Chapter 11
The morning of New Year’s Day was quiet on the boat. Most of the guests remained
in their cabins until nearly noon. Valerie was an early riser so she came up for coffee
and toast while Seth was still asleep. It had been fun the night before, and the end of a
beautiful trip. They would be motoring a short distance the next day, and stopping for a
last day of swimming and snorkeling. Seth and Peter liked to race each other on the Jet
Skis, their old spirit of competition with each other in evidence. One was stronger, one
was older, and both had been daredevils in their youth. Seth had settled down with time,
and fatherhood had only taken the edge off Peter a little. He had greater responsibilities
now but they hadn’t dampened his thirst for life, passion, and sense of fun.
They were planning to have an early night on the boat on New Year’s Day after
another day of water sports. Valerie was sorry to see it come to an end, it had been a
wonderful trip. Different from their honeymoon in October, but almost as much fun. She
had enjoyed spending time with Olivia, her brother-in-law, Seth’s mother, and their
friends.
Olivia wandered up in a bikini and a shirt, and smiled as she sat down next to her
sister. A steward set a cup of coffee in front of her seconds later, just the way she liked
it, with a dash of milk, no sugar.
“That was great last night,” she commented to Valerie. “I’m going to feel like
Cinderella after the ball when I go home. This is a very nice way to live.”
Valerie smiled and nodded in response. “I was thinking that too. We all got a little
crazy last night. The gardenias in the water looked gorgeous. It was like fairyland.”
“I think Seth should buy the boat,” Olivia said, enjoying the coffee.
“I’ll tell him. And by the way, I don’t mean to intrude—”
“That usually means you’re about to,” Olivia interrupted with a grin. “What now?”
“I saw Peter kiss you at midnight. I don’t know who was kissing who, but it looked
like more than a midnight kiss on New Year’s Eve. Seth didn’t kiss me like that at
midnight.”
“That’s because you’re married now, he doesn’t have to impress you,” Olivia said
lightly, not sure how much she wanted to say, even to her twin. She felt very private
about her relationship with Peter. She didn’t know where it was going, and it was all so
new.
“Did something major happen on the trip?” Valerie hadn’t forgotten Olivia’s thong
that she had found under the table on the deck. And she knew her sister. She didn’t sleep
with men casually, only when she cared about them, and usually not too quickly. If
something had happened with Peter, she was sure Olivia would have told her, but she’d
had a feeling that Olivia was keeping something from her for the entire trip. She and
Peter had spent a lot of time together, which Olivia had said was just getting to know
him since they were family now.
“I don’t know if it’s major,” Olivia said, staring into space for a minute. “I like him
a lot. We had a good time.” It had been a lot more than that, but she wasn’t sure she was
ready to admit that to herself yet, or to her twin, which was why she had asked Peter to
be discreet about it, and they had been. He had been sneaking in and out of her cabin for
the past week, at any time of day or night. They hadn’t been found out. But she knew that
Valerie would sense it, and she had. “Maybe it was just the sun and the stars at night, a
shipboard romance.”
“How romantic was it?” Valerie asked, dying to know. Olivia laughed.
“Quite a lot. I don’t know, Val. He’s got kids. He has a serious life when he’s not
riding around on a Jet Ski off a yacht in the Caribbean. How real can that be? And he
dates a lot of women. I could get hurt if I take it seriously, and then it would be
awkward as hell when we’re with you and Seth. It just kind of happened while we were
here, but with our regular lives looming when we go back to L.A. tomorrow, maybe it
was just a crazy moment, and it’ll end here. He’s kind of a big package deal with two
very young children. I don’t believe in marriage the way you do, or happily ever after.
I’m more like Mom. I’m not as traditional or linear as you are. You have a big job, you
dated Seth for three years, you got married, now you’ll have kids. I’m more free-form.”
