meeting in London. It would give Ruby and Eleanor a day to shop in Monaco, and relax on the luxurious yacht before Zack arrived. Eleanor was looking forward to the trip, and Ruby to being with her. They left in good spirits. It was a long flight and they arrived in Monaco in the late afternoon. The crew was ready for them and had the cabins all set. Ruby and Eleanor had dinner on deck, in the warm summer night, and went to bed early after the long trip. The next day they set out on their adventure to explore the shops. Zack was due to arrive on a commercial flight at five that afternoon and one of the crew would pick him up.
The two women had just gotten back to the boat after a day of shopping, when the captain came to see Ruby in her cabin to inform her that Mr. Katz had called while she was out. He had missed his flight and would arrive the next day at lunchtime. He was staying at Claridge’s. She called to talk to him and find out if everything was all right, but he was out. She called him again that night, and he wasn’t back yet, but she didn’t think anything of it. She hadn’t had a whiff of any misbehavior on his part in two years. His hanky-panky days appeared to be over. She had stopped worrying about it. They had just been in a bad phase, with her pregnant for two years running. They had somehow become disconnected, but were back on track again. It made her loath to have a third child. She didn’t want to disrupt their marriage, and Zack needed her full attention. She realized now that he had been so starved for affection growing up that there was a part of him that needed Ruby almost like a mother, and at times he felt in competition with his own children for her love.
Eleanor and Ruby had a lazy morning, and took a long walk along the port. They were back in time for lunch, and Zack was scheduled to arrive by then. Instead, when they got back, the captain had another message. An emergency meeting had been called and Zack was going to be another day late. She called him but he wasn’t in his hotel room, and she left him another message. To pass the time, Ruby had the captain take them out on the boat that afternoon. They motored to Cap d’Antibes, got off at the Hotel du Cap and had a look around, and then returned to Monaco. The emergency meeting had apparently extended, and Zack said he would be there in two days. He called her himself before dinner, apologized profusely that his meetings had gotten extended, and suggested that she and Eleanor spend a day in Portofino, which was a charming little port town. He apologized sincerely again and told her he missed her and felt terrible about the delay.
In the end, Zack arrived five days late, flustered and apologetic. Ruby and her grandmother had been taking day trips all week. They were enjoying being together, but it was frustrating waiting for Zack every day. He arrived at last in a flurry of apologies and kissed Ruby passionately and seemed genuinely happy to see her, and her grandmother.
As a peace offering, he brought Eleanor a beautiful Hermès scarf, and an Hermès alligator handbag for Ruby, which she knew cost a fortune. The minute she saw it, her blood ran cold, she knew what had happened and why he had been delayed. The shock of realization was evident on her face, and her grandmother saw it and didn’t comment. She didn’t want to make the situation worse with her own suspicions and thanked Zack profusely for the scarf.
They set off that night for Sardinia, and enjoyed the rest of the trip. They spent another week on the boat together, he was attentive and loving to Ruby, and she looked distracted. And then Eleanor took off for Lake Como, which she had wanted to see years earlier on her honeymoon, when she and Alex had had to cut their trip short. Then she was going to visit favorite clients of her shop, in Madrid. It was a major adventure for her and she was excited about it. As soon as she left the boat, Ruby descended to their cabin, and the boat took off for Saint Tropez. She