“I’m sorry, Papa, I’m going out with friends. How about tomorrow night? I won’t make other plans.”

“Don’t be silly. That’s fine. Of course you want to see your pals.” He tried not to look disappointed and had to remind himself that he was not the only thing in her life, and she was young. “By the way, Natalie Peterson, the decorator, is coming over to have drinks with us at seven. She wants to meet you.”

“I’d like to meet her too, but I don’t know if I have time. We have a dinner reservation downtown at eight.”

“You don’t have to stay long. She’s thrilled you like the suite.” Heloise smiled, gathered up her packages a few minutes later, and went upstairs to get organized for that night. And Hugues tried to look calmer than he felt. He didn’t want to insist on her meeting Natalie, but it was important to him, and he was trying to act nonchalant.

When he went upstairs himself at six-thirty, Heloise was racing around the apartment wrapped in a towel, talking to a friend on her cell phone, making additional plans for that night. She waved to her father and disappeared into her own room. And the desk called him promptly at seven to tell him that Miss Peterson was downstairs. He told them to send her up.

He opened the door to her himself and didn’t dare kiss her in case Heloise ran back into the room. He whispered to Natalie instead.

“It’s a little crazy around here. She’s going out. I told her you were coming for a drink because she liked the suite so much.”

“That’s fine,” Natalie said, looking relaxed. She was used to young people Heloise’s age from her nephews and nieces. Her brother in Philadelphia had four, among them twins Heloise’s age.

He poured her a glass of champagne, and half an hour later Heloise appeared in black leggings, a black leather tunic, and toweringly high-heeled black sandals, and her hair was still wet. Hugues had never seen her wear an outfit like that before, and he couldn’t tell if the tunic was a dress or a top. She had always been much more conservative, and in the sexy outfit she looked frighteningly sophisticated and adult. A very fashionable adult, like the women in the halls of the hotel and the bar.

“This is Natalie, the interior designer who worked magic in nine-twelve,” he said as he introduced the two women, and Heloise smiled at her. She thought Natalie looked like a nice person. She had a warm, easy manner and a sincere smile.

“I really love what you did,” Heloise said truthfully as her father handed his daughter a glass of champagne and invited her to sit down. “I can only stay five minutes. I have to pick everyone up at quarter to eight, and we have to get downtown.” It had stopped snowing, but at this time of year, before Christmas, it would be hard to find a cab. She accepted the champagne anyway, sat down on the couch, and took a sip. “My father said he’s giving you more suites to do. I bet they’ll be gorgeous,” Heloise said politely, with a cool smile.

“Maybe you can help me pick the fabrics this time,” Natalie said easily, watching her. She was a very pretty girl and looked more sophisticated than she’d expected or than Hugues had described.

“That would be fun. But I’m leaving pretty soon. I’m sure you and my father will do a good job.” She glanced at her watch then with a look of panic and stood up. “I’ve gotta go,” she said to her father, kissed him on the cheek, and looked at Natalie, oblivious to anything that was going on between them. “Nice to meet you,” she said, and two seconds later they heard the front door close.

“I’m sorry,” Hugues said, looking disappointed. “I wanted you two to have a chance to talk. She wants to see her friends while she’s here. I forgot to take that into account.” Most of all, Natalie realized, he had forgotten to take into account that she had her own life now.

“It’s fine,” she said easily. “Kids don’t want to waste their time with old farts like us.”

“I may be an old fart,” he said with a smile, “but you very definitely are not.” She looked anything but in a short skirt, high heels, and a pretty blouse.

“I am to her,” Natalie said realistically. “To her we’re practically dead, and she only has two weeks here, so it makes sense that she wants to see her friends. Does she suspect anything about us?”

“Not at all,” he said firmly. He had been very careful that she didn’t. “I haven’t said anything except about your design work in the hotel. I wanted her to meet you first. And she just got back last night.” Natalie nodded and kissed him as he poured them each another glass of champagne. “She’s grown up a lot since she left,” he said, looking slightly unnerved. “I think it’s the boy.”

“I think it’s her age. And going away to school. The same thing happened to my nieces when they went to Stanford. Going away matures them.”

