Turning Point(26)

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When Bill got to St. Pancras Station, he took a taxi to Athena and Rupert’s house on Belgrave Square. He had the cab wait for him while he rang the doorbell, and Athena answered it with a look of surprise, as though he were the Ghost of Christmas Past.

“Oh right, I forgot…I thought you said tomorrow morning.” She was as beautiful as ever, with a halo of blond hair around her exquisite face. He always forgot how stunning she was, until he saw her again. She had hardly changed in the years he had known her, and she smiled as their daughters came bounding down the stairs and screamed with delight when they saw their father and threw themselves into his arms. Bill beamed as he held them for a minute, and Athena told him to come in, while she helped the girls finish packing their bags. She glanced at him again over her shoulder with a look he remembered only too well, as she walked up the stairs. It was the look that had torn his heart out a thousand times. She was a beautiful woman, but she was never meant to be his. She waved him toward the library while he waited for them, and he wandered around the room, admiring the paintings and the books. The house was magnificent, and Rupert had spoiled her. It was a far cry from their cozy little Victorian in Noe Valley, or his stark apartment now.

    Bill knew he would never have provided a home like this for her, although he could have one day. But this wasn’t how he wanted to live. It reminded him of his parents’ townhouse in New York, or his brother’s apartment on Fifth Avenue. He was different from them, and always had been. There was something missing in him. He had no desire to live in luxury or show off. He loved his work at SF General, the real people he worked with, and the outdoors. Athena’s parents had been right. He would never have been able to keep her for long. He had been the wrong man. He had suited her for a minute in her rebellious days as a twenty-three-year-old. She had now become everything she’d grown up with, and he never wanted. He wouldn’t have chosen to live this way, even for her. It woke him up to the fact that the years he had mourned her had been wasted. He would never have fallen in love with her if he met her now, no matter how beautiful she was. She was someone to admire, like a magnificent piece of art, but not to have.

She came back down the stairs with Pip and Alex five minutes later, carrying the bags they were taking to the hotel. They were excited to be going with him, and Athena smiled at him again.

“I’m sorry to get here so late,” he said to her as the girls circled them like puppies.

“It’s fine, Rupert is hunting in Scotland this weekend. I always eat late. What are you doing in Paris?”

“Attending a conference on terrorism and emergency services, to compare with ours in the States.” She made a face and laughed. She had never liked his specialty, and he remembered his father-in-law’s suggestion that he give up medicine and come to work for him. That had never been an option for him, not even to keep her.

    “It sounds dreadful,” she said and laughed, and they looked at each other for a moment, wondering how they had ever gotten married. But he was glad that they had, with Pip and Alex as the result.

“It’s actually very interesting. You would hate it.” He laughed, relieved. He finally felt free of her. It had taken years. The girls were anxious to leave then, and Athena looked at him in that enchanting way of hers that used to make his heart pound, but it no longer did, which was a comfort now.

“Have a wonderful weekend,” she said and kissed the girls.

“We will,” he said as he smiled at his daughters. “I’ll bring them home on Sunday afternoon. I’m catching a four o’clock train back to Paris. And I’ll be here again next weekend. The weekend after, I’d like them to come to Paris.” He had emailed it all to her, but she was never good at making plans, or remembering them when she did. She lived in a world all her own.

“See you next weekend, then. I’ll be out on Sunday when you bring them home.” She waved as they hurried down the stairs to the taxi waiting at the curb, and he caught a last glimpse of her as she closed the door. She was the woman he had loved so passionately, and mourned for so long. It was a relief to realize that he no longer loved her, and that seeing her no longer hurt. There was a wonderful feeling of freedom to it, as he put an arm around each of his girls, and they sped toward the hotel, talking about everything they were going to do over the weekend. His time with his daughters was what he lived for. It was perfect. He was happy as they walked into the hotel. There wasn’t a woman in the world who could make him feel that way.



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    After a big breakfast at the hotel the next morning, Bill took Pip and Alex to the Science Museum. He always tried to do something educational with them, instead of just indulging them, although he did that too. Pip begged him to take them to Harrods, and they went after lunch. She loved to shop for clothes. They visited the Tower of London, which he had done with them a dozen times, but they always enjoyed it. They got back to the hotel in time for tea, with watercress, cucumber, and egg salad sandwiches, and scones with clotted cream and jam. They watched movies in his room afterward, and had hamburgers from room service for dinner.

On Sunday, they went for a walk in Hyde Park, and then he took them to their favorite pizza restaurant for lunch. He got them back to Athena’s just after three o’clock. The nanny opened the door, with the twins standing next to her. They were very handsome little boys, and looked just like Rupert. The girls threw their arms around Bill’s neck and held him tight, and thanked him for a wonderful weekend. He was planning to take them to the theater next time. The concierge at Claridge’s was trying to get tickets to something suitable for them.