Precious Gifts (16 page)

“Sophie looks like an angel, and just like her father,” Véronique said wistfully. “And her mother seems like a very decent woman. She's a sensible, no-nonsense, serious, respectable person, and she must have been as crazy about him as I was when she was a young girl. She's a nice, wholesome country doctor, and she apologized to me when we got there. All things considered, it went fine. It was just emotionally draining. And the five of us went to the château.”

“How was that?” he asked with interest. She sounded tired, but he could tell that she was at peace about the meeting, and he was relieved.

“The house is even prettier than I remembered, and in just the kind of shape I thought it would be in. It's like Rip Van Winkle's castle, and looks like it hasn't been touched in a hundred years. It will cost a fortune to fix it up. Timmie, Joy, and now Sophie want to sell it. And her mother is very anxious for her to do that. They can't afford to keep it and maintain it, and they need the money. But Juliette fell in love with it, and wants to turn it into a hotel. She's the family dreamer, but I think she's serious about it. She wants to buy out her sisters, and do the work herself if she can find someone to help her.”

“Can she afford to do that?” He sounded surprised.

“She wants me to lend her the money. I could, but I want permission from her sisters. I don't want them to think I'm favoring her.” She was always very careful about that and fair to all.

“Just do it,” Aidan said, sounding tense. “Don't hold out on her. If you can afford it, help her. Maybe this is her destiny, not just her dream.”

“If it is, we'll find a way,” Véronique said calmly, touched by what he'd said, for a girl he didn't even know.

“She'll never forget it, if you do it, or forgive you, if you don't.” She had pretty much decided to lend Juliette the money after she left her room, but she wanted to talk to the others, too. For a man who had no children, he had a lot of very definite ideas about what she should do. But she agreed with him, too—he wasn't wrong.

“We have a lot to talk about when we get home. She wants to sell her bakery and move here.”

“She must
really
be serious about it then.” Aidan sounded impressed and Véronique was, too.

“I think she is.”

“Well, it sounds like everything went better than expected,” Aidan said. She was happy to talk to him. It was nice to know that someone cared what was happening in her life. That was new for her.

“It did. How's your show coming?”

“I haven't been to the gallery since I arrived. My rep is here—he came to check it out. I haven't seen him yet. I wanted to call you first.” She also loved being a priority to him. “How much longer are the girls staying?” He was eager for her to meet him in Berlin.

“I don't know yet. Another couple of days. They won't stay more than that.”

“Well, tell them to hurry up and go home. I'm waiting for you in Berlin,” he said impatiently. “I miss you, Véronique.”

“I miss you, too,” she said, smiling broadly. It was so good talking to him. It was just what she needed after the sadness of seeing the château again. It had been like visiting all her shattered dreams. And with Aidan, everything was new. It made her feel young and full of hope just talking to him.

J
oy and Juliette had dinner with their mother at the Eden Roc in the hotel's formal dining room that night. They had a lot to talk about after seeing the château and meeting the Marniers. All of them had been pleasantly surprised by Elisabeth and Sophie, and Juliette couldn't stop talking about the château. Joy thought she was crazy to want to buy it. She was very clear that she wanted to unload it as soon as possible, and repeated it to her sister when they went back to their room.

“I think I could do something terrific with it,” Juliette said with a determination Véronique had never seen in her before. And she spoke to her mother again the next day about borrowing the money. Véronique wasn't opposed to it, if Joy and Timmie were amenable, and she wanted to get an appraisal of what the property was worth, so they could assess the value of each girl's share. Juliette said she would stay in the South of France long enough to get a proper appraisal, and talk to an architect about the cost of the work. She was serious about it, called a realtor in St. Paul de Vence that morning, and made an appointment with him for the following afternoon.

Joy had already said that she was leaving the next day. Her new agent had e-mailed her about an audition for a better part on a soap than she had had so far, which could mean her being on the show for as long as a month, and her manager wanted to talk to her about a possible national ad campaign for a cosmetics line. Both were great opportunities she didn't want to miss. She was anxious to get back and had heard from her manager several times. He texted her constantly, and she said he was nice and a really smart young guy. Juliette had asked her jokingly if she was going out with him, and Joy said it was strictly business, although he was handsome, too. Véronique had wondered as well. He seemed unusually attentive, but Joy insisted they were only working on her career, and nothing else, and said he had a great reputation in Hollywood for making stars.

The three of them enjoyed a leisurely afternoon in the cabana and at the pool, and Joy and Juliette swam out to the raft, just as they had as kids. Véronique was alone in the cabana when she got a text from Nikolai Petrovich, asking where she was in the world at the moment, and she texted back that she was at the Hôtel du Cap with two of her daughters. He responded immediately, said he was on his boat in St. Jean Cap Ferrat, and was heading in her direction that afternoon. Would she and her daughters like to have dinner on his yacht? He said he would be honored, and Véronique was amused. She thought it would be fun for the girls to meet him. And she imagined that seeing his boat would be entertaining for them, too. She knew he had several, and it would be nice to see him. She texted back that they would be delighted, and he answered that his tender would pick them up at eight o'clock at the dock at Eden Roc. She told the girls about it when they got back from swimming.

