Danielle Steel - A Good Woman

“We’ll be in Paris,” Annabelle said to him. “We might go to Deauville for a few days. I promised Consuelo we would. And maybe to England to see her father’s family for a bit. But we’ll be around. I have to get back to work, before my patients forget that I exist.” He couldn’t imagine anyone doing that who had ever known her. And he didn’t intend to lose track of her.

“Maybe the three of us could do something this weekend,” he said pleasantly, “with the dog of course. I wouldn’t want to hurt her feelings.” Annabelle smiled in answer. The weekend was only a few days away, and she liked the idea. In fact, she liked everything she had learned about him on the trip. And she had a good feeling about him, of solidity, integrity, warmth, and kindness. Their respect for each other was mutual so far. It was a good start, better than most she’d had. Her brotherly friendship with Josiah should have told her something she didn’t understand at the time. And Antoine’s dazzling fancy footwork right from the beginning covered an empty heart. Callam was an entirely different kind of man.

They said goodnight outside her cabin. And the next morning she got up and dressed early, just as she had when she arrived in Europe ten years earlier, when she had left New York in despair. There was no despair this time, no sorrow, as she stood at the rail and watched the sun come up. She could see Le Havre in the distance, and they would dock there in two hours.

As she looked out over the ocean, she had an incredible sense of freedom, of finally having shed her shackles at last. She wasn’t burdened by the yoke of other people’s opinions, or their lies about her. She was a free woman, and a good one, and she knew it.

As the sun rose into the morning sky, she heard a voice next to her and turned to see Callam.

“I had a feeling I’d find you here,” he said quietly, as their eyes met and they both smiled. “Nice morning, isn’t it?” he said simply.

“Yes, it is,” she said, her smile deepening. It was a nice morning. They were both good people. And it was a fine life.