“You’ll have to eat corncakes. Three hundred and twenty-five per serving.”
“I told you he’s not there anymore. He’s applied at U.C. Berkeley, I think.”
“Marijuana cookies then. Two hundred—”
“You will not listen.”
“Margaret, promise me something.”
“What?”
“That you won’t go unless he agrees to it.”
“But—”
“Promise.”
She studied him for a moment for she never knew if he was teasing her, patronizing her or simply lying. But now he looked deadly earnest so she nodded saying, “All right. All right. That’s no risk.
“What about Jade, then?” asked Valerian.
“What about her? She can stay as long as she likes.”
“She thinks she’s working for you.”
“Let her work for you while I’m gone.”
“Oh dear.”
“Or just relax. She wanted to spend the winter here is all. Why, I can’t think.”
“Getting over an affair, I thought.”
“At her age it takes three days, not three months.”
“You don’t like her anymore?”
“I love her. But I’m not going to give up going back with Michael just to help her cool off for another month or two. Besides, look what she has to go back to.”
“What?”
“Everything. Europe. The future. The world. Why are you frowning? Does she need money?”
“No. No. Not that I know of. She signed on with some agency or something in New York, or is about to.”
“There. She doesn’t need the pretense of working for me.”
Valerian swallowed the last bit of egg and ham and tapped the toast basket with his fork. “Clever. Very clever.”
“Jade?”
“No, Ondine. This is really good. I think she served something like this in the States.”
“Talk about calories. You’re eating like a horse already and the day has just started.”
“Pique.”
“Pique. Why?”
“The nursery, Stateside, sent a defective order. Completely ruined.”
“Shame.” Margaret reached toward a croissant, changed her mind and withdrew her hand.
“Have it,” said her husband. “It wasn’t four twenty-five, that mango. Not even a hundred.”
“You liar. I should have known. I was going to ask Jade about that.”
“She wants to open up a little shop of some sort,” he said.
“You’re mumbling.”
“Shop. She wants to be a model a little longer, then open up a shop.”
“Wonderful. She has a head. You’ll help her, won’t you? Won’t you?”
“Of course.”
“Well, why the long face?”
“I was thinking of Sydney and Ondine.”
“As usual. What about them?”
“They like her here.”
“We all do.”
“She’s their family. All they have of a family left.”
“And you. You’re as much family to them as she is. They’ve known you longer than they have her.”
“It’s not the same.”
“What is it? What are you thinking?”
