Chapter 6 #3
“The first of many days like this, I hope,” he said to her.
“I’ve had a wonderful time too.” She had turned off her phone that morning, since she had said she would be in meetings all day.
She hoped that her children had managed to survive without a crisis.
She had been gone and out of touch for thirteen hours by then.
It was ten o’clock, and she and Patrick had packed a lot into their day alone.
Swimming and sailing, sunbathing, delicious meals, and even a massage, and the pleasure of his company.
And Patrick felt the same way about her.
He felt as though he had found a rare pearl and he didn’t want to lose it.
He treated her with caution, admiration, and respect, more than any man she’d met, and she appreciated him and all his confidence. They already trusted each other.
“Patrick, I can’t begin to reciprocate for a day like this.
I feel like I’ve had a month’s vacation.
But would you like to have dinner with me and the children on Friday night?
Everyone is leaving on Sunday, and I’m going back to the city.
We’ll be back in the Hamptons again the week of the wedding, which is on the last weekend in August, the week before Labor Day.
But everyone is more relaxed now than they will be the weekend of the wedding.
If it goes forward, that will probably be insanely busy. ”
“Do you think it won’t go forward?” he asked her.
“It depends how my daughter reacts to her fiancé’s mystery guest two days ago and if she noticed him flirting with the nanny yesterday. She may marry him anyway, although I have to admit, I hope she won’t.”
“I hope not too,” he confided to her. “As you said, we’ve seen the movie, and we know how it ends.
I don’t think her odds are great for a storybook ending, given what you’ve said.
And who knows what you don’t know, and weren’t around to observe?
It sounds like she has her head in the sand about him. ”
“I think so,” Eugenia agreed.
“If she were my daughter, I wouldn’t want her to marry a guy like him.”
“Her father doesn’t care. She’ll have a title. That’s all he cares about. And he hardly sees the children, once or twice a year. She thinks her father walks on water. I don’t try to disabuse her. She’s entitled to her illusions.”
“You have a tough role with them, with all the responsibility on your shoulders,” he said to her, thinking about it.
“At least my son has a mother. We didn’t get along, but she adores him.
Being the only parent is a hell of a hard job.
I can see that now,” and he admired her all the more for it.
She was father and mother to her children and had been for years, which sounded like a thankless job.
“When can we do this again?” he asked her.
“Whenever you like, and have time to put up with me for a whole day. Thank you for a magnificent day. You must have a lot to do right now.” Eugenia knew what that was like, and expected to find fifty or a hundred work emails on her computer when she went home that night.
Patrick’s empire was bigger, and she suspected he would have even more.
“This was a joy for me too,” he said, comfortable with her.
“Will you come to dinner on Friday?” she asked him.
“With pleasure.”
“Come for drinks at seven-thirty, dinner after. Casual, jeans are fine.”
“Can I bring anything?”
“Just you. And body armor, in case they get out of hand,” she said, and he laughed.
“I’ll enjoy seeing them again,” he said, and after a few more minutes, they got up from the table.
The crew had left the area by then, and would return to clean up when they left.
Patrick looked down at her standing in front of him, and carefully pulled her toward him, into his arms, and ever so gently he kissed her on the lips, softly at first and then harder, wanting more of her, but willing to wait as long as he had to.
“I love being with you,” he whispered, and touched her face with a single finger, drawing her features, and then he kissed her again. “Thank you for today.”
“Thank you for today,” she said, hating to leave his magic kingdom where anything seemed possible, even dreams. They walked slowly toward the stairs and made their way down several decks and he stopped her and kissed her again.
Eugenia loved the feel of his lips on hers and how he kissed her.
She had forgotten how sensual kisses could be, and she loved the strength of his arms around her.
She felt small and safe within them, which was a long-forgotten feeling.
Patrick walked her to where the motorboat was waiting for her, and the crew helped her in, as he watched and waved as they pulled away.
She sat looking up at the boat where she had just spent an extraordinary day, and she saw him appear on the deck outside his suite.
He waved at her and she waved back. They were staying at anchor outside the port, and the deckhands helped her out of the motorboat that had brought her back to earth.
She felt like she had fallen from a cloud, or like Cinderella after the ball.
She walked to where she had parked the car and drove back to the rented house.
It was eleven o’clock, and the main house and cottages were all dark and quiet when she got there.
They had all gone to sleep early. No one was waiting for her to report a disaster.
They hadn’t killed each other, the house hadn’t burned down.
She turned her phone on and there were no messages, except one from her dentist to remind her of a cleaning appointment the following week.
All was well in her tiny universe, compared to Patrick’s much bigger one.
She slipped into bed a few minutes later, thinking about him, and the day they had spent together.
She knew now about his son, his parents, their marriage, and his own.
She had seen him in his rarefied world. She knew about his business problems and he knew about hers.
They were aware of each other’s successes and failures due to the pandemic, and he made her less fearful about her own.
It seemed like a perfect beginning, and even if she never saw him again, she would remember it forever as one totally perfect day, and Patrick as the man who had given it to her.