Whatever will you do with it?”
“Live in it. I love it here. I would be—”
“But you should be in Hollywood, chéri! Where you can make more movies! Where you can be happy.”
“But, Maman, I wasn’t hap—”
“My friends are all in love with my daughter, the movie producer! We’re going to have a petite premiere for your next one. You belong in California, darling.”
She gulped. This wasn’t going well. Her mind raced, trying to come up with a tactic that would appeal to her mother.
“Maman, you misunderstand me! I need an East Coast place. A weekend place for parties and relaxing. And Chateau Nouvelle,” she grimaced as she said it but was desperate to appeal to her mother, “is so ostentatious, they’ll all love it. The pool. The little screening room. The studio. You know Americans.”
“Mmmm,” her mother hummed. “A weekend place.”
“Oui. Every major producer has one.”
Her mother was silent for a while, then sighed. “Peut-être.” Perhaps. “But no. No. I hate it too much, Jacqueline. There is no beauty to it. Find a gorgeous place in New York, darling. A roomy pied-à-terre that looks out over Central Park. Hmm?”
She winced, thinking of the massive stone home that housed not only the best memories of her childhood but now the most cherished of her adulthood too.
“Americans don’t require beauty, chère Maman. The bigger the better, which makes Le Chateau perfect. It could be a tax write-off for me when it’s such a burden for you.” She lifted her chin and played into her mother’s deepest love: money. “And of course, I would insist on paying full market price.”
Her mother chuckled indulgently while Jax winced, silently hating this entire conversation.
“Darling, you’ve won me over. Yes, of course you can buy the big old thing. Anything for my children.” She paused. “Market price, you said?”
“It was last appraised at six million dollars. Would you take seven?” asked Jax.
“Six point nine,” said her mother with another benevolent chuckle. “You are my daughter, after all. Have it drawn up and send me the papers. You can have your big, ugly house. Now tell me more about your next movie, darling! I want to know everything!”
She blinked, her mind taking a moment to process the fact that her mother had just agreed to sell her Le Chateau! She giggled silently, pounding her feet on the floor of the car in excitement as she and her mother exchanged pleasantries before hanging up.
It was hers! Le Chateau was hers!
Exiting the car, she raced up the marble steps of Daisy’s mansion and rang the bell. A young maid showed her outside to a slate terrace, where she found her new friends sipping wine. She spread her arms wide and declared with joy overflowing, “Girls, guess what! I just bought a house!”
***
When Gardener had taken the job at Haverford Park back in May, he never would have believed the direction his life would take simply by living two doors away from the force of nature that was Jax Rousseau.
But in the several weeks that he’d known her, she’d come to mean much more to him than he could have ever anticipated. And when he walked into Le Chateau after helping Felix for a few hours, the bright excitement on her face made his heart stop, made time stop, and he realized, I’m in love with you, Jax Rousseau. I’m desperately in love with you.
As the door closed behind him, she raced from her perch on the stairs and jumped into his arms. He caught her with a chuckle of surprise, barely able to catch his breath as she showered kisses on his face and locked her ankles behind his back.
“Jax…Jax…slow down, cher. Tell me what’s goin’ on with you.”
She leaned back, her emeralds sparkling with unspeakable joy. “She said yes!”
“Who said yes?”
“My mother! She said she’d sell Le Chateau to me!”
He was already smiling at her, but now he nodded his head in understanding. “She said yes.”
“It’s mine, Gard! It’s my house! Our house!”
“Your house, Duchess. But, I’m happy to stay on and manage it for you.”
She’d looped her arms around his neck when she jumped him, but now she cupped his cheeks as he carried her to the stairs.
“Where are we going?” she asked, grinning at him, her eyes darkening.
“We’re goin’ upstairs to your shower, then to your bed, where I’m goin’ to spend the next two hours havin’ long, hot, multiorgasmic sex with my woman, Haverford’s newest homeowner.” He reached the top of the stairs and turned left,