Danielle Steel - Hotel Vendome

“I think she was more shocked. She’ll adjust,” he said confidently. “I think seeing her own apartment was a good distraction. She loved it. She also told me that sooner or later you’ll get smart and leave me for a rock star too.” He was smiling as he said it. It had been a childish thing to say.

“How awful,” Natalie said. “I’d never do that to you.”

“I know you wouldn’t.” It had been quite a morning, and he felt drained. He hoped that Heloise would start to calm down now and get to know Natalie. It would be good for her to have a stable woman in her life too, not just him. Natalie was going to be a blessing for them both.

“I asked her to be my witness,” he told her then.

“What did she say?”

“She said maybe. That’s the best we can hope for right now. By July she’ll have calmed down.”

“I called my brother and he said he’d give me away. Now I have to find a dress.” Their wedding was only five months away, and there was a lot to plan.

“You should talk to the catering manager as soon as possible,” he told her. “She’s a great girl. And we have to set a date. Fortunately, in July, the ballroom isn’t usually too booked. Everyone wants to get married in May and June, on Valentine’s Day, or at Christmas.” But they both liked the idea of July. “Where do you want to go on our honeymoon, by the way?” Having told Heloise, now they could make plans.

“Someplace pretty,” she said innocently. “You decide.” And as she said it, he knew just the place. The One & Only Palmilla in Baja, California. He sent guests there all the time, and everyone loved it. It was the height of luxury and a perfect place for a honeymoon. Either that or the Hotel du Cap in Cap d’Antibes. But he thought Baja sounded like more fun.

“Thank you for doing such a nice job on Heloise’s apartment. One day she’ll thank you, but maybe not just yet.”

“She doesn’t need to thank me. It was your idea, and you paid me to do it. She should thank you.”

“She did,” he said, smiling, as he sat at his desk. They talked for a few more minutes and hung up, and Jennifer walked in a few minutes later with papers for him to sign and a cappuccino, and he smiled at her.

“Thank you for the excellent suggestion,” he said to her. “I asked Natalie to marry me last night. It was all your idea, and it worked out very well. She said yes, and we’re getting married in July. If we can get a date for the ballroom.”

“I think I have connections, and maybe I can help you,” she teased him. “And congratulations to both of you. Or best wishes to the bride. Have you told Heloise yet?” she asked, trying not to look worried.

“I just did.”

“Was she all right with it?”

“No. But she will be. It was a shock.” Jennifer wasn’t surprised to hear it, but she was glad Hugues had followed her advice.

Jennifer smiled as he signed the papers, and she left the room with them. She was happy for him. And she was absolutely certain that Natalie was the perfect woman for him. And once they got Heloise on board, it would be smooth sailing for them after that. She was excited about their plans. And hopefully Heloise would get used to the idea soon. Jennifer was happy too that Heloise was getting the mother figure she had needed for so long. Natalie was what they both needed, whether Heloise knew it or not.

THE MONTHS LEADING up to Hugues and Natalie’s wedding, and Heloise’s graduation, were hectic for all of them. Natalie was trying to run a business, plan a wedding, have a relationship, and make peace with a stepdaughter who continued to wage a cold war against her and ignored her anytime she was in the same room. It was stressful to say the least. Hugues was trying to be patient and reassure both of them, but nothing he said or did changed Heloise’s refusal to acknowledge Natalie or accept her as her father’s future wife. She ignored her pointedly. She refused to have anything to do with the wedding, which left Natalie to handle it with the catering manager, the florist, and a wedding consultant on her own.

Heloise was using her new apartment to entertain friends regularly and admitted that she loved it. But she was continuing to live upstairs with her father in her old room, which meant that she and Natalie ran into each other frequently whenever Natalie came over to have dinner with him, or they were in the apartment going over wedding plans. He spent the night at Natalie’s whenever he could. And all he could do with Heloise was keep her as busy as possible in her internship at the hotel to distract her from the wedding. He frequently had her working double shifts, long hours, and late nights, and he moved her from department to department, so she would learn different aspects of the business. It was what the École Hôtelière expected him to do, and he had assured them, when they agreed to let her do her internship with him, that he would make no allowances for her because she was his daughter.

