Turning Point(45)

After she talked to the boys, the conversation with Andy seemed stilted. She knew what was coming and he didn’t. She had to find a way to wait two months to tell him. The next two weeks in Paris, the first two weeks that she was home, and the month that Gabriel would be in San Francisco. She felt like the consummate liar that she was becoming. But she was in love with Gabriel now, not her husband. And she hoped that Gabriel was right, and it would all work out in the end.





Chapter Eleven


Gabriel and Stephanie were already starving for each other when they met in the office on Monday morning after one night apart. It made her realize how difficult it was going to be not to spend every night together when he came to San Francisco. She would have to finesse it as best she could, and be discreet. She wanted no high drama with Andy while Gabriel was there. And if all remained on track, she would ask Andy for a divorce as soon as Gabriel went back to France. And she’d still have to deal with the issue of her medical career, and what she’d have to do to qualify to practice in France. She’d have to start taking French lessons immediately in order to pass the exam for the language requirement. But she couldn’t have a life with Gabriel in Paris without practicing medicine too. Being a doctor was all-important to her. And she’d have to find a school for the boys too. There was so much to think about. This was going to be the biggest decision she had ever made.



* * *



—

    Marie-Laure looked tired after the previous week. She was still dealing with press issues stemming from the school shooting. She met with numerous politicians, went to the élysée for a meeting with the president to respond to his questions personally, and was keeping in close touch with the families of the victims. She had two assistants handling only that. They had an all-day debriefing scheduled the following day with the police. She knew she would see Bruno there, but he dropped by on Monday anyway to check on her. He had been extremely responsive to any questions and problems she had, and she was impressed that he was so attentive.

He spent half an hour in her office, and to thank him for his kindness, she extended an invitation to him for dinner at her home on Sunday night. She had just invited the “Team of Eight,” as they called themselves now. It was the Americans’ last weekend in Paris, and she wanted to thank them for how wonderful they had been. She was going to do an informal Sunday night dinner, and Bruno was touched to be asked. He said he’d be delighted so she jotted down her address, and asked if he’d like to bring a girlfriend and he said he was on his own and didn’t have one. She knew he was divorced and had three grown boys who were all studying in other cities. He was forty-nine years old. He told her he’d see her the next day at the debriefing. Valérie teased her about it when she walked into Marie-Laure’s office a few minutes later.

“I see we’re getting a lot of police protection these days,” she said with some amusement, and Marie-Laure looked surprised.

“I think he’s just a nice person and was worried about us,” she said innocently, and Valérie laughed.

    “How many cases have we worked on with the police, and how many police captains have showed up to see how we are, several times after an incident?”

Marie-Laure blushed at what Valérie said and seemed flustered. “This was a very major incident.”

“True, but I think he likes you, more than just as the head of this office. If you were a man, he wouldn’t be here. He seems like a good guy.”

“Don’t be silly. Besides, he’s a lot older than I am,” she said, trying to be dismissive.

“Do you care?”

“No,” Marie-Laure said honestly. He’d told her he was forty-nine at some point, and she was thirty-three. “I just don’t think he likes me that way.”

“I’ll bet he does,” Valérie said smugly. “You should go out with him.”

“He hasn’t asked me,” she said, determined not to take Valérie’s assumptions seriously. She didn’t have time for a boyfriend. She had a demanding job and three young kids to keep her busy at night.

“He will ask you out,” Valérie said and drifted out of her office.

The next day, even Marie-Laure began to wonder. Bruno was very nice to her, and attentive after the lengthy debriefing, and made a point of saying he was looking forward to dinner at her house on Sunday. Valérie gave her a knowing look after he left.

It was a busy week for all of them. They had the administrative fallout to deal with after the school shooting the week before, and the press was still all over them at the office.

They were all tired and somewhat frazzled by the time Bill picked his girls up at the Eurostar on Friday night. He had taken two rooms for them at a small hotel on the Left Bank. There was no room for the girls in the apartment. Their hotel room had a big canopied bed, which they loved, and Wendy joined them at an Italian restaurant, so they would at least know each other when they left for Euro Disney the next day.

    She was shy with them at first, but they were such easygoing, warm, well-mannered children that she felt at ease very quickly. Pip had asked their father if she was his girlfriend before Wendy arrived for dinner, and he had said no, they were just friends, which seemed to satisfy her. He said she was a trauma doctor too, and they had met on the trip to Paris, but they were good friends now. After dinner, both girls said they really liked her, and were happy she was coming with them the next day. Wendy had told them at dinner that she had never been to Disneyland in California either, nor Disney World in Florida, so they told her all about it, and Alex said she was going to love it, and explained all the Disney princesses to her. Wendy smiled as she listened, and glanced at Bill. She was enjoying herself immensely.