“Nikolai who?” Juliette asked with a puzzled expression. She had never heard of him, and couldn't imagine how her mother knew him. “You know how I hate boats, Mom. They always make me sick.”

“I have a feeling his is big enough that you won't get seasick. Let's do it.” She hadn't seen him since they'd had dinner on the terrace of his suite in Rome, when he'd nearly killed her with the Ferrari, which she hadn't mentioned to her daughters, nor the fact that she'd been slow to get out of the way.

“How do you know him?” Joy was curious. He didn't sound like the sort of person her mother knew. She was a quiet person and didn't hang around with jet-set billionaires.

“We met in Rome, on my way to Venice to do research on your father's painting.” It sounded respectable, even though the explanation was incomplete. “He's Russian,” she said, to prepare them for his larger-than-life persona. She just hoped he didn't try to seduce her daughters, but she doubted that he would.

“It sounds boring,” Juliette said, not in the mood to have dinner on anyone's boat, or get seasick. And it was Joy's last night before she went back to L.A. She said she didn't want to spend it with a stranger, and Juliette agreed.

“I don't think he'll be boring,” Véronique said mysteriously, “and if he is, I promise we'll come home early. Just trust me. I think it will be interesting for you to meet him. He's a very colorful character.”

“Did you go out with him, Mom?” Joy questioned her further, not really serious about it, while Juliette rolled her eyes as though that were a ridiculous idea. They could even less have imagined that she'd been driving all over Italy with a British photographer, eleven years younger than she was, and was planning to meet him in Berlin as soon as they left.

“I had dinner with him,” Véronique said demurely, referring to Nikolai. They had no reason to know about Aidan.

They left the cabana at six o'clock. The girls grudgingly agreed to have dinner on the yacht when their mother insisted, and they all went to their rooms to bathe and dress. Véronique lay down for a while and wondered what she should tell Aidan. She knew how jealous he had been of him, and annoyed when Nikolai texted her in Venice. She didn't want to upset him, and she decided to wait until the evening was over to tell him. She didn't want to lie to him either. And before they went out to meet the tender at the dock, she sent Aidan a quick text that said only “Going to dinner with the girls. Talk later. Love you, V.” It was all he needed to know right now.

She had fallen asleep for half an hour and dressed in a hurry, and hadn't bothered to look out the window of her suite. She stopped in the girls' room to pick them up for dinner, and found Joy staring at an enormous yacht, anchored off the hotel. It was twice the size of any of the boats around it.

“I think it's a battleship, or maybe a cruise ship,” she said with a look of amusement. It had an ominous appearance, its hull was painted black, and it was a huge motor yacht, with two large tenders tied to the stern. And from the distance, she could see a flock of sailors getting into one of them.

“I think that may be where we're having dinner,” Véronique said quietly as Juliette stared at her.

“Are you joking? Who is this guy?”

“Some sort of Russian billionaire. I'm not sure what he does, but apparently he's very well known.”

“He must be an arms dealer to have a boat that size,” Joy commented as they followed their mother out of the room, and down the steps to the boat dock, where the tender was already waiting for them, with six uniformed sailors in attendance, and an officer to meet them. The crew was British, and looked very pleased to see the girls as they greeted the three women politely, and helped them into the high-speed wooden tender. The girls said not a word as they rode the short distance to the enormous yacht. Joy couldn't resist asking, and one of the boys in uniform told her it was 450 feet long, and currently one of the two largest private yachts in the world. He said it had a helipad and a swimming pool, and their owner was currently building a larger one. Joy nodded as she listened, and glanced at Juliette. They were both startled that their mother knew the owner of the boat. And even more so when they saw him.

Nikolai was waiting for them on deck, in white linen pants and an open white shirt, with a heavy gold chain around his neck, and a gold Rolex watch with diamonds on the face. He looked thrilled the moment he saw Véronique. He embraced her warmly, and greeted Joy and Juliette, as a stewardess handed all three of them flutes of champagne.

“Would you like a tour of the boat?” he asked them, and all three enthusiastically said yes. He led them up a staircase to the top deck, where there was an enormous sun deck with luxurious chairs, a bar, an outdoor movie screen for warm nights, and the helipad, which looked enormous and had one of his jet helicopters sitting on it.

A deck below they went to the wheelhouse, where the captain and three officers showed them around. The boat had a crew of fifty, many of whom were in evidence on deck, and admired the two girls as they walked by. And at every opportunity, Nikolai turned and smiled at Véronique as though they were old friends, which didn't go unnoticed by the girls. Véronique wasn't sure if they were horrified or impressed, but they were bowled over by the boat, which seemed nearly as big as an ocean liner.

