felt braver now since her mother’s visit. Rose’s strength was contagious. It was just what Nadia needed. Before her mother came, she had felt defeated, now she didn’t. Her mother was her strongest ally.
“And how will you explain that to Sylvie and Laure?” Nicolas answered.
“That we’re taking a break from each other? Or would you rather tell them about Pascale and the baby and make a clean breast of it?” Nadia said tartly.
“You sound just like your mother,” he said with an angry expression. “We can think of something to tell them. They don’t need to know the whole story yet.”
“You’ll have to tell them before the baby comes,” she said in a whisper, “or the press will do it for you.”
“Not if we’re back together,” he said with a pleading look, which she ignored. Talking to him made her feel crazy. She felt sane now after her mother’s visit and didn’t want to spoil it.
“Thank you for letting me know about July. I think you’d better go now,” she said, and he slowly walked toward the door, and then turned to look at her, still standing there, watching to make sure he left.
“Don’t believe everything you read in the papers, Nadia. A lot of it is just garbage.”
“They seem to be writing about you pretty accurately these days. And my mother’s right. It’s pure trailer trash. You’re not writing a novel. This is real life. Our life.” He couldn’t think of a response so he walked out the door and closed it quietly behind him. As he rode down in the elevator, he felt faintly schizophrenic, but at least he had told her that he wouldn’t be at the château in July. He had promised Pascale he’d tell her. He had just rented a house for the summer in Ramatuelle, with Pascale, so she could be there as much as she wanted, and he would join her off and on. It was close to Saint-Tropez, and the paparazzi wouldn’t find them there as quickly. They had rented a secluded villa over the weekend, and Pascale was thrilled. It was what she had wanted, and he gave in to her, to appease her, since he hadn’t left Nadia yet. He felt relieved when he drove away, but he was still smarting from Rose’s words. She hadn’t missed her mark and had struck him to the core with every single one. And worse, he knew she was right. She was always smart and fair and honest, and so was her daughter. He realized that Nadia was being very decent under the circumstances, more than he deserved.
* * *
—
Rose called Nadia from the airport before she boarded her flight to New York.
“What was all that about? He shouldn’t come in and out like that as if everything is normal and he still lives there, even if he does spend the night occasionally. He doesn’t even call you first?” Rose was incensed by Nicolas’s behavior, his entitlement and presumptuousness, and how selfish he was being.
“He told me he wasn’t coming to the château for the first two weeks in July. He says he’s staying with friends in the South. I assume that means Pascale. But it will give me time to think.”
“He couldn’t send you an email or a text to tell you that? He had to deliver the message in person?” Rose said, annoyed.
“He probably wanted to spend the night. But I told him to go, after you left. It’s just too easy for him like this. He probably went right back to her as soon as he walked out the door. When I don’t let him stay, it just drives him right back to her.”
“Tell him to act like a man and get an apartment,” Rose said firmly.
“I just did. This is all new territory for me, Mom. There are no ground rules here.”
“Maybe there should be. That’s why you need to see a lawyer.”
“I will,” Nadia said with a sigh. Like it or not, she knew it was time. Her mother was right. Maybe she’d invite her sisters to visit her in July. She wished her mother a good flight and went to check on the girls. They were playing peacefully in their room, and Nadia went to stand on the terrace. She looked down at the river drifting by, with barges and boats full of tourists. The Eiffel Tower was lit and sparkling. It was odd how it all looked the same, but everything in her life