Precious Gifts (17 page)

“You might be very disappointed in my work.” She was nervous about doing it, but Nikolai wasn't.

“I don't believe that. I am sure you are a great artist,” he said, as the stewardess poured Château d'Yquem in their glasses, and the three women sipped it with pleasure.

Nikolai talked about his art collection then, and told the girls that he would be happy to receive them at his house in London, or on any of his boats, at any time. They sat at the table chatting for another hour, and then finally Véronique said that they should go back to the hotel—it had been a long day and Joy was leaving early the next morning. But all of them were sorry to leave him. He had been an extremely congenial host, and being on his yacht had been an unforgettable experience. He kissed all three of them as they left, and waved as the speedboat took them back to the dock. Véronique and her daughters felt like Cinderella after midnight when they got back to the hotel.

“Holy shit, Mom. What was that?” Joy said as they walked up the stairs to the lobby of the Eden Roc. She was grinning broadly. “Did he really almost kill you in Rome?”

“Not really. He missed me by quite a lot,” she said, thinking, Thanks to Aidan. “But he was very nice about it. He had an amazing suite at the Hassler, and we had dinner on his terrace.”

“That sounds pretty racy to me, Mom.” Joy was looking at her with new eyes, and her mother laughed. It never dawned on them that she might know someone like him. And it was certainly a rarity in her life.

“It wasn't,” she assured her. “He had a girlfriend there. A very pretty girl, younger than you.”

“I'm not surprised,” Juliette added. “I saw some very pretty young girl run into the hair salon while we were on the tour, but she had disappeared when we got there. I can't believe that boat. He must be the richest man in the world.”

“Just one of them,” Véronique said. It was a whole new breed of wealth that had materialized in recent years, and one saw it frequently in Europe. She had seen others like him in Paris. “It's hard to imagine. The boat was incredible, wasn't it?”

“I can't believe you didn't tell us you went to Florence,” Joy commented.

“You girls are busy, and most of the time I don't do anything very exciting. Nikolai is an oddity for me, too. But I thought you'd enjoy seeing the boat. I'd heard about it. It was even bigger and more impressive than I expected.”

“I don't get seasick on boats that size,” Juliette said, as though she'd made an important discovery, and her mother and sister laughed. They'd had a lot of wine, and were all in good spirits.

Véronique said goodbye to Joy that night, since she was leaving early the next morning, and as soon as she got back to her room, Aidan called her. He had left her a message earlier, and she hadn't returned the call yet. He sounded worried.

“Where were you tonight?”

“Doing something crazy,” she admitted.

“Like what?”

“Nikolai Petrovich was in the area with his boat, and he invited me and the girls for dinner. I thought they'd like to see it.”

“What's he after?” Aidan almost growled at her, and it confirmed how jealous he had been before, but she didn't want to lie to him. It was a bad habit she didn't want to get into, even if he didn't like what she was doing, and she knew he wouldn't.

“Just showing off his boat. It was something new and different for the girls.” She didn't tell him how fabulous it was or what a good time they'd had. She had just told him where she had been, and that was enough.

“He'll probably try to sleep with one of them,” he said with a strong tone of disapproval.

“I hope not,” she said lightly. “He's older than I am.”

“Or maybe he'll try to sleep with you.” He sounded panicked at the thought.

“Don't be silly. The girl he had with him in Rome was about twenty. So what did you do tonight?” she said, changing the subject, but she could tell his feathers were ruffled about their evening on the yacht.

“I missed you. I had dinner with my rep and started hanging my show. It's hard to get anything done here.” He explained about his problems with the show then, and after they'd talked for a while, he relaxed. He mentioned that he'd had a very good offer from a gallery in New York to sell limited editions of some of his photographs, which was how he made his living between shows. He didn't make a fortune on his work yet, but enough to live on. His needs were modest, and eventually he hoped to increase his prices once his photographs were in museums. He was working toward that goal.