“Mom was very traditional once she met Robert. And she was right not to marry our
father when he was available. He would have married her then, he told me so. She
didn’t want to. And by then even we knew he was a mess, he always was, totally
irresponsible, and she was with Robert, who suited her a lot better. You just haven’t met
the right guy. Until now. You two seem good together.” She was serious and Olivia was
pensive.
“I know. Maybe that’s what scares me. He’s an attorney, a tax attorney. I’m an artist.
How would that work?”
“You could get your taxes done for free,” Valerie teased her, and Olivia rolled her
eyes.
“He’s not an accountant. He manages huge amounts of money and estates for movie
stars. I don’t know. These were the best two weeks of my life. Being here with you, on
this incredible dream boat, and having fun with him. So do they live happily ever after,
or do they turn into pumpkins and white mice when the ship docks?”
“I vote for Option One, happily ever after. Don’t make any dramatic decisions. See
what happens when you both get home.”
“He wants me to meet his kids,” Olivia said glumly.
“That’s nice, and normal. They’re very sweet. You’ll like them, and he’s good with
them. They’re not brats.”
“He has them half the time, that’s a lot. I need to paint. That’s my priority, just like
your job is yours.”
“I still manage to have time for Seth. Think of what I’d have missed if all I had was
my work. I love him, and we have a wonderful life together. You deserve something like
that too.”
“We’ll see. Maybe he’ll forget me as soon as we get home, and go back to online
dating. I don’t think he wants to settle down either. He was miserable in his marriage. A
week of hot sex on a yacht does not guarantee a solid relationship or a rosy future,”
Olivia said cynically, and Valerie laughed.
“I’m happy to know the sex was good. Only you can turn that into a doomed
relationship. You can be such a gloom ball sometimes.”
Olivia smiled at the expression. “I’m an artist. I’m sensitive.”
“No, you’re a coward about relationships. Give him a chance, Ollie. What if he
turns out to be the best thing that ever happened to you?”
“Then I’d probably die of a heart attack having sex with him when I’m ninety, or
break a hip or something.”
“It might be worth it,” Valerie commented, as Peter appeared on deck and came to
sit down with them.
“What might be worth it?” he asked them, as his cappuccino magically appeared in
front of him.
“Olivia wants Seth to buy the boat,” Valerie answered.
“I second that.” Peter grinned, and stole a glance at Olivia, and she smiled at him.
“Is he considering it?”
“No, but Olivia thinks he should.”
“Excellent idea, as long as I get squatter’s rights and he pays for it.” All three of
them laughed as Seth joined them, and they shared the idea with him.
“Fine, if my tax attorney says I can afford it,” he said, glancing at his brother.
“You can if you sell your new house, and get a night job to increase your income.”
“I’ll think about it,” Seth said, and leaned over to kiss Valerie. The others joined
them shortly after, and the day got off to a good start.
Peter and Olivia got dropped off at a small nearby beach that looked deserted. One
of the deckhands took them in the dinghy and promised to pick them up in an hour.
They lay side by side on the white sand, drying off after they swam. “You look
serious today,” Peter said to her, and she rolled over on her side to look at him.
“I’m sad to go home in two days.” They wouldn’t be able to meet in her cabin at any
time of day, or spend the nights together, although he lived on the hills above West
Hollywood, not far from her. But he had his kids half the time, or close to it.
“I am too,” he admitted. He’d been thinking about it for the last few days. “What
happens now? We go back to our own lives, or do we try to build on what we started
here?” It was the question he had wanted to ask her for days and was afraid to. What if
it was just a fling for her? He wanted it to be more. “I vote for keeping it going when
we go home.” He gently touched her face with a finger, brushed some sand away near
her eyes, and kissed her, hoping that would convince her.
“Can we do that? What about your girls?”
“What about them? They’re with their mother half the time, and you could spend
time with us, like normal people, when I have them. And when she has them, we can
hang off the chandeliers and do whatever we want.” He grinned at her and she smiled.
