The Affair

Emma’s eyes sprung wide. She hid her face in his chest, hoping he hadn’t noticed her flash of hope at his words or the pulse that had begun to throb at her throat.

“Emma?” he said quietly, his fingers massaging her scalp.

“Yes?”

“When we return to the States . . . I don’t want any more of this talk about the weeks and the days. Do you understand?” he asked, his fingers stilling.

“Yes,” she whispered against his chest, although in truth, his statement had brought up a dozen questions, all of which made her wildly anxious—but also intimidated—to hear his answer.

Chapter 39

Emma said good-bye to Mrs. Denis that night. When tears sprung to her eyes as they hugged, Mrs. Denis noticed.

“There’s no need for that,” she soothed, smoothing Emma’s hair fondly. “You make Va

Emma nodded, but perhaps Mrs. Denis noticed the brittleness of Emma’s smile, because her expression fell. These days and nights with Va

He’d certainly never spoken the word love, as Emma had, and that absence was begi

It was only a matter of time before these days became hellish memories because he was no longer in her life. She was begi

Yet she also knew perfectly well every additional moment would just tear at her spirit more.

The rude intrusion of reality onto their happiness came earlier than she’d expected, however, during their last night at La Mer. It was still dark out when Emma was awakened by the sound of a phone ringing. She blinked, disoriented, her eyelids heavy with sleep. If she had to guess, she’d have said she and Va

“Hello?” she heard Va

“That was the night security officer at the Montand plant in Antibes,” Va

“Is everyone all right?”

Va

“Should I get ready and come with you?” Emma asked.

She saw him squinting at the bedside clock. “No. Two of my vice presidents will be meeting there to assess the damage. Besides, it’ll be dawn soon. Marco will be here in a few hours to take us to the airport.”

“We can call him and postpone.”

Va

“Let me know if there’s anything I can do,” she said.

“I will,” he stepped forward and kissed her, his hand cupping her head. “With everyone safe, it’s just a matter of figuring out what needs to be done to get operations up as quickly as possible,” he said against her lips. “You just go with Marco, and I’ll tell you about it later.”

She nodded, looking up at his shadowed face. He touched her jaw.

“I’m sorry,” he said.

“Don’t be. I’m just glad no one was hurt.”

He kissed her once more on the mouth and entered the bathroom to shower.

She had a strange prescience as she waited on the plane later that morning that she wasn’t going to see him anytime soon. Sure enough, her phone rang at a little after ten o’clock and she saw it was Va

“Hi,” she said, staring out the window of the luxurious private plane. “It’s bad, isn’t it?”

“It’s worse than I thought,” Va

“Of course. I’ll be fine. I’m so sorry about the fire.”

“Crap happens,” he said grimly.

Emma smiled sadly. “I guess our little jaunt into paradise is at an end.”

“Our time together isn’t done just because of an accidental fire. Call me as soon as you reach Chicago?”

She assured him she would. He was right. There was every reason to anticipate more hours in his arms and by his side in the days and nights to come. They had time left.

Still, she hated the idea of flying away from that golden, azure coastline where she’d known paradise with him.

On Tuesday morning, she was leaving a patient’s house in Lake Forest, when she saw that Va

“Can you meet me at the Breakers at seven?” he asked. “I don’t know how much I’ll be good for, but I’ll try to sleep on the plane. Maybe I’ll get a second wind,” he added more quietly, and it’d almost been like he was there, speaking the words to her intimately, his words gruff and warm in her ear, his aquamarine eyes gleaming a promise.

She walked on air the rest of the day, having to take pains to tone down her euphoric mood while in the somber atmospheres of her patients’ homes. On the way to her apartment, she stopped at the grocery store and splurged on an expensive bottle of champagne to commemorate Va

Amanda wasn’t home when she returned to the apartment at five thirty, so she left a note not to expect her back tonight. She carefully got ready, packing a few items so that she could go straight to work from Va