“And makes me feel old,” he added. He was still sorry that Heloise hadn’t had more time to get to know Natalie. He desperately wanted Heloise to like her, and they had barely met.

They went out to dinner at La Goulue on Madison Avenue that night and had a relaxed dinner in a setting they both enjoyed, and then they walked back to the hotel. He didn’t want to go to Natalie’s in case Heloise came home early. They had a nightcap upstairs, and Natalie left before midnight. Heloise came in long after he was asleep, at four.

She looked a little tired the next morning at breakfast, and he didn’t dare bring up Natalie’s name again. He didn’t want to tip his hand by looking too determined about it.

“What are you up to today?” he asked her offhandedly.

“I’m going skating with friends in Central Park. And another party downtown tonight. Everybody’s home from college for Christmas,” she said reasonably, and he was beginning to realize he was going to have to stand in line for her time. The chances of spending an evening with her and Natalie, getting to know each other, were less than slim. There were too many other things she wanted to do in her limited amount of time.

By Christmas Eve there had been not a single break in Heloise’s busy schedule for them to meet again. He was meeting Natalie for lunch to exchange presents, and she was leaving for Philadelphia that night. She was coming to the hotel to see him, and then they were having lunch downstairs. And Natalie arrived at the apartment promptly at noon. Heloise was just about to go out to meet friends again.

“Oh, hi,” she said as she saw the interior designer at the door to the apartment and didn’t know what she was doing there. She looked at Natalie with a blank expression. She clearly suspected nothing between her and Hugues.

“Merry Christmas,” Natalie said, smiling at her. “I’m having lunch with your father.”

“I think he’s downstairs, in his office.” As she said it, Hugues walked in. He was both pleased and nervous to see the two women in his life together and wondered what had been said. He gave Natalie a friendly peck on the cheek as he would have to any friend. “Hi, Papa. I’m going out,” Heloise said, putting on her coat.

“So I see. No parties tonight, I hope. Let’s spend a quiet evening together, like old times. And midnight mass.”

“Of course,” she said, as though she wouldn’t have considered doing otherwise, but so far she had been out every night. And she was leaving in six days. The visit had been crowded and rushed, but he was grateful that she was there. Just living in the same apartment with her again and seeing her every morning warmed his heart. She opened the door then, smiled at them both, said “Bye” to Natalie, and was gone.

Hugues looked unhappy after she left. “I’ve hardly seen her since she’s been back,” he complained to Natalie, who still had spent no time with Natalie at all. The hope that they would get to know each other had vanished into thin air.

“You think you’ll have time to tell her about us before she goes back?” Natalie asked, looking somewhat concerned. “I feel a little dishonest not having her know. She’s such an important part of your life, she deserves that respect.” And so do I, Natalie thought but didn’t say it. She felt as though they were sneaking around and not being open with his daughter, and she was uncomfortable about it.

“I know she deserves to know,” he agreed with her, and he still had no idea how Heloise would take it. As far as she was concerned, Natalie was just someone who had done work for the hotel and nothing more. How she’d feel about Natalie being important to her father now was impossible to assess. “I have to have enough time with her to tell her about us, and I can’t tell her on Christmas Eve. And she’s leaving in less than a week after that.” That also didn’t give him enough time to calm her down and let her adjust to the idea if she was upset. It was a mess. “I’ll do the best I can,” he said, and put his arms around Natalie, but he could see that she was disappointed too.

“I guess it’s hard in a situation like this when she’s away at school. But it also doesn’t feel right to me to be involved with each other, and say nothing to her.” They had started sleeping together around Thanks giving, but in effect they had been dating since September, and it was already Christmas Eve. “There’s a sneaky feel to all this that I don’t like. Maybe you just need to tell her, and let her get used to the idea when she goes back to school.”

“I don’t want to do that,” Hugues said firmly. “It would be different if I’d ever been serious with another woman before, but I haven’t. This is a first, and it’s liable to be a big deal to her.” It was to him.

“It’s a big deal to me too,” Natalie said sadly, “and I’m a firm believer in truth in packaging. We’re in love with each other. That’s not a crime.” But they both knew it might be to Heloise. Natalie hoped not, but as tight as Hugues’s relationship had been with his daughter, this was an unusual situation and harder to predict.