Hotel Vendome

“I can’t wait to meet her,” Natalie said, as they strolled along next to each other, enjoying the warm weather. He had left his suit jacket in his office, and she was wearing a T-shirt and jeans. “It sounds from what I hear from everyone that she’s part of the life force of the hotel.”

“I bought the hotel when Heloise was two. And her mother left two years later, when she was four. She’s had free run of the hotel ever since, and she loves it as much as I do.”

“It must have been hard for both of you when her mom left,” Natalie said gently, and he nodded, thinking about Miriam, which he seldom did. He hadn’t cared about her in years. Heloise had filled a void for him. He didn’t have a serious woman in his life, but he had a daughter he adored.

“Unfortunately, Heloise doesn’t see much of her mother. She leads a very different life now. She’s married to Greg Bones.” Natalie couldn’t imagine the handsome Swiss hotel owner married to someone who would be married to Bones. “That was a long time ago. It’s been almost fifteen years. And she has two other children. She and Heloise don’t have much in common when they get together. I guess she’s too much like me.” He smiled at Natalie. He liked talking to her.

“That sounds like a good thing to me,” Natalie said, smiling at him. Greg Bones was well known for his cocaine and heroin addictions and his frequent stays in rehabs, and even visiting in their world didn’t sound wholesome to Natalie.

“Thank God she didn’t try to take Heloise with her. And I think she’s been happy with me here at the hotel. Everybody loves her, and it’s a safe, protected little world. Kind of like growing up on a ship.” It was a funny way to put it, but Natalie could see what he meant. The hotel was totally self-contained, almost like a town unto itself.

“She must miss it,” Natalie said sympathetically. Hugues sighed as they sat down on a bench in the park.

“Not enough, I’m afraid. She just started going out with a French boy at the hotel school, and she sounds like she’s falling in love. My worst fear is that she’ll stay over there.”

“She won’t,” Natalie said confidently, “not with all this to come home to. It sounds like she’ll run the hotel with you one day.”

“I didn’t want her to. I thought she should do something else. But once she decided to go to hotel school, that was it. She fought me like a cat about it when I tried to dissuade her. This isn’t the life I wanted for her once she grows up. It doesn’t leave room for much else.” She could see that that was true. Whenever Natalie called him, at any hour, he was at work.

“Were you never tempted to marry again?” She was curious about him. He was very reserved and a little bit aloof, except with her. Natalie made him feel comfortable and at ease, and he did the same for her.

“Not really. I’m happy the way things are. I’m too busy to be married, and I’ve had Heloise for all these years. That’s been enough. What about you?” He turned to look at Natalie then. She was a beautiful woman, and she had never married. She lived for her work, as he did, and she had no children. In some ways, it seemed like a sad life to him, especially without a child.

“I lived with someone for eight years. It worked for a long time, and then one day it didn’t. He never wanted to make a commitment, other than living together. Eventually we just led parallel lives with very little connection.”

“And then what happened?” Hugues could sense that there was more to the story, and she met his eyes squarely with her own.

“He left with my best friend. Three years ago. Things work out that way sometimes, like your wife and Greg Bones.”

“The funny thing is that if she’d stayed, I don’t think we’d have been suited to each other. I was dazzled by her when we met, and fell madly in love with her. But I was young, and in the long run it takes a lot more than dazzle to make a marriage work.”

She smiled at what he said. And it was obvious that he didn’t want marriage or even a serious relationship. He seemed content with his life the way it was. She wondered too if Miriam’s betrayal had wounded him too badly to ever trust a woman fully again. She didn’t inquire about his life in the ensuing years, and didn’t think it was her place to do so.

“You’re right. I’m beyond dazzle at this point too,” she said as he slipped an arm around her shoulders, and they sat there for a long time, peacefully, side by side. He liked the way he felt whenever he was with her. She was a kind, easy, open person, who worked hard, spoke honestly about herself and others, and seemed to accept life as it came. It was comfortable being with her, and she felt the same way about him. It was as if they had always been friends, and they worked well together. They had made quick decisions and seemed to have similar tastes and opinions about many things.