had left, Olivia rode into the city, to go to her office. She felt as though she’d been away for a year. And she already missed her mother. She had so much to tell her. So much had happened in the past few days, but somehow she had the feeling that her mother knew it already, and wouldn’t have been surprised. They were the children she had brought up, to be their own people, and follow their hearts, use their heads, and always be honest and brave. They were the same lessons she had taught Olivia, and they had served her well.
Chapter 23
The weeks before Thanksgiving were full for all of them. Phillip was in constant contact with his lawyers over Amanda’s increasingly unreasonable demands. She was still threatening to try and overturn their pre-nup, although his lawyers insisted she didn’t have a chance. She was using the threat to try and increase the settlement and alimony he gave her, and he finally gave her the city house just to move things ahead. He didn’t want to live there with Taylor anyway, but he was keeping the cottage in the Hamptons. His lawyers were telling him the divorce would take about a year. And he and Taylor were happy in the meantime. All was going well with them.
John had his art show shortly after Maribelle’s funeral and Liz, Phillip, and Olivia went. He had chosen some of his best work, and by the end of the evening, everything had sold.
And after she got back from her grandmother’s funeral, Liz had had dinner with Andrew Shippers several times. They alternated her coming into the city for dinner, with his coming out to the farmhouse in Connecticut, which he was slowly helping her to fix up. He enjoyed working on it with her when he spent weekends with her. They were sliding into a relationship that worked well for both of them. And news of her girls was good. Sophie was excited about getting her degree and moving back to the city, and Carole was working on her father’s latest movie and had decided to stay in L.A. She had finally found herself, and was a total West Coast girl. She had discovered her niche, and sounded as though she had grown up a lot in the past three months.
The relationship Liz was building with Andrew was exciting and fun for both of them. They were exactly the same age and had the same birthday, which he insisted was a sign that they were meant to be together, and for once in her life she felt confident and sure, and didn’t feel she was making a mistake. The sale of her book had given her new faith in herself as a writer, and being with Andrew gave her self-confidence as a woman. And the week before Thanksgiving, the dramatic agent he’d been talking to for months finally came through. They wanted to make a movie of her book. He waited until the weekend to tell her, and she screamed when he told her. She was hard at work on her new book, and now she was selling a movie. And as soon as he told her, they went straight to bed and made love, which they usually did as soon as he arrived. The sex between them was extremely good, but she had fallen in love with him too.
He lay propped up on one elbow afterward, looking at her and loving what he saw. He had never been as happy with anyone, and they had a lot in common, and enjoyed sharing the literary world.
“Tell me something. Are you sleeping with me because I sold your book, and now a movie, and you’re going to be very, very rich and famous because of me? Or because you find me irresistible?” he asked, teasing her as he always did. She loved that about him too.
“Both,” she said with a grin. “Today, probably because of the movie, usually because of the book and the money. And,” she added for good measure, “you’re a terrific handyman, and you’re going to keep my house from falling down around my ears.”
“That’s a good point. I’ll admit, my carpentry is excellent. I hadn’t thought of that, although I’m not sure I love the idea of your sleeping with the handyman. Have you ever done that before?”
“Never,” she said with a grin, “but you’re really good.”
“True, I am. So tell me, how much is your family going to hate