Turning Point

by Danielle Steel

  Wendy was thinking about them in her room too, and she thought the men in the group were interesting also. Paul Martin was a little firebrand, and she had thought Gabriel from the public health department very intelligent and articulate. It was going to be a very interesting month, and she was glad she had come. They all were so far.

  * * *

  —

  The next day, they participated in a drill that had been set up for them. It was a simulated terrorist attack, using the White Plan to determine triage of the victims. A deserted school was used, with actors, to demonstrate an attack on a school and how it would be handled. And afterward, they were given a tour of Necker Hospital for children, and the care that would be administered there, and by whom.

  Valérie had reenacted a hostage negotiation in the morning’s drill, and both the military and SWAT teams were on the scene, shooting blanks. It had been stressful even though they knew it wasn’t real. And Bill said afterward that they should do something similar in San Francisco. They all agreed.

  At the end of the day, they went back to their apartments, and changed for the dinner at Valérie’s. Bill got them all to ride the public rental bikes to her place. It was fun. Wendy said she hadn’t ridden a bike in years, and they were all in good spirits when they got to Valérie’s apartment. They had to walk through a courtyard to get to it, and it had a lovely garden, with a view of the Eiffel Tower. Her apartment was in a wing of an old hôtel particulier, a previously private home, and was filled with interesting objects from her travels, beautiful textiles and fabrics, a canopied bed she’d had sent back to Paris from India. There were cushions on the floor and comfortable couches, with candles on all the tables. She set the dinner out as a buffet, and they helped themselves to the delicious duck and mashed potato dish with shaved black truffles on top, a big salad, and excellent wines. Gabriel and Bill engaged in a serious conversation about public health, while Tom volunteered to help Valérie in the crowded kitchen, but she quickly sent him back to the others. After his conversation with Bill, Gabriel sat down next to Stephanie, and Bill next to Wendy. Gabriel appeared to be fascinated by Stephanie and asked her endless questions about herself while sitting close to her on a loveseat that was barely big enough for both of them.

  There was something wonderfully intimate and cozy about Valérie’s apartment and it made everyone want to stay forever, relax, and be among good friends. It felt that way as they chatted and opened up to each other. Stephanie admitted to Gabriel that she had felt very guilty leaving her children, but she knew this was an important trip for her so she came.

  “How did your husband feel about it?” Gabriel asked her in a gentle voice. He was a huge teddy bear of a man, and she could easily imagine feeling safe in his arms.

  “He wasn’t pleased about it. In fact, he was still angry when I left,” she said honestly.

  “Is he a physician?”

  She shook her head. “He’s a freelance writer.”

  “It’s very difficult being married to someone who’s not in medicine. Most of the time, they don’t understand the demands a medical career makes on us. It destroyed my marriage too.”

  “Mine isn’t destroyed yet,” she corrected his impression, to be fair to Andy. But they hadn’t been doing well for the past year, and the trip to Paris was the icing on the cake.

  “My wife and I began going our separate ways five years ago. It was just too difficult arguing with her all the time, about the children, about dinner parties I couldn’t go to, about her parents. I was never where she wanted me to be. In truth, I have very little spare time, and what I do have, I spend with my children.” She understood perfectly what he was describing and she was living it herself.

  “You’re divorced?” Stephanie asked, curious about him. He seemed like such a nice man, and he appeared to have gone through the same things she had, with his wife. It sounded like the marriage was over.

  “Not yet. We’ve discussed it many times. The animus of the marriage is dead. The disposal