Chapter 8 #2
“Then you should do it. If you love the project, you’ll overcome the problems, and find a way.
” It was practical advice and gave him the courage to make the decision.
They talked about it all the way back to Arcangues.
He dropped her off at the chateau and she thanked him for lunch, and the next morning he knocked on her back door, and she opened it, still in her dressing gown.
She was having breakfast in the kitchen.
“I’m going to do it,” he said in a hoarse voice. He looked like he’d been up all night, wrestling with the decision. He looked stressed but relieved. “I’ll take the loan for my share from the chateau, and pay it back when we make some money.”
“Congratulations, I’m excited for you,” she said, smiling at him, and invited him in for coffee. He could hardly sit still as he told her his plans, in greater detail than the day before. He’d been making detailed notes all night.
“If we need more money, we can get additional investors. This is going to be the gem of Biarritz,” he said, and showed her some drawings he had made.
She was happy for him, and proud of him, although she had no right to be.
She was as excited as he was, and they went back to look at it again that afternoon.
He had already called the bank, where they knew him well, and they were going to lend him the amount he wanted, with the chateau as collateral.
It was an amount he felt sure he could repay if the project was a success.
And before they opened the hotel, there would be marketing and publicity to do. They would have to hire an agency or a team to do it, but there were groups that handled the launch of hotels, and Xavier was sure he could find the right people or do it himself. He turned to Sabrina then.
“Does this mean I’ll be a contractor and never a CEO again? Is this some kind of message from the universe to lower my sights? What am I doing here?” He was worried.
“You’re having fun, Xavier. That’s not a crime.
It’s allowed. That’s the whole idea. You’re allowed to have this go right, make some money, and have fun at it.
If you trust your partner and think he’s the right guy, then why not do something fun?
You can still be a CEO later, or anything you want to be, and even create another start-up.
Bon Voyage was a great idea. The pandemic killed it.
It’s open season and this is a clean slate.
I have total faith in you to do a beautiful job on this new project. ”
“Why?” He frowned at her. “You hardly know me.”
“I know you better than you think. I’ve been listening to you, and it sounds like a good project to me too.
I don’t know anything about remodeling a hotel, or running one, but I have faith that you can figure it out as you go along.
And if you make mistakes, you’ll correct them.
Maybe doing something different is a better way to get going again. ”
“I’m going to do it,” he said in a voice that was barely audible, but filled with conviction.
He left after his cup of coffee and went back to the dower house to make some calls.
He wanted to tell his school friend he was in, as equal partners.
They had a lot of groundwork to do, and he could hardly wait to get started.
He had paid attention to everything Sabrina said.
Sabrina sat in the kitchen thinking about it afterward, and it occurred to her that the beautiful old hotel Xavier wanted to remodel was like her renting the chateau in Arcangues.
It might not be their path forever, but it was the jump start they needed to get a foothold back into life and into the world.
And there was nothing wrong with that. Sabrina hoped it would work out for him.
From all that he had said to her, during dinner and over lunch, it sounded like he had had a brutal three years and needed a way back to a big corporate job, or a special project of some kind like his start-up, which hadn’t worked out.
She could sense that he needed confidence, and he admitted that he needed money.
Her renting the chateau was only a stopgap until he got back into the business world again to replace what he’d lost. He’d been humble admitting it to her, and she wondered if it was easier talking to a relative stranger he had no history with.
She had confided in him too. They had each found a sympathetic ear, and someone they could relate to.
The hallmark of the relationship they were forming with each other was kindness.
People had gotten so isolated during the pandemic that neither of them had anyone to talk to.
Sabrina was far from home and her children, and Xavier appeared to derive no comfort from his wife, which seemed unfortunate to Sabrina.
The relationship he had with Brigitte was entirely the opposite of everything she had shared with Malcolm, which made his absence so much harder, and made it so tempting to reach out to Xavier as a friend.
Their respective loneliness, for different reasons, created an unexpected bond.
She was happy to encourage him if it helped him.
They were each searching for something to hold on to in the aftermath of the storm of the past few years.
It made sense to her, and even though they didn’t know each other well, their isolation was similar, and she wished him well.
She could tell that he was a good person, and he had the same feeling about her.
Her turning up to rent the chateau at the right time was a fortuitous accident for them both.
They expected nothing from each other, but were grateful for the comfort they got.
—
When Sabrina went back to the monastery the next time she volunteered, she got the feeling that the residential quarters for the children were even more crowded than before. She mentioned it in passing to Sister Anne.
“Am I imagining it or are there more kids here?” Sister Anne nodded.
“There was a fire in Bordeaux two days ago, and a convent that housed eighty children burned down. It was one of our largest facilities. They had to ship the children all over France. We took three, and we shouldn’t even have done that.
We converted a supply closet with three cots.
If the authorities check on us, they could shut us down.
Fortunately, they never do. Mother Regina has a big heart, she couldn’t say no. ”
The dining hall was noisier than ever, and the games on the lawn more boisterous.
The three newcomers were hesitant to join the fun and watched from the sidelines.
Sabrina spoke to them in her halting French and they smiled at her.
She finally got one of them to come and play while the others watched.
Watching the convent burn down, which was the only home they had now, had been traumatic for them.
Their life had been one disaster after another, and Sabrina’s heart ached for them.
For a myriad of different reasons, the children at the monastery had been through so much.
She stayed later than usual and helped with baths.
She was soaked when she got home. She changed into a warm nightgown and put on a thick robe, scrambled some eggs for herself, and poured a glass of wine.
Coco and Lizzie called her that night, and they sounded happy.
She had forgotten that it was Valentine’s Day, but they remembered.
She kept losing track of the days in Arcangues.
She thought of Malcolm after they hung up.
He always sent her flowers and gave her a piece of jewelry on Valentine’s Day, even if something small.
He had been unfailingly thoughtful. It was her first Valentine’s Day without him.
She was arranging a linen closet the next day, when her cellphone rang, and she was surprised to hear Sister Anne’s voice, recognizing it immediately. The nun sounded serious.
“Are you coming in today?” she asked, and Sabrina hesitated. She had a list of things she wanted to do around the house, but none of it was urgent.
“Do you want me to?” Sabrina asked her. She wondered if she had done something wrong the day before, without knowing it.
“Mother Regina asked me to call you. I think she’d like it.”
“Of course. If that’s all right, I’ll come in about an hour.” She could finish the linen closet later, it wasn’t important.
“See you then,” Sister Anne said cheerfully, sounding more like herself.
Sabrina showered and dressed. She was occupying Xavier’s master suite, and he had a powerful shower, which he had admitted he missed.
The dower house was very old-fashioned and only had the original bathtubs that had been installed sixty years before in the last update.
She loved his suite because his bedroom and the little sitting room next to it looked out over the gardens.
The one his wife normally occupied looked out toward a forest and was darker.
She drove to the monastery and knew the children would be eating lunch by then. They’d had choir practice that morning, and Sabrina was sorry she’d missed it. It was an exquisite sound.
She walked up the steps to the Mother Superior’s office and found Sister Anne waiting outside the door for her, chatting with the Superior quietly. Sabrina had the feeling that something important was happening.
“Is something wrong?” she asked them both with a feeling of dread that she had offended someone or upset a child. Mother Regina smiled at her.
“Of course not, my dear. I have a question to ask you. It’s rather unusual, I’m afraid.
Come into my office.” Sabrina followed them into a dark wood-paneled room with a crucifix on the wall.
The Mother Superior’s office was directly behind the chapel, and they could hear one of the nuns practicing on the organ for the Sunday service.