They visited six guest cabins, two drawing rooms, a movie theater, an enormous gym with every possible kind of equipment, and a spa with two uniformed massage therapists on duty, as well as a hairdresser and manicurist, he said proudly. There was a library filled with books, a huge wood-paneled indoor dining room for bad weather, and an even larger outdoor one for warm nights, and an outdoor bar and sitting area on every floor, as well as a card room where Nikolai said he liked to play poker with his friends. And the last stop was the galley, where their meal was being prepared by three main chefs and four sous-chefs. It looked like a floating city, and when they went back to the main deck outside the largest living room, there was caviar waiting for them at one of the outdoor bars. Just being there was an overwhelming experience, and Véronique could see that both girls were vastly impressed. Their host was charming, pleasant, intelligent, and warmly hospitable. He was obviously very proud of his boat and delighted to show it off. There was a slightly rough-around-the-edges quality about him that was undeniable, but he was extremely nice, and welcoming to all of them.

He switched from champagne to vodka with the caviar, which the girls were happily devouring. Juliette showed no sign of being seasick. You could feel no motion of the boat whatsoever with its enormous stabilizers, he explained to them. He said that he had crossed the Atlantic with it several times, and had a larger boat he kept in the Caribbean, near St. Bart's. It was luxury and riches to such an extreme degree that it was hard to imagine, and Véronique couldn't help wondering how Aidan would have reacted to it. It seemed pointless to object, one could only stare in fascination. It was hard to fathom anyone having that much money. And the boat was beautiful, even if its opulence was excessive. It offered every comfort money could buy. And the art on the walls was worth millions. The decor was gaudy and he loved it.

Véronique thought it was exciting just seeing it. He had two Picassos on board, several Jackson Pollocks, and a massive Chagall in the main salon. The girls were speechless, particularly Juliette, with her background in art. Véronique almost laughed at the astonishment on their faces, as Nikolai led them to the dining table an hour later. The buffet set out for them was a feast, complete with lobsters and a suckling pig, which was delicious. And tonight there was no sign of his young female companion. He appeared to be alone, although Véronique suspected she was on the boat somewhere, since he had kept her in the bedroom waiting for him for hours, while he dined with Véronique on the terrace at the Hassler. He seemed to have no qualms about sequestering her. He was the kind of man who would always have a beautiful woman on his arm, as an accessory if nothing else.

“Did your mother tell you how I met her?” Nikolai asked the girls as they ate dinner, and they were fascinated.

“No, she didn't,” Joy answered, with a meaningful glance at her mother. She was even more intrigued now that they had met him.

“I almost killed her in Rome, with my Ferrari,” he said with a remorseful look at Véronique, who smiled her reassurance. “It was terrifying, and she was so nice about it. The traffic was terrible, and everyone drives too fast. I just missed running her over. We were staying at the same hotel, so I took her home, and called a doctor. And then we had dinner,” he said proudly, as though dining with her had been an honor. “And now here we are, friends.” He beamed at all three of them. “And you are on my boat. I promised her in Rome I would bring my boat for dinner. So I did.” The steward was pouring a 1983 Château Margaux as he said it, which impressed Juliette even more.

“You never told us about it, Mom,” Joy said reproachfully, about her near accident in Rome.

“I was fine.” Véronique dismissed it. She hadn't wanted to worry them, and once she got to Venice, she had met Aidan and was too busy having fun with him to think about it anymore.

“She flew through the air like a butterfly,” Nikolai said, remembering the hideous moment when he thought he had killed her, or at least injured her very badly. “Rome is a very dangerous city. How was Venice?” he asked Véronique then.

“Wonderful. I went to the monastery I mentioned to you about my painting. They're researching it now. I haven't heard anything yet. And then I went to Siena and Florence, which was fantastic. I love the Uffizi,” she said, as her daughters stared at her.

“When did you do that?”

“After Venice,” she answered innocently. “Before meeting you here.”

“You never told us that either. We thought you went back to Paris.”

“As long as I was in Italy, I thought I'd do a little sightseeing.” She was vague as she said it, and the two girls exchanged a look, which Véronique ignored.

They were eating profiteroles and chocolate soufflé for dessert when Nikolai lit a cigar and turned to Véronique. “I have a project for you,” he said, smiling at her. It was obvious to both her daughters how much he liked her. “I want you to paint my portrait. I'm commissioning you to do it. I will come to New York in the fall, and you can do it then.” He didn't ask her if she wanted to, or had time. He assumed she would, and she laughed at the suggestion.

“You don't even know if you like my work. And I haven't done a portrait in a long time, not a serious one.”

“She's very good,” Joy interjected.

“I give you my confidence,” Nikolai said to her, as he waved the cigar at her. It was obviously Cuban, and Véronique loved the smell—it reminded her of her father. She correctly guessed that it was a Cohiba. “I will tell you when I'm arriving.”