She told him then that Joy was leaving in the morning, and Juliette was going back to the château with a realtor to find out what it might sell for, so they could set a fair price if she bought out her sisters. “She seems to be very intent about it.”

“And you're going to help her?”

“Yes, I am,” she said softly, and he sounded pleased.

They talked for a while, and progressively relaxed with each other, and he was in better spirits when they hung up.

“And don't go off having dinner with that Russian again,” he said sternly. “I'm sure he's dangerous, and probably an arms dealer or something.” There was no way to know.

“He might be,” she conceded, and she didn't tell him Nikolai had commissioned her for a portrait. It would have upset Aidan all over again, which wasn't her intention.

He promised to call her the next day, told her he loved her, and they hung up. After that Véronique walked onto her terrace and looked at the giant motor yacht still sitting in the water. It was all lit up like a floating city. She could still see it from her bed, as she lay there, thinking of the two men she had met that summer, Aidan and Nikolai, and how different they were. One flaunted his fortune in every way he could, the other said he was allergic to rich people and believed in simple values. She enjoyed Nikolai, but she was in love with Aidan. And as she thought of them, she fell asleep.

In the morning when she woke up, the yacht was gone. Nikolai had sent her a text, saying he was going back to Monaco to pick up friends, and to text him if she would like dinner on the boat again. She answered his text and thanked him for a wonderful evening.

She met up with Juliette in the cabana a little while later. She was making copious notes about the château, and was determined to meet with an architect before she left. And she didn't mention it to her mother, but she was going to visit Elisabeth and Sophie on her way to the château that afternoon. She wanted to see them again before she went back to New York. She had liked Sophie when they met, and her mother.

Véronique wished her luck when she left a little while later, and she spent the afternoon dozing, sunning, and reading a book. It was a perfect afternoon, and she was happy. Her visit with the girls had gone well. Joy seemed relaxed and excited about her acting career and her new manager. And Juliette was in love with the château. And when they left, she would go to Berlin to see Aidan, and they would pick up where they left off. All was well in her world.

Juliette had the driver stop at Elisabeth's office in Biot on her way to the château that afternoon. She was with a patient, and the nurse asked her to wait for a few minutes. Juliette glanced through a French magazine, and ten minutes later Elisabeth emerged from the exam room, surprised to see her, as Juliette stood up with a warm smile.

“I was on my way to the château, and I thought I'd just stop by to say hello.” Elisabeth looked pleased and was touched by it. She was wearing her white lab coat and had a stethoscope around her neck.

“Are your mother and sister with you?” She wondered if they were waiting in the car. She was going to invite them in.

“My sister left for L.A. this morning, and my mother is at the hotel. I came alone, I have an appointment with a realtor to appraise the château. We need to know how much it's worth.” Elisabeth nodded and thought it was a good idea.

“It needs a lot of repairs,” she reminded her.

“I know. Is Sophie here?”

“She just went out a little while ago, to see friends in St. Paul de Vence. She liked very much meeting all of you yesterday,” Elisabeth said kindly. “You were all very nice to her. She was afraid, and so was I, that the meeting would be difficult. Your mother was very elegant about it,” she said openly. “It must have been painful for her.”

“She liked you, too,” Juliette said simply. “She felt better after she met you. I think she was sad to see the château. It has a lot of memories for her.”

Elisabeth nodded. It did for her, too. She had said nothing the day before, but Paul had taken her there several times when Véronique and the children were away. Sophie had been conceived there, which was not something she was proud of, and she wouldn't have mentioned it to Juliette, but it had been awkward going back there the day before with Véronique. She had been foolish in her youth, and they would all be happy when the place was sold. It was too full of their old ghosts and a past filled with regrets.

“I hope you sell it soon,” Elisabeth said, as she walked Juliette back to the car. Juliette didn't tell her she was thinking of keeping it and buying it from her sisters. The idea was still too new. And she promised to come back soon and visit them again before she left.

