Chapter 11
After class the next day, Veronica started the search for an apartment.
She saw three and hated them. They were in dreary modern buildings with no charm.
It took her a week to find one she loved.
The apartment was small but all she needed, a floor-through in a townhouse that had been divided into apartments in the East Seventies.
It had a bedroom, a study, a big living room, a dining room, and a kitchen.
There were high ceilings and tall French windows with antique curtains provided by the owner, a retired opera singer who lived on the three upper floors.
And there was an elevator so Olivia could come to see her.
Isabelle dropped by after Veronica signed the lease, and loved it.
Veronica noticed that Isabelle looked tired and pale.
She and Ian were still living separately, and they had finally told the children that they were living apart for a while and trying to work things out.
They had cried, but they were spending two nights a week with Ian.
He had rented a furnished apartment while he continued to figure things out.
He was still seeing Leila, and telling Isabelle he didn’t want to lose her or their marriage, which sounded less and less real to her.
He said that he hoped to have worked things out by the summer, and wanted to rent a house in the Hamptons with her, and he said he could come out on weekends.
She could guess that he would be with Leila in the city during the week.
Isabelle had turned down his offer to rent a house in the Hamptons with him, and had talked to Scott about a divorce.
It broke her heart to think about it, but she was losing hope that Ian would ever be able to let Leila go.
There was something about her that seemed to be more addictive than any drug.
He was seeing a therapist to figure out what he wanted. He still wasn’t sure.
Scott had helped Quinne set up her production house too, and she was up and running.
He was eager to see more of Veronica once she settled into her apartment.
She had all her sisters to dinner at her new home.
Cooper came, fresh from the set. He was working on Felicia’s series.
Andy was there with Charlotte, and Veronica had invited Scott.
“The Weston ladies are keeping me busy,” he said to Andy, and he laughed.
“They keep us all busy,” Andy commented.
Olivia admitted to Isabelle that she had written to Francois Vernier, and he hadn’t responded.
“I’m sorry, Ollie,” Isabelle said. They were sitting in a corner talking.
Everyone in the group got along. Isabelle had helped Veronica furnish her new apartment quickly.
It was comfortable and inviting. They had combed the vintage shops and antique stores, and Olivia had tagged along.
The result was exactly what Veronica had wanted.
It was her first apartment on her own. She’d had roommates when she worked at the law firm ten years before.
“It’s okay,” Olivia said about Francois. Isabelle remembered how madly in love they had been. “It means he’s happy now. I’m glad for him.” Olivia was philosophical about Francois. She wasn’t even sure why she had written to him. They were ancient history.
And Andy’s father was due to arrive on Friday.
All five of the sisters were going to the farm on Sunday to meet him for lunch.
Charlotte and Andy were spending weekends at the Weston farm in Connecticut whenever Julia went to friends on the weekends.
Andy stayed at his father’s house during the week, except when he came into the city to see Charlotte.
They had a fun dinner at Veronica’s new apartment, and Scott stayed after the others left.
She seemed to be blossoming in her new life.
She and Scott were enjoying getting to know each other better.
He didn’t want to rush things. She was fresh out of a ten-year relationship that had left its mark on her.
She realized now how oppressive it had been, and how Anson had controlled her.
It had seemed normal to her after a while.
And she saw clearly now how unhealthy it had been.
She was enjoying school and Scott, her sisters and her freedom.
“Do you think Isabelle and Ian will get divorced?” she asked him, as they sat in her living room with a last glass of wine.
“Professionally, I can’t say anything. Personally, I think he’s pushed it to the outer limits. She’s been very patient.” Isabelle wasn’t dating anyone, but the affair with Leila had gone on for almost a year now, and Ian still hadn’t given her up. Isabelle had lost hope for their marriage.
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The same group assembled at the farm on Sunday, without Scott, who was a newcomer to the group as Veronica’s date.
Quinne and Cooper drove out. Olivia and Veronica came from the city together.
Andy and Charlotte had spent the weekend, and she had met Spencer before the others, on Saturday, and was deeply moved by him.
He had cried and hugged her when he met her.
And Isabelle brought her children on Sunday, so he could meet them.
He looked a lot like Andy, although bigger, broader, and older.
He was a serious person, but had a good sense of humor.
He teased them all about things their mother had said about them, and he was sweet to Isabelle’s children, who loved playing outside.
Andy and Coop played ball with Tyler and Charlie, and Penny stayed close to her mother.
It felt like a real family gathering. The only one missing was Julia, who had plans in the city with friends.
Spencer told Charlotte and Andy that they had made Felicia’s fondest wish come true, that one day they would meet and fall in love.
He’d come to New York to negotiate a new contract with his publisher and promote his latest book.
Robert Farr had taken Spencer to the set of the series they had started to shoot and he was duly impressed seeing Quinne in action.
They talked about it at lunch on Sunday.
He was aware of all their jobs and activities and from the stories he told, they could tell how much their mother and he had talked about them.
“She loved this place so much. I’m so glad you’ve kept it.
She always hoped you’d spend time here. She wanted to introduce us, but she wasn’t ready to reveal all her secrets yet, and she thought she had time.
” He had tears in his eyes when he said it.
Andy had asked him the day before if he was ready to move back.
He and Charlotte had been trying to plan what they would do when he did, and hadn’t decided yet.
Their plans were somewhat dependent on Spencer’s.
He had surprised Andy when he said that he didn’t think he could ever live there again.
He had been thinking about it a lot. He and Felicia had been so happy there that he still couldn’t bear the thought of living there without her.
He had enjoyed meeting her children immensely, and they were as wonderful as she had said, and made him feel welcome.
But he felt too lonely being there without Felicia, and Andy could see that he was.
He felt so sorry for him. He wondered if he would ever recover.
He was only seventy-two years old and youthful for his age, but Andy could see that losing Felicia had aged him.
“What’ll you do, Dad?” Andy asked, worried about him.
“I don’t know. London suits me, and I’ve rented a cottage in Hampshire, it’s the dower house on one of the great old estates.
Felicia would have loved it.” He still measured everything by her, and Andy thought he was making the right decision.
It would be too hard to live in the Connecticut house without her.
His memories of her there were too vivid.
“I’d like you to move in, not just house-sit,” Spencer said to Andy.
“I’ll put my things in storage if you like, if you don’t want them.
Why don’t you live here with Charlotte and make it your home? ”
“I’d like that, Dad, and it’s a generous offer. Charlotte’s daughter has another year of school in the city, so she has to live in New York until Julia leaves for college. I go back and forth from here and her daughter seems fine with it. She’s a lovely girl.”
“They feel like my family now too,” Spencer said at lunch on Sunday, and the sisters all agreed.
They hadn’t grown up with a father figure, and Spencer was warm and generous and loving to them.
He had heard fifteen years of stories from Felicia and already felt as though he knew them well.
The only ones missing in their midst that day were Charlotte’s children and Felicia herself.
Spencer gave an emotional toast, and they all cried, but they were warm tears of love and joy and happy memories.
It was a day she would have loved. They took a walk after lunch, and Spencer told them stories about their mother and what a wonderful woman she was.
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