Heloise had a tendency to assume that she knew everything because she had grown up in the hotel, and she still had much to learn about the business. But everyone agreed that she was a hard worker, willing to do anything she was asked, and diligent about her work.

Her father was proud of her, but the one area where Heloise would not relent was Natalie. She had told him finally that she wasn’t coming to the wedding, neither as witness nor as guest, and Hugues didn’t insist. He didn’t want to make it worse by pushing her and was hoping she would calm down by July. He still wanted her as his witness.

By the time Heloise was due to go back to Lausanne for her graduation, it was obvious that Natalie wasn’t welcome there, and she said she didn’t mind, as she had too much to do at home. The wedding was scheduled on the Saturday of the July 4 weekend, on July 7, which was the only day the ballroom had been free. Heloise’s only comment about it was that it was fine with her, since everyone they invited would be away for the long weekend and she hoped no one would come.

Her graduation and twenty-first birthday party was to be held in the same room three weeks before, on June 15. She was looking forward to it, as was everyone in the hotel, and it wasn’t a surprise this time. Heloise was planning it herself, working closely with Sally, the catering manager who was also handling the wedding. Heloise refused to hear their plans and refused to speak to Sally or Jan about it.

Heloise’s evaluations from her internship were excellent. Her style, her dedication, her judgment, and her way of dealing with guests and co-workers had all been highly praised. And her meticulous attention to detail and innate sense for the hotel business had been noted by all of her supervisors. Her years of following her father around the hotel had served her well. The only consistent criticism was that she was a little too independent and inclined to make decisions on her own. They felt she was less of a team player than destined for management one day, which was where she was headed anyway. And she would be joining the hotel’s regular internship program, working in reception and filling in with the concierge, as soon as she got back from Lausanne. And most of the guests who had already seen her at the desk had no idea that she was the owner’s daughter. She followed the same rules and guidelines about dealing with the guests as all the other employees, and she wore the same sober uniform, which was a dark blue suit for women that Hugues had had designed for them, and morning coat and striped trousers for the men. And there were rigorous standards for the appearance of the employees. She always wore her bright red hair pulled back in a neat bun on duty, and very little makeup, which was typical of her anyway.

Heloise was flying to Geneva a week before graduation, and her father was planning to arrive four days later. She wanted a little time with her classmates in Lausanne before he got there, and she stopped in at his office the morning she left. As usual, he was signing checks.

“You’re leaving?” He looked up when he heard her come in, and she nodded. In spite of their differences, he was proud of her for the degree she had just earned. He had been opposed to it in the beginning, but he could see now that there was no denying that she was a natural for the hotel business. She had lived, slept, and breathed it since she was two years old, and just as it was for him, it was what she loved most and the only job she wanted. Particularly working for him at their hotel. “Do you need money?” he asked, like any other father. He asked her the question every time she walked out the door, even for pizza with friends.

“I’m fine,” she said, smiling at him. “I got some from accounting.” They always sent him the cash reports. And she would be paid a tiny salary for the internship program when she returned. Her schedule before had been set to meet the requirements of the École Hôtelière, and her father had already told everyone that she was to be given no favors or preferential treatment when she joined their regular internship program. She was to be treated like everyone else. “I’ll see you on Friday when you get there,” she said warmly to her father. “There’s a dinner for the parents that night, and a reception after graduation.” He smiled as he walked over to give her a hug, and it reminded her of how happy she was that Natalie wasn’t coming. She was around all the time now. And for once, perhaps for a last time, she would have him to herself. Their life was about to change forever and, in her eyes, already had. Her answer to it was to act as though Natalie didn’t exist. She hadn’t invited her to her graduation, nor apologized for not doing so. She wasn’t overtly rude to her in what she said. She just totally ignored her, which was rude enough.