She worked all the time, except when Brad could get her out for an evening, or away for a few days, which was rare.
They were still talking about her father’s big announcement when they ran into Jennifer and Bruce at the buffet a little while later. Julien was hiding behind it, throwing bread balls at his twin, and Heloise discreetly signaled to him to stop. He was full of mischief and more naive than Stephanie, who seemed much more grown up. She was more like Heloise’s twin than his. He was more easygoing, and Stephanie loved knowing everything that went on in the hotel. She had loved following Ernesta around with the turn-down cart, until Ernesta had retired the year before. But she was there that night for Hugues’s birthday, and Heloise had given her a big hug. She was one of the treasures of her childhood, and Ernesta’s eyes always lit up when she saw her, and she had cried when Hugues announced her as the new general manager.
“So, Madame Manager, what do you think?” Jennifer asked her with a warm smile, as Brad and Bruce chatted and helped themselves to lobster that the chef had prepared the way Hugues liked it. Heloise had ordered it for him.
“You knew, didn’t you?” Heloise accused her with a warm smile. She had seen it on Jennifer’s face earlier. She hadn’t been nearly as surprised as everyone else in the room. She knew everything Hugues did, and thought, even more sometimes than his eldest daughter and wife.
“He didn’t tell me exactly, but I had an idea. I’m glad he’s doing it. He needs to get out and have some fun while he’s still young. I think it would be great if they go to Paris for a year. And you can go over and visit.” But she also knew that Heloise would be busier than ever, taking over the reins of the hotel, with all that entailed. But she was the right age to do it. Bruce and Brad moved closer to them then, and Heloise saw Bruce and Jennifer exchange a warm smile. She had known for years that they were quietly seeing each other. It had happened sometime along the way, and they made a nice couple. As Heloise was thinking that, Jennifer turned to her with a shy smile.
“We have an announcement too,” she said, and blushed as the big security man laughed. “We’re getting married. And I’ll probably retire next year.” She looked like a giddy young girl as she said it, and Heloise hugged her, and then wagged a finger at her.
“You can get married. But you can’t retire till I take over this hotel and know what I’m doing. You probably know more than I do about running it. You’re not going anywhere!” Jennifer laughed in answer, and suddenly Heloise realized that she’d be sitting in her father’s office, at his desk, and it was a strange feeling. She didn’t see how she could ever step into his shoes and do the job he had. She still had so much to learn. It was humbling thinking about taking his place, and it made her sad. She was having so much fun working with him that she didn’t want him to leave, but she realized that it was probably better for him, and he felt ready. She wasn’t sure she did. She needed to get used to the idea.
Jennifer and Bruce surprised them then and said they were getting married on Thanksgiving when her children could be there. And Bruce had three children too. Heloise was happy for them, although she was upset when Jennifer said she would retire in the next few months too. And Heloise managed to say hello to everyone before the party ended. It was a beautiful night for her father and she enjoyed it too. And they were talking about it when she and Brad went upstairs after the party. She was tired and still overwhelmed by her father making her general manager and passing her the baton. He was the master of surprises. He had done it to her with his marriage to Natalie, then the twins, and now this.
“What if I can’t do it, or I screw up, or I destroy the hotel in some way?” she said to Brad with a look of panic as they undressed. Her father had always been there with her. She had never run it alone, except briefly when he was sick.
“You’ll do it even better than he did,” Brad said confidently as he pulled her onto the bed and into his arms. “You already run this place, you just don’t know it yet. Your father would never have passed it on to you, if he didn’t think you could do it. He loves this hotel too much to take that risk. He knows you can do it, and so do I.” She was the only one who wasn’t sure. It was a big responsibility for her at her age. Being general manager of one of the most successful hotels in New York at twenty-seven was a major feat. And he had no doubt that she would do it brilliantly.
“Will you help me when I screw up?” she asked, as she leaned against him and he held her close.
“Yes, but you won’t. You’re not going to need a lawyer to help you run it, just the good people you already have.” They had been in business long enough for some of the staff to retire and move on in the past few years, like Ernesta, and now Jennifer, and even her father, although he wasn’t very old, only sixty. She hadn’t expected him to retire for another ten or fifteen years and figured she’d be ready by then. But having young children and a younger wife made him want to enjoy his life and not just work till he dropped. “I’ve been thinking lately, by the way, that we need to make some changes ourselves.” Brad looked serious as he said it, and Heloise looked puzzled. Her father had said that night that when they came back from their year in Europe, he wanted to buy an apartment, and Natalie could decorate it, and they would move out of the hotel. He was going to give Heloise their apartment when they went away. She was ready to move into a bigger space. She had been in the same small suite for years with Brad, and they liked it. It was home to them now. Everything was suddenly changing so fast. She told Brad about her father’s apartment then, and he seemed pleased. Living at the hotel was convenient for both of them, although it meant that she was on call all the time. But he was used to that too. It was her style, and Hugues’s. And maybe Stephanie’s one day too.
“Those aren’t really the changes I had in mind, although it’ll be nice to have more space. I was thinking of something else,” he said quietly, as she looked into his eyes.
“Like what?” She hoped he didn’t want them to move out of the hotel. She would never do that, especially now, even though she knew it was intrusive sometimes living where she worked.
“I think you’ll be much more efficient as a general manager,” he said pensively as though pondering it, “if you have a stable home life.”
“I do,” she said, smiling at him and realizing that he was teasing her. “We’ve been together for seven years. How much more stable can it get?”
“Quite a bit,” he said, laughing, as he held her close. “I think what I mean is a respectable home life. You can’t have an important job like general manager and live with a guy.” He grew serious then and stunned her for the second time that night. “Heloise, will you marry me? I’ve been meaning to ask you that for months. I think this might be the right time.” He took her breath away with the question. She had never worried about marrying him, she knew they would one day. She just didn’t know when. She thought they might do it in their thirties if they wanted kids. They weren’t ready for that yet. She hadn’t even thought about marrying him now.
“Are you serious?” she asked him with a solemn expression, and he nodded with a smile.
“Very much so. And if your father is retiring, I think we should do it before your life becomes completely crazy when you take over from him. Let’s do it soon.” She looked shocked, and then he kissed her, and she lay in his arms and smiled. “You haven’t answered me,” he reminded her with a slightly worried look. Maybe she was going to turn him down.
“I’m enjoying the moment,” she said happily. She had gotten a husband that night, and a hotel. It had been a very big night for her, and she smiled happily at Brad. “Yes. Of course I’ll marry you,” she said, beaming at him, “I never realized till right now how much I wanted you to ask.” He grinned broadly at her then and kissed her again. It had been a perfect night for her. Especially now, with Brad.
Chapter 26
HELOISE AND BRAD picked a date in September. It was a gorgeous sunny afternoon. Natalie was her matron of honor, and her bridesmaids were three of her friends from the Lycee, and Jan. Stephanie was the flower girl, and Julien was the ring bearer, although he kept misplacing the rings, and his mother was holding on to them for him.
Her father was going to give her away, and Miriam and Greg Bones had come, which accounted for an army of paparazzi outside. Everyone who had ever mattered in her life was there, the employees she had worked with, the ones she’d grown up with, Ernesta, Jennifer, and Bruce, the friends she’d had in high school, and even one of her friends from the Ecole Hoteliere. And all of Brad’s family and friends were there too.
