The Affair - Danielle Steel Page 0,60
all over with Sylvie and Laure, and they saw everything they wanted. Both girls fell asleep, exhausted, after the parade, on their way back to Athena’s house. They had stocked up on Disney pajamas, T-shirts, costumes, magic wands, and Minnie Mouse ears.
“That was really fun,” Nadia said to her sister. “I loved it.”
“Me too.” Athena smiled at her. Nadia was starting to look like herself again and had relaxed in the few days since she’d arrived. After they got the girls to bed, and went to sit in Athena’s modern, professional kitchen, Nadia told her sister her plan.
“I’m going to start the divorce when I get home. I don’t want to sit around and wait anymore for what’s going to happen, and for him to figure out what he wants to do. I can see the handwriting on the wall. Pascale is not a solid bet for the future, and he’s a fool if he thinks she is. He says he’ll end it with her in October after the baby is born, but I don’t think he’ll do it. She’ll probably stick around for a year or two, until the novelty of the baby wears off. I don’t want to waste my life waiting for him. I’m going to tell him I’m starting divorce proceedings when I get home.”
“Are you sure that’s what you want, and not what someone else thinks you should do? Like Mom or Olivia? I know they’ve both taken a hard line about it. But it’s your life, your marriage, and even if he’s a jerk, he’s your jerk, and if you love him, it’s really up to you what you want to do.”
“Thank you,” Nadia said softly and smiled at her. “You’re a great big sister. You should have been a mom. You’d be good at it.”
“No, I wouldn’t. Kids stress me out. Too much responsibility, and I’d be terrified to do the wrong thing and screw them up forever. I don’t know how you handle it, or Venetia, or Olivia.”
“You grow into it. Marriage is kind of like that too. Or I used to think so. Now I don’t know what I believe.”
“Do you think you’d ever come back to the States to live?” Nadia thought about it for a minute and shook her head.
“I have a business in Paris, I love our apartment. My kids are French and they should be close to their father, in the same city. I know it sounds weird since I grew up in New York, but I’m not comfortable there anymore. I’ve lived in Paris for so long that I feel like a foreigner when I’m here. It’s just easier in France. Sometimes I feel more French than American.”
“Maybe that’s why you didn’t file for divorce immediately. A lot of American women would have,” Athena said.
“Divorce is easier here. I don’t even feel ready for it now. But cheating is not okay, and I’m going to lose all respect for myself if I don’t do something about it.”
“Just make sure it’s what you want. Not what someone else tells you that you should want, or should do.”
“I don’t know if you’re ever sure if you walk away from someone you love. There are always things you love about them. I still love him. I probably will for a long time. But he’s not letting go of Pascale, and the baby complicates everything. He probably loves me too, just not enough to do the right thing.”
“You’re young, Naddie, and beautiful. You’ll find a good guy,” Athena said gently.
“Maybe.” Nadia didn’t look sure. “I think it’s going to be hard to trust anyone again. I thought we had it all sewed up forever, and we were a sure thing. I was wrong.”
Joe came home from the restaurant then. He was at his restaurant every night. And he checked on Athena’s restaurants in Santa Monica at lunchtime. She owned them but rarely went herself. She had managers run them for her, with Joe supervising. Joe was more hands-on at his own restaurant, and catered to an elite clientele who expected him to be there. The success of his restaurant was because he was there himself, watching every detail.
Their week with Joe and Athena flew by, and they were sorry to leave. Both girls were wearing their Minnie Mouse ears from Disneyland when they left, and Laure had a little pink rolling traveling bag with Minnie on it that Athena had bought for her. She was pulling it