn’t as grand as the penthouse he had lost, but it was warm and beautifully done, and Maggie loved it. He bought it for her as much as for himself, and there was a suite for Aden that Paul said he would love. He could visit them whenever he wanted to.
Maggie was going to furnish it after the holidays. Paul said he wanted a pied-à-terre in New York too, since he had business there. Maggie thought she would base her online gallery in New York and London, possibly with a rep in each city who could meet with clients to show them art they were considering. She still had some things to figure out, but wanted to open in the new year. She was going to show the work from slides, it was all by emerging artists she had discovered. She was planning to set the prices in the mid to lower price range, to make valid art by talented artists available to collectors who didn’t have a fortune to spend on it. She wasn’t sure if she’d make money, but she liked the concept of matchmaking new artists with young collectors. She’d have to see how the geography worked. Paul had encouraged her all along and was proud of her for wanting to launch a business of her own, with an original concept. He liked the work she had been considering, and the artists, and had even seen a photo of a piece he wanted to buy from her. And if they had a client in Chicago, Helen was happy to pitch in. Maggie had already registered the name of M. M. Mackenzie for her new business.
After he bought the apartment in London, Paul planned to spend a week there, while Maggie flew home to Lake Forest to get the house ready for Paul and Aden. She’d thought seriously about how strange it would be to share her bedroom with him, but Brad had been gone for two years, and she felt ready to have Paul stay with her there.
The night before she left him in London, Paul reminded her that he was going skiing in Canada right after Thanksgiving. He had mentioned it before in passing, and she hadn’t paid close attention. It was a trip he took annually with the same four friends