The Affair - Danielle Steel Page 0,34

physical, he couldn’t see the attraction. What was he going to do with a twenty-two-year-old actress and a baby, other than destroy his marriage?

“I’ll call you when I get to the château,” Venetia promised, and rushed out of the house with her suitcase, and a giant white alligator Birkin with clothes to change into on the plane, work she needed to read, and all the little odds and ends she hadn’t put in her suitcase. She was wearing white jeans and a T-shirt with a white denim jacket and white ballet flats.

She worked at a frantic pace till lunchtime, and at two o’clock she left her office after signing a bunch of orders and checks in haste, then left for the airport in plenty of time to catch her flight. She was traveling first class, as she always did. She settled into her seat when she boarded and finally relaxed. She texted Nadia when she sat down, “On the plane. Can’t wait to see you. Love, V.” Olivia was in the air by then, and she knew that Athena would be boarding shortly in L.A., after leaving Joe and their dog walkers a thousand instructions for the special needs of her pets.

Venetia texted her mother too, Rose was still promising to try and come on Friday night, and arrive on Saturday.

Everything was in place for an all-girl family weekend. They had nothing special planned. It wasn’t a holiday in France. Nicolas had called the girls and told them he was in Saint-Tropez for the weekend. Nadia tried not to think about it. She didn’t want anything to spoil her weekend with her sisters. It had been years since they’d had a girls’ weekend like this. It had taken a crisis to inspire her to organize it and make it happen.

Venetia’s flight was uneventful, and she had a text from Olivia when they landed, telling her that she had just arrived at the château and they were having breakfast on the terrace in the beautiful weather. The car picked Venetia up on schedule. She had gotten her bag quickly, so there was no delay getting on the road.

Olivia was lying on a lounge chair, sunning herself, when Venetia arrived, and Nadia was in the kitchen, talking to the housekeeper about lunch. Venetia could see her nieces playing with a ball in the distance on the lawn. It was a beautiful old property, which Nicolas took great pride in when his parents left it to him, and he and Nadia had restored and renovated it. Nadia loved it too, and they spent frequent weekends and summers there. It had been in his family for generations. There were well-manicured gardens and well-tended orchards of fruit trees surrounding it. Nicolas and Nadia put in the pool, which everyone loved. It was a wonderful place, and Nadia was trying not to think about the possibility that it might be her last summer there, if they got divorced. It already felt different to her. She felt a little like a guest, but she was grateful that Nicolas was still letting her use it, since they weren’t officially separated. It hadn’t been tainted yet, since Pascale had never been there. Nicolas had promised that to her. As it was a family property, which he had inherited, Nadia had no shared ownership of it. It belonged entirely to him, and would belong to their daughters one day.

Nadia saw Venetia chatting with Olivia when she came back to the terrace. Venetia was sitting on the end of the lounge chair and jumped up to hug her sister.

“I always forget how beautiful this place is until I see it again.” Nadia nodded and hugged her sister.

“How was your flight?” she asked Venetia, as the two girls bounded up to the terrace to see their aunt. They were wearing matching pink shorts and T-shirts, and they looked adorable. They kissed Venetia and then ran off again, Laure tugging at Sylvie’s shirt as they went back to the garden. She looked puzzled when she whispered to her sister.

“Why did all our aunts come and not bring our cousins?” They’d never done that before, and Laure had sensed that she shouldn’t ask her mother. There seemed to be a lot of secrets these days. Their mother stopped talking on the phone now when they came into the room.

Sylvie measured her words carefully before she answered. “I think Mama and Papa are a little mad at each other, and the aunts