“It’s not that complicated, Olivia. It can work if we want it to. The question is, do
you…want it to work?”
“I think I do,” she said softly.
“That’s not good enough,” he said. “We have to know we want to. Because there are
going to be times that are hard, or we fight, or the kids are a problem, or my ex-wife, or
something isn’t working for you, or we disappoint each other. But there could be great
times too. I want to try to make it work, Olivia. My wife and I both made a mess of my
first marriage. I learned a lot from it. I want to do it right with you, and really try.” He
was so earnest as he said it that she put her arms around him and kissed him, and she
was smiling when they stopped.
“I’m in. I want to give it a try and make it work too.”
They were lying on their sides, talking and kissing.
“I have the girls for a week when I get home. You could meet them then. Dinner or
ice cream, or Disneyland or something.” Olivia smiled thinking about it. It was a whole
new world for her. “I’ll miss you every night. I’m picking them up as soon as we land,
and I want to give them a few days to settle in. This will be a change for them too,
they’ve never met the women I’ve dated before. So it’s a little bit of a big deal for them.
Can you manage for a few days?” He looked worried.
“I think so. I may have withdrawal at first. And I have a lot of work to do for my
show in March.”
The deckhand arrived with the dinghy to take them back to the boat then. They swam
out to it, and sat wet and smiling on the way back to the yacht. They had made an
important decision on the beautiful little beach. And as soon as they were back on the
yacht, Peter followed Olivia to her cabin and locked the door behind him.
“Welcome to my life, Olivia Holbrook,” he said softly, as he took off her bikini top,
dropped it to the floor and kissed her.
“I thought maybe it was just a shipboard romance,” she said in a hoarse voice.
“That too,” he said, as her bikini bottoms landed on the floor with his wet
swimming trunks, “and that’s not over yet.” He kissed her, and they made it to her bed to
celebrate what they had decided that morning. This was the beginning, not the end after
all. The new year was off to a great start.
—
Bart and Halley went for a walk in the Bois de Boulogne on New Year’s Day. They
watched the children playing, families on bicycles, people walking their dogs, lovers
kissing, old men playing pétanque. It was another beautiful day, and they walked for a
long time before they sat down on a bench. There were peacocks walking past them, and
they had seen swans on a lake.
“Everything always looks beautiful in Paris,” Bart commented. “And there is
always an underlying feeling of romance to it, and a quality of life you don’t feel in the
States. France is all about beauty and history, and family, and people kissing.” He
smiled at her as he said it, and leaned over and kissed her, since he had dared to kiss
her the night before, and she kissed him back. “I’m lucky to have met you on the plane,”
he said happily, and she smiled in answer.
“So am I. I thought I was just going to go to my favorite shops and the Louvre. I
wasn’t expecting to meet anyone. It was my daughter’s idea that I should come. She
suggested it.”
“I’m glad she did. I want to see you when we go back to New York, Halley, if that
appeals to you. We both have busy work lives, but I want to make time to see you. What
do you like to do?”
She smiled as she thought about it. “For years, all I did was take care of my kids and
write. I didn’t make time for much else. With Robert, we traveled when we had time.
We put a lot of things off for the future when we wouldn’t be so busy, and we never got
to do them. I don’t want to make that mistake again. I ride, I love going to the movies, I
love books and art, going to the theater, dinner with friends, or just two of us. I
volunteer at a center for abused women and children. I’ve been very involved with that
for a long time, and it’s important to me. I like spending time with the kids there, and
helping them see that they can have a good future, even though some pretty awful things
happened to them in the past. Some of them come to us very damaged physically, with
others the damage is all inside. It’s easier to help the children than the women. The
damage they suffer is so pervasive, and it’s a cycle a lot of them can’t escape.” He
looked interested as she said it. They were sitting on a bench and he held her hand.