“Say hello to Sophie,” she said to Elisabeth, and the woman who had been her father's lover waved as they drove away.

The realtor was waiting for her when she got to the Château de Brize. He was a serious man who knew the region well, and everything that had sold recently. He warned her that the château would not bring a high price given its current state of disrepair. She said she understood, and they walked the property together for several hours and he examined everything, and explained it to her in English, alternating with French she understood. It was nearly six o'clock by the time they finished. They were both hot and tired, and he checked some notes he'd brought with him, and then they sat down on the front steps of the château. The caretaker had opened everything for them, and the realtor looked at her with a concerned expression.

“I don't want to disappoint you, or give you false hopes. Everything has to be repaired here. The wiring, the plumbing, the roof. Someone will have to put a great deal of money into it, to bring it back into a condition where it can be used. It will probably cost more to repair than to buy it. I don't think you can expect to get more than six hundred thousand dollars for it. Six hundred and fifty tops.” That meant that offering them top dollar, her share was worth a hundred and fifty thousand dollars, and she would owe her three sisters just over four hundred and fifty thousand dollars in all, if they agreed. It was a lot to borrow from her mother, and she didn't know if Véronique would be willing. But she knew that her share of her mother's estate would be a great deal more than that. It would be an advance on her inheritance. And she was going to use the money her father had left her to start the repairs. And she could sell the shop in Brooklyn to add to that. As the realtor said, it was going to be an expensive project, but she could do it slowly over time, and even live there once it was in working order, when it was safe.

“Do you know a contractor in the area, and an architect?” Juliette asked him.

“I do. There's a good firm in St. Paul.”

“I'd like to get an estimate of how much it might cost someone to do the repairs.” He nodded, jotted down the name, and handed it to her. She looked at the note. Jean-Pierre Flarion. He'd given her the phone number and address. And then she thanked the realtor for his time, and paid him what they'd agreed to for the appraisal, which was a small fee.

“Would you like me to list it for you now?” he asked her hopefully.

“Not yet. I'll be in touch,” she said, and then got back in the car to head back to the hotel, and as they drove through St. Paul, she had an idea. She called the architectural firm on her cell phone. It rang several times, and finally a harried voice picked it up.

“Oui?”
Yes? She asked to speak to Mr. Flarion, and the voice said it was he. She explained that she had a château in the area, and she would like to consult someone about repairs and restoration.

“What château?” The voice sounded intrigued.

“The Château de Brize,” she said clearly.

“It's been unoccupied for years. It's in terrible condition. You're thinking of buying it?”

“I own it,” she said. “It was my father's. Would you be willing to come out and look at it tomorrow?”

“I might,” he said, sounding interested. “Let me check something.” He was back in a minute. “I can do it at ten o'clock tomorrow morning. After that I'm busy. And I have to go to meetings in Nice the rest of the week.”

“Tomorrow at ten will be fine,” she said, feeling a ripple of excitement run through her. She was actually doing this. She was meeting with an architect. It was happening. She wanted to scream, she was so excited as she thanked him and hung up.

She went to find her mother in her room as soon as she got back. Véronique could see from the look in her eyes that it had gone well.

“What did he say?” She smiled at Juliette.

“He said it's worth between six hundred and six hundred and fifty thousand dollars, which means it would cost me just over four hundered and fifty thousand to buy out the girls. Would you lend me that much, Mom?” She held her breath as Véronique thought about it and nodded.

“How will you pay for the repairs?”

“I can use the money Dad left me, and whatever I get for the sandwich shop if I sell it, after I pay you back what I owe you on that. It'll give me a start.”

“I think I'll need to lend you some more for the repair work. We can add that to what you borrow to pay the girls. And you have to ask them how they feel about it, and if they're willing to accept what you offer them. But the price sounds fair.” Véronique was businesslike as they made some notes together, and when Juliette went back to her room, she was floating on air. She was going to have a hotel!