let Sophie sit in on their morning meeting with John and Phillip, and Sophie had some surprisingly good ideas to contribute. Her uncles were impressed too. It was a good meeting for her to be part of that day—for once there were no problems, and they had gotten particularly good news about the sales figures from a new line John had just introduced. Sophie could hardly wait to join the team.
After the meeting broke up, they took the boat to Cap d’Antibes at lunchtime and anchored it outside the Hotel du Cap. It was one of the many extraordinary places Olivia had been with Joe. They had spent a fabulous weekend there, at the part of the hotel called the Eden Roc. The food was exquisite, the room had been fabulous, and they had spent their days in a private cabana, where lunch was served. It had been one of the most romantic places she had ever been with Joe. And she had made a reservation to take the family there for lunch.
They went to the hotel’s dock by tender, and had lunch at the restaurant near the pool. They sat on a balcony, looking out over the Mediterranean, and ate delicious food. Her grandchildren saw a number of young people their own age, and they all wished they could have stayed there, but they were having a good time on the boat. The Lady Luck was an impressive sight, as she lay anchored just beyond the hotel, and everyone wondered who was on it. There were a number of Americans at the hotel, as always, and many Germans, and assorted well-known French aristocrats. It was just the kind of place Amanda loved. She said to Phillip at lunch that they should come back sometime and spend a week there. Phillip had never thought of it. He was happy staying at their small house in the Hamptons, or on the sailboat he kept at the yacht club nearby. He didn’t need to impress anyone by coming to the Hotel du Cap in the South of France, but he knew it was something his wife would love.
And after lunch and a walk around the grounds, they went back to the dock and took the tender back to the boat. It was beginning to seem like home to all of them, and they swam and lay on the sundeck, before cruising slowly back toward St. Jean Cap Ferrat, where they were planning to anchor for the night. Amanda had remembered that they had friends staying there. She called them and was very anxious to go ashore and have dinner with them that night. They had invited Liz to join them. And John and Sarah had said they wanted to spend a quiet night on board. Olivia was planning to spend the evening with the kids. They wanted to organize a dance party. And John and Sarah went to their cabin right after dinner.
Olivia loved having the young people to herself. They danced for a while, to the CDs they’d brought with them. The four of them played Monopoly afterward, and once the girls went to bed, she and Alex sat on the deck alone. She had had the feeling for days that he had something on his mind, but she had no idea what it was. And he fell silent for a while once they were on their own.
“Alex, can I help you with anything?” Olivia decided to break the ice. She was wondering if he was upset about her offer to Sophie, but Alex understood he was still too young. He had five years of school to get through before he could come to work for her.
“I don’t know, Grandma,” he said quietly, looking her in the eye. He was a very forthright kid, but she sensed that something was troubling him, and he hesitated before he spoke. “Sometimes things are more complicated than they seem.”
“That’s certainly true,” she said, smiling at him. “If you’ve figured that out, you’re way ahead of the game.”
“If I tell you a secret, do you swear you won’t tell?”
“Yes, I do.” The only reason she would have broken the promise was if he was doing something dangerous to himself, but she didn’t say that to him. “It sounds like you have something on your mind.”
“Maybe,” he said cautiously. “I don’t want Mom and Dad to know.” It didn’t sound good to her.
“Why not?”
“I don’t think they could handle it.” She was flattered that he seemed