“How did you get involved with that, instead of something else? I support an
entrepreneurial program for underprivileged young people entering the work force,
trying to expand their vision and show them a bigger world of opportunities. It’s kind of
the same idea. But I meet them after they’ve managed to get an education and have
gotten through college. It’s to help them take off the limits other people may try to put on
them. The program is called Limitless, and we’ve had some real success stories. It’s my
way of sharing what I’ve learned. Their horizons are so much broader than they realize.
If they’re bright, they can do anything they have the courage to do.”
“That is a little bit like what I do, except that the kids I work with have been
damaged by the people who should protect them and love them most. But once we get
them to a safe place, they can make it to a good life. To answer your question, I had a
difficult childhood, and I want to help them find their way out of theirs, and show them
that they can. With the little kids, it’s just about loving them and making them feel safe.
Most of them have been in danger since they were born.”
They talked about it for a while and then walked on, still holding hands, like two
children. Halley didn’t explain what her “difficult childhood” entailed, and she didn’t
know if she ever would. It was all she wanted to say for now. The rest was buried in a
walled garden she didn’t visit anymore. She preferred to live in the sun and bright
daylight of the present, not the shadows of the past.
“Ryan and Véro shared some good news with me this morning,” Bart said to her as
he drove her home. “They’re expecting a baby in July. That’s very exciting. I think
they’re going to be wonderful parents.”
“I think so too.” She smiled at him. “How do you feel about being a grandfather?”
she asked, and he laughed. She kept noticing how handsome he was, he didn’t look like
a grandfather to her.
“A little bit outraged and a little bit scared, and very happy for them. I wasn’t ready
for that image of myself.”
“You don’t look the part, and you’re barely old enough to be one. I wouldn’t worry
about it too much.”
“It’s nice that they’re so happy about it. They went to have lunch with her parents
today, to tell them. They invited me to come, but I wanted to see you. Her parents don’t
speak English, and they’ll have a better time without having to translate for me. Do you
think your daughter who got married will start having children soon?”
“Not for a while. She’s only twenty-seven and more interested in her career for
now. And I’m not sure how keen her husband is on having kids. He didn’t have any in
his first marriage. He’s thirty-nine and he has a very big job as a producer in television.
He loves his work. So does she.”
“They all have babies later now. Ryan and Véro have been married for three years.
You and I got an early start.” He smiled at her. “We grew up with our kids.”
“They were the best thing that ever happened to me. They were the only family I
had. My mother died when I was eight, and my father when I was fourteen. I was alone
for a long time before I had them.” It was his first glimpse of the difficult childhood she
had mentioned lightly, and he didn’t want to pry.
“You must have been very strong as a child to come through that, losing your parents
so young.” She didn’t tell him it had been a mercy for her.
“Children are stronger and more resilient than most people realize. They survive
wars without their parents, and terrible lives, and some of them come out of it whole.”
He could sense that whatever had happened to her, she was a survivor and had been one
of those who remained whole. But one paid a price for surviving, and he suspected she
had.
She invited him in for a cup of tea when they got to her house, and he said he should
really get back, but agreed to come in briefly. Ryan and Véro would be home from her
parents’ by then, after delivering the good news.
Halley and Bart sat in her cozy kitchen and drank their tea. They were both happy
and relaxed. He said he was planning to come back when the baby was born in July, and
maybe a time or two before then.
“Maybe I’ll go down to the south of France for a couple of weeks afterward. I love
it there.” He talked about a house he had rented once in St.-Paul-de-Vence, and said he
would love to go back. He seemed to have a very pleasant life, and worked hard too.
He wanted to read more of her books now that he’d met her. He had read most of them,
which touched her, but had missed a few. And then he left, promising to call to take her
to lunch and dinner, when he’d know his son’s plans.
She pulled out her manuscript to edit that night and did a little work. She wasn’t
really in the mood, but thought she should. It was a peaceful night. She took a bath and
was going to bed when the phone rang. She assumed it was the girls, since it was earlier
in the Caribbean. It was almost midnight, and no one else would call her at that hour on
New Year’s Day.
