special moments and memorable summer trips. And she hoped that on the fabulous yacht she had chartered for them this year, it would be the best trip of all. One could only hope.
And she knew that what she would leave them one day, built on more than fifty years of her hard work, would sustain them, and their children’s children, for generations to come. It was her gift to them as much as her love, whether they understood that and forgave her failings and her sins, or not. The business she had built for them had been an expression of her love. The die had been cast in the decisions she had made fifty years before. Olivia still couldn’t believe how fast the time had flown.
Chapter 3
In recent years Olivia’s invitations to her children for their family vacation had come by e-mail, roughly six weeks before the trip. They always knew it was coming, and that it would be in the last two weeks of July, ending with her birthday on the last night. That much was predictable. What they didn’t know, and what she surprised them with every year, was the location. It was always someplace fabulous, and Olivia worked hard to come up with an unusual venue that everyone would love.
She wanted it to be a place and a trip that her children would remember forever. At one time it had had to be suitable for small children, when her grandchildren were younger. Now they had reached a reasonable age, from late teens to mid-twenties, when they could enjoy the same type of location as the adults, but it had to be lively enough to amuse everyone, and not just a peaceful place to provide rest for the grown-ups. It also had to offer fishing for her sons, who were addicts of the sport, and Phillip was fond of playing golf whenever possible. Both he and John loved sailing, a passion shared by their father when they were boys. They had gone to sailing camp as kids. The vacation had to be in a place that the women in the group would enjoy—her daughters, daughters-in-law, and granddaughters—and she wanted to relax and have fun too, so that ruled out rigorous trips like trekking in Nepal. She always opted for luxury over adventure. Whatever their qualms about vacationing as a family, Olivia tried to come up with a trip that would incorporate everyone’s needs and desires, accommodate their quirks, and still any fears they might have about spending close to two weeks under one roof together. It was an interesting challenge, and she always wanted it to be special, and an unforgettable holiday for them all. It was something she could do for them.
The first year, she had rented a château in France, fully staffed, in Périgord. It had been beautiful beyond belief, with picturesque terrain and vineyards, and excellent horseback riding nearby in Dordogne. Her grandchildren had been little then, and they had loved it too. There had been a spectacular villa in St. Tropez complete with speedboats and a private beach; a fabulous estate in Spain; and a private island in Greece that had been a major hit. There had been a famous house in St. Jean Cap Ferrat that later sold for seventy-five million dollars, a Schloss in Austria, a private island in the Caribbean that had been hot but fabulous, and a Vanderbilt mansion in Newport. Olivia never disappointed them, and she hoped not to this year either. The location she ultimately selected, after nearly a full year of research, was always a secret until they got the invitation on the first of June.
As Amanda Grayson, Phillip’s wife, opened the e-mail early in the morning, she was the first to see this year’s location. It was the three-hundred-foot motor yacht Lady Luck, built two years before, anchored in Monaco, and they would be cruising the Mediterranean in Italy and France. The boat included every imaginable luxury and comfort, including a gym, a spa, a movie theater, and a hair salon, complete with trainers and attendants, and a crew of twenty-four, and all kinds of water toys, from jet skis to sailboats to speedboats to delight the children. Olivia had outdone herself.
Amanda sat expressionlessly, as she read down the list of what was included on the boat. It was a trip she resigned herself to every year. As Olivia was her mother-in-law, and her husband’s employer, Amanda viewed her invitation as a command performance. And however