He chuckled. “What’s that?”
“I think you need to forget about what you should’ve done, and concentrate on what you should be doing now.”
“There aren’t many options…that I can find, anyway.”
“Oh, sure there is. You just need to put your mind to it.”
“Any suggestions?”
“Well, for starters you need to take this memorial…” She pointed to the stone. “And move it into the gardens at Belle Vallee. It needs to be close to Tasha so she’ll have somewhere to talk to her one child who’ll never be born.”
Andre’s face brightened. “That’s a great idea.” After a moment, his smile quickly faded. “I don’t think it’s going to get me far with Tasha, though. I’ll do it. But I think I need something more drastic than that to prove myself to her.”
“What exactly do you need to prove to her?” Claudette posed the leading question. This was a decision Andre would have to conclude all on his own—or at least he needed to think it was all his idea.
“That I love her more than I care about that money,” he said in a lackluster voice.
“And how are you going to make her see that?” Claudette looked at Andre. His eyes were vacant. He’d need a bigger push than she’d given Julian when he was about to lose Camille. “Put your mind to it, Andre. How will you convince her that you love her more than the money?” She paused to let the idea take root in his mind. “There is a way. Think about it.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
TASHA WAS AMAZED AT HOW QUICKLY the two weeks had flown by since she’d moved into Belle Vallee. In that brief time, she’d completely settled in and couldn’t imagine herself ever having lived anywhere else.
Andre had moved the memorial stone for the baby they would never have to the south garden just off the back of the house. She appreciated that. It made it easy for her to feel like she was spending time with her unborn baby’s spirit. It calmed her.
Andre was now the head of a multi-billion-dollar conglomerate, and moving to Avignon—the locale of Mont Claire’s headquarters—made sense, plus it’d allow him to be close to the new baby once it came.
They were both in agreement that he move his things into the east wing at Belle Vallee. The house was big enough that they wouldn’t have to run into each other unless they wanted to. Yet, they were both under the same roof and once the baby came, it’d be easy for him to see the child whenever he wanted.
This was a fine arrangement, at least until Andre moved on and then, sooner or later, fell in love with someone else. Tasha would never move on. She’d already loved with her whole heart. No one would ever be able to block out the shadow of Andre de Laurent. And she had no idea if Andre would ever be able to block out the shadow of the way he’d come to inherit Mont Claire and all his uncle’s holdings. She’d resigned herself to devoting her life to raising their child.
Of course, there was always the stigma of the first miscarriage looming over her. Losing this baby was Tasha’s greatest fear. To help, Andre had a doctor come around once a week to check the baby’s heartbeat.
Dr. Chapel had been around yesterday. Tasha was in her fourth month now, and the doctor had assured her the baby was doing fine. The sound of the baby’s heartbeat—loud and strong—confirmed it.
Today, Harvey Martel was scheduled to drop by with the divorce papers. All Tasha had to do was sign them.
The chime of an old-world doorbell brought Tasha back to reality. Jordan, Belle Vallee’s butler would answer it, and announce her guest in the main library off the entrance.
The staff was something she’d have to get used to. It wasn’t a totally foreign concept, she’d spent a year at Pacifique de Lumière, but having them at her disposal was, well, weird. Although she couldn’t imagine trying to clean this five-story castle by herself. She was a bit relieved when Andre explained that it was his responsibility to provide employment for all these people, so they could support themselves. After that, she got that it was also her duty to employ a personal maid. But Tasha had gotten so used to Rose at Pacifique de Lumière that she’d decided to bring her along as her personal maid.
The double doors to the library opened. Jordon entered with Harvey following close behind. “Madam…” Jordan addressed Tasha. “Mr. Martel.”
“Jordan…” She sucked in a deep breath, hoping to hide her exasperation of this so-called compromise. She was more than willing to let these people keep their jobs, but they had to stop being so formal. It was hard to relax with all this formal etiquette that kept happening around her. “Seriously. You don’t need to keep announcing people that I’m expecting. Just tell them to come on in.”
“Very well, madam.” Jordan bowed and backed out of the room.
“Might as well go with it.” Harvey shrugged and closed the door. “It’s what he’s used to.”
“Yes, and it’s the very opposite of what I’m used to.” She looked at the manila envelope in his hand. “Is that them?”
“The papers…” Harvey nodded.
Tasha sucked in a breath and caressed her tummy. She’d known it was coming, but that didn’t stop her heart from pounding its disapproval. Just breathe. She looked at Harvey and forced a smile. “Has Andre signed?”
“Not yet.”
“So I’m first.” She pulled in a breath, then slowly released it.
“If you’d like. Or you can wait for Andre.” He laid the packet on the coffee table. “I’ll leave them here. You both can go over them. Once they’re signed, have Andre courier them over to me.” Harvey stood. “It’ll all be legal.”
Just like that? Tasha was beginning to feel like she was attending a reading of a will. That’s what it felt like. Someone had died. Something had died. Her marriage. She just hadn’t got that until this moment. Up until now, it’d been hard to consider the death of her marriage when she was carrying Andre’s child. “Okay…” Tasha scraped her hand through her hair. “I appreciate that you delivered the documents in person.”
Harvey headed to the door and opened it. He paused long enough to say, “Well, that’s what Andre pays me for.” He chuckled and disappeared into the entryway.
Tasha looked at the manila envelope lying on the table. Having the papers practically staring her in the face filled her with dread. She’d known it was coming, but now that that day had arrived she wondered if she was doing the right thing. Was she truly ready to make a legal break from Andre?