The caller I.D. showed a blocked number, but she thought maybe they were calling
from a phone on the boat. She answered and there was no sound, but the line hadn’t
disconnected, and then after a minute it did. Halley thought it must have been a wrong
number, or a poor connection from the boat. She got into bed and turned off the light,
and then the phone rang again, and she took it out of the charger and answered, and the
same thing happened. It didn’t disconnect for at least a minute, and it sounded like there
was someone on the other end, but they never spoke and then the call ended.
She was almost asleep half an hour later when it rang again. She almost didn’t
answer, but with both her daughters far away, and she being the only person for them to
call in an emergency, she always left her phone on at night and never turned it off. And
she answered every call.
“Hello?” she answered, wondering if it would cut off again. But this time she was
startled when a deep male voice answered her.
“ ’Ello, were you sleeping?” he asked in a silky voice. He had an accent, but he
spoke English and she couldn’t tell if the accent was French or Spanish or something
else.
“No, who is this?”
“I know who you are, and I know where you are. You do not know me. And if I
wanted to come to you now, I could, and you couldn’t stop me. I have control of you
now.” It was a frightening thing to say, and she was shaking as she sat up in bed. She
wanted to hang up, but she didn’t, waiting to see what else he would say.
“You do not have control of me. And I assume you have my bag. I’d like it back, and
my papers, and my passport.” She was surprised herself by what she said, but she was
suddenly furious that he was calling her and obviously trying to frighten her, and he had.
“You’re a very rich woman, maybe I will sell it back to you, but not yet. We can
discuss it when I call you again,” and then he hung up. She sat in her bed, shaking. The
call was creepy. She checked all the doors and windows again on the ground floor and
made sure they were locked, and they were. She checked the alarm to be certain it was
on. He had the keys and she had no way of stopping him if he used them, which was a
terrifying thought. The locksmith was coming in the morning, as the locks hadn’t been
changed yet, because of the holiday. But the alarm would go off, and hopefully Henri the
guardian would come and call the police if someone entered.
She tried to find something she could defend herself with, and found a set of golf
clubs in a guest room closet. She selected a sturdy-looking one, and stood it up, leaning
against her night table. It wouldn’t be much use if he had a gun, but maybe she could
stave him off. She locked the bedroom door then, and remained sitting upright in bed, so
she wouldn’t fall into a deep sleep and would wake up if he got in. She kept thinking
about what he’d said, and remembered every word. She never heard from the girls that
night and wouldn’t have told them anyway. They didn’t know the bag had been stolen
and she didn’t intend to tell them until she got home, so as not to upset them. But she
was terrified as she sat in bed, with the lights on, and the golf club next to her. It was an
awful night of terror.
She finally gave up on sleep, and showered and dressed at seven. She put on jeans
and a sweater and stayed in her locked bedroom. But once it was daylight, she didn’t
think he’d try to get in, and she went to the kitchen to make a cup of coffee. She was still
sitting at the kitchen table feeling dazed and exhausted, when the doorbell rang at nine.
She looked through the peephole, and saw Henri Laurent and another man, and she was
still holding the golf club when she opened the door to them. Henri look incensed when
he saw it.
“You cannot make sports in the house, you will break something, a lamp, or a
painting. Américains sauvages,” he muttered under his breath, calling her a savage, as
he led the locksmith in, and rattled off a torrent of French, complaining about her, which
was perfectly clear to Halley. The locksmith kept glancing at her, and then responding to
Henri.
He examined the locks at all the outer doors of the house, and then Henri explained
the situation to her.
“It will take him all day. These are very expensive locks installed by the owner. He
can replace them. It will be six thousand euros, and you will only get four keys. The
owner normally has eight sets of keys. So you will pay extra for four additional keys,
which will be another sixteen hundred euros, and since it is your fault, you must pay. Do
you agree?” She didn’t have much choice, given the situation, and the threatening call
the night before.
