Page 16 of A Mother’s Love

On the morning of Christmas Eve, Halley had everything ready for her trip.

The clothes she was taking were hanging on a rack in her bedroom, ready to put in her suitcase, with all the accessories laid out to go with them, bags and shoes.

She was taking casual clothes, since she wasn’t going to be doing anything special, just walking and exploring museums and places she had liked before, and some shopping.

She was packing one simple black dress, in case she went to a nice restaurant for dinner, though she wasn’t planning to.

She was going to cook for herself, or go to nearby neighborhood bistros that were busy and informal enough that she wouldn’t feel uncomfortable being alone.

People-watching had always seemed exceptionally good to her in Paris restaurants.

The combinations were always interesting, much older men with pretty, very young women, or sexy, sophisticated middle-aged or older women with handsome young men, couples who looked bored with each other and flirted with people at other tables, girls glancing coyly at men, hoping to be picked up, and men alone or in pairs more than happy to oblige them, some wearing wedding bands.

To Halley’s keen observer’s eye, there always seemed to be an undercurrent of sex and romance in Paris.

She had said that to Robert when they were there, and he had laughed, but they had made love for hours when they got back to the hotel.

“Is that what you meant?” he asked her, as they had lain in bed afterward in their luxurious suite at the Ritz.

“Precisely,” she said, and then they had taken a long bath together, talking and laughing and whispering. They were lovers and best friends, which was what made it so hard to lose him.

—

Millie, Halley’s assistant for the past fifteen years, showed up midmorning, to deliver the typed version of the manuscript.

She came to get the filled legal pads as Halley finished them, and typed them up neatly for her.

She had come to bring her the last one, so Halley could take the whole manuscript with her and work on it during her evenings at home in Paris, of which there would be many, according to Halley.

She didn’t anticipate going out at night.

The manuscript was clean and impeccably tight.

Millie had no trouble deciphering Halley’s handwriting.

She had worked for her for so long that she could read it backward and upside down, she knew what all the little abbreviations meant, and following the asterisks all over the margins was easy for her.

Halley accepted the manuscript with relief and slipped it into her briefcase.

Millie always had her manuscript ready on time, whatever the deadline.

She also came in to help Halley in the office two or three days a week, with manuscripts and galleys to copy, bills to pay, papers to file, journalists to call.

She communicated with Halley’s agent and attorney, and genuinely made life easy for her.

She was forty-three and had come to Halley through an editor at her publishing house, who knew Millie was looking for a job where she could work from home a good amount of the time.

She wasn’t a beauty but she was attractive with very fair skin, big blue eyes, and blond hair cut short.

She had an easy California style, which was where she came from.

She was very capable and solved all of Halley’s problems on the days she was there.

Her schedule was flexible. She would come in according to how much Halley needed her to do, and didn’t mind staying as late as it took to get the job done.

She had lived with her invalid mother until a few years before, when her mother had finally died.

And now, like Halley, she was alone, and filled her days and nights with work.

Halley paid her well for it, and Millie was proud to work for her.

She loved Halley’s books and typing the manuscripts seemed like an honor to her.

She was worried about Halley going to Paris alone.

Millie never went anywhere, although she used to go to Atlantic City with her mother, because her mother loved to gamble, playing blackjack and the slot machines.

Millie hadn’t been back there since her mother had died.

Halley’s trip to Paris sounded ambitious and particularly risky to her, with a house rental offering none of the protections and security of a hotel.

They exchanged gifts. Halley had bought Millie a leather tote bag, to bring her things to work, but Millie said it was too nice and Halley was afraid she wouldn’t use it.

Millie gave her a cozy robe to wear when she wrote at night, and a red leather passport case for her trip, both of which Halley loved.

Millie always gave her useful, thoughtful gifts.

She slipped her passport into the case immediately, and put it in her purse.

“I wish you’d stay at a hotel. You loved the Ritz the last time you were there.”

“Too many memories,” Halley said simply. “A house will make me feel like a Parisian. There’s some kind of guardian. They left the keys with him. And I’m sure the house has an alarm. Nothing’s going to happen, I promise.” Millie didn’t look convinced.

“Let me know if you need anything, and I’ll take care of it,” she said, still frowning with concern.

There was a warm mutual respect between them.

Millie had been supportive through all of Robert’s illness, and had helped Halley organize the funeral.

She had common sense and good judgment, kept track of all the details of Halley’s life, and reminded Halley of things she might have forgotten otherwise.

The twins called her for help or advice or information sometimes too, and she had done little errands and missions for them, when she had time and didn’t have a manuscript to finish.

Halley’s work was the priority, but she liked all three women and was grateful for the job.

The girls had just been kids when she started.

She lived further uptown in the East Eighties, in the apartment she had shared with her mother in the old German neighborhood that was mostly young working people now.

Only a few of the old Germans still lived there.

When Millie left, Halley answered emails and then started packing.

She was surprised that she needed three suitcases in order to take everything she thought she’d need.

And she took a few of her monogrammed towels, in case she didn’t like theirs.

She was particular about good quality bed linens and towels.

Halley surrounded herself with the best of everything, including efficient employees.

Halley had promised to call Millie from Paris soon after she arrived.

When she finished packing, she made a salad and poured herself a glass of wine.

It was Christmas Eve, and she hadn’t been alone on that night since the twins were born.

She tried not to think of what day it was, and of all the Christmases having dinner with the girls, dressed up and sitting at their dining table, and later, with Robert.

Even though her childhood Christmases had been so painful, the ones that came later were precious memories.

She felt as though she had come full circle, after all those wonderful years, and was alone again.

But she was glad that Valerie and Olivia were together, sharing Valerie’s new life, on the boat, with Seth’s relatives, and their friends.

It sounded magical. Halley stood looking out the window, as snow fell on Central Park.

It looked like a Christmas card, with a dusting of snow sticking to the ground and the trees.

She was glad that she was going to Paris, even by herself.

It gave her something to look forward to.

The girls called her before she went to bed, and it sounded like they were having a wonderful time. There was laughter and music in the background. The girls were happy. Seth got on for a minute to wish her a merry Christmas, and apologized again for taking a vacation she couldn’t join in.

“We’ll plan it better next time,” he promised. “We all wish you were here.”

“So do I, if you were on firm ground. I’d be moaning in my cabin now, if I were there.

” They had left the port that night, to avoid the revelers, and were at anchor just outside the port.

The boat was rocking gently, which didn’t bother any of them, but would have ruined Halley’s Christmas.

Valerie and Olivia got back on the phone after Seth.

“We miss you, Mom,” the girls said in unison on speakerphone. “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine. I miss you too, but I’m happy you’re having fun. I packed today, so I’m all set. It’s snowing here.”

“We’re going to play charades after dinner and have a dance party,” Olivia told her.

They sounded like children. “We’re going to open our presents from you tomorrow morning when we get up, just like when we were kids.

” The gifts were all supposed to be from Santa Claus then, and one from her.

She had always made Christmas especially wonderful for them, and Locke had turned up at some point in the day to give them each a gift.

Halley too. It was always something fun that she wouldn’t have bought them.

She suddenly remembered the year Santa had brought them twin pink Barbie bikes, which she had spent all of Christmas Eve putting together with a wrench and diagrams, and almost didn’t finish in time.

She smiled at the memory as she talked to them.

She had bought them each a Chanel handbag, a bikini, and a pareo.

Valerie’s was orange, and Olivia’s shocking pink.

The bags were both black, which would be useful when they got back to L.A.

And she had presents from them to open the next day.