“I don’t agree in principle, and I’ll discuss it with the realtor for reimbursement.
And I will pay him today, but all my credit cards were…” She was about to say
“stolen,” and suddenly remembered the card Bart had given her. She could use that.
“Never mind. I have a credit card.”
“Good. I will not use my employer’s money to pay for your stupid mistake.”
“I didn’t make a mistake,” she said, seething. “My bag was stolen, I didn’t lose it.
Please supervise this man while he changes the locks today. I have work to do.”
“I do not need to supervise him, he is my friend. We went to school together.”
“That’s very nice. I am the tenant here, and I am asking you, telling you, that I want
him supervised. You may know him, but I don’t.” It was a reasonable request, and there
was another torrent of French from Henri to the locksmith, who just nodded and said
okay. She was going to be paying the equivalent of nine thousand dollars to change the
locks, which seemed insane to her, but she had no choice. It had to be done as soon as
possible, so the bag thief couldn’t get in.
She went back to the kitchen then, and called Major Leopold on her cell phone. He
answered on the second ring, and she told him about the call the night before, verbatim.
She had a good memory and the caller’s words had been unforgettable, and his tone.
“I don’t like this at all,” the major said, almost growling with displeasure. “The
profile of this kind of thief is usually to have no contact with their victim, and no
interest in them. He wants no contact, no recognition. They are looking for merchandise
to sell, and once they have it, they sell it, make their profit, and disappear. There is a
new breed, mostly from the Eastern European countries, where they use the keys to get
in, if they got any, and they rob the house. If they find someone in the house, like a maid,
they tie them up and put them in a closet, then they take what they want and leave.
Mostly small objects, as big ones are too inconvenient, and that group are very clever at
breaking open safes, even the most secure, that are usually full of cash. But I don’t think
I have ever had a case where the thief calls and bargains with the victim, or taunts her
and threatens her. Maybe he has been able to verify the value of the bag with someone
more knowledgeable, and he may fear it will be hard to sell, or will lead to his being
caught if it’s too distinctive, so he’d rather sell it back to you. But it’s most unusual.
“I don’t like how bold he was with you, or the things he said to you. Unfortunately,
you will hear from him again. I think he may be afraid to get caught if he puts your bag
on the internet, or on the market, selling it to a store. It’s a very distinctive bag, and it
was a special order. Hermès has an archive of it, with photographs, which is useful for
us. They only made one of your bag. So it’s even more valuable than you thought. They
think it could sell for as much as two hundred thousand dollars at auction. But the thief
won’t have access to those resources, without the bill of sale. He’s smart. His best bet
may be to sell it back to you. You want it more than anyone else, but I don’t know how
much you’re willing to pay for it, and he probably wants to know that. And it would be
very dangerous for you to meet him, even with our protection. He will definitely contact
you again, I’m sorry to say. I regret that you have to go through this. Call me when you
hear from him again. I’m sure you will. I think he is calling to taunt you, to make you
willing to buy your bag back. I don’t think he’ll actually show up. He’s just scaring
you.”
The call wasn’t reassuring, and she wasn’t looking forward to hearing from the thief
again. She didn’t want to meet him, although she wanted her bag back. But not at just
any price.
She worked on her manuscript all day, while the locksmith went from door to door,
making a mess everywhere he went, and leaving black fingerprints on all the doors.
Halley couldn’t get much done. She was too unnerved by the call the night before, and
too distracted after talking to Major Leopold.
The locksmith finished the job at five o’clock, and Henri was standing next to him
when he handed the four sets of keys to him. Henri gave one set to Halley, and said he’d
give a set to the housekeeper, and kept two sets for himself and the owners. The
locksmith told him that the other four sets of keys for the owner would be ready in three
to four weeks. They were slow and expensive.
Henri was muttering under his breath about having wasted an entire day when they
left together, and Halley sat down on a couch in the library. She hadn’t gotten anything
done all day, and felt exhausted.
Bart called her half an hour later.
“How was your day?” he asked cheerfully.
“Not a lot of fun,” she admitted. “I spent it with the locksmith, with the guardian
glaring at me. At least the thief can’t just walk in now.”
“Hopefully, he won’t try.”
Halley hesitated, and decided to tell him. “I heard from him last night,” she said,
and Bart wasn’t pleased to hear it.
“He called you?”
“Around midnight, he hung up twice, and spoke to me the third time.”
“What did he want?”
“He talked about how rich I am, said he now controls me, which gave me chills, and
hinted about selling me back the bag. It was all scary and weird. I called the major and
he said it was very unusual, and this kind of thief normally wants no contact with their
victims. The caller was frightening. He had a sinister voice.”
“Why didn’t you call me?” Bart sounded as upset as she was.
“It was too late, I didn’t want to bother you at midnight. And I’m so sorry. I used
your credit card by the way. I had to pay for the locks. Seven thousand six hundred
euros. It’s extortionate. I’ll write you a check when I have them, and I’m sorry I had to
use the card. I’m grateful that I had it, thanks to you.”
“I thought you might need it. Don’t worry about it. You should keep it till you get
your own new credit cards. You can write me a check then. You might need it again.
And I think it’s so disturbing that the thief called you. It sounds like he wants to show
off.”
“And scare me. He said he can get into my house whenever he wants. But he doesn’t
know about the alarm and the new locks.”
“You should be safe now, Halley,” he said gently. “I’m having dinner with the kids.
Do you want me to come over after that?” He didn’t like her being alone, with the thief
possibly watching her or the house.
“I don’t want to bother you with my problems.”
“You’re not bothering me. Why don’t I just drop by after dinner? I won’t stay long,
but if he is watching you, it might be good for him to see some activity coming and
going. Why don’t I call you when we finish dinner and see if you want me to come by?”
“I’d love to see you,” she said in a tired voice. Her stolen bag and the bag thief and
the aftermath were wearing her out. “I’ll be here, I’ll be editing a book,” she said.
“Try not to worry too much. The locks are changed, and you have an alarm. You’re
safe. And the police seem to be on top of it. Let’s have dinner one night this week. You
need a change of scenery.”
“I think I do. I might even let you use your credit card,” she said, and he laughed.
“See you later.” He was excited at the prospect of seeing her, and she was still
smiling after the call. And he was right, the thief couldn’t hurt her. But she was tempted
to buy back her bag, at a reasonable price, not a hundred thousand dollars.
She decided to take a bath and change for when Bart would come by. It was
something to look forward to.
—
All the guests were leaving the boat by noon the next day. Seth, Valerie, Peter, and
Olivia were all on the same flight to L.A. Seth and Peter’s mother and her husband were
on a different airline, connecting to a flight to Palm Springs. And the two couples who
had been with them on the boat were flying to Orange County. They had been a totally
compatible group, and had gotten along for the entire time. They had a drink at the Hotel
du Cap that night and came back to the boat for an early dinner. They had all loved the
boat and the crew, and were sorry to leave.
“Did I miss something on the trip?” Seth said to Valerie when she was packing that
night. “I mean about your sister and my brother.” He had noticed them holding hands at
dinner.
“I think so,” Valerie said mysteriously. “I’m not sure what’s going to happen when
they get back to L.A., but I think they’re off to a good start.” After trying to get them
interested in each other for three years, it had finally happened.
“She’d be perfect for him, instead of all the bimbos and crazies he goes out with that
he meets online. I hope he’s ready for a good one.” Valerie nodded agreement, and
leaned over and kissed him. “Good work,” he complimented her.
“Thank you for the best trip of my life,” she said.
“This is only the beginning,” he said, and smiled as he put an arm around her.
They’d had a great time, but he was happy to be going home, and more in love with
Valerie than ever. He hoped his brother would be as smart and as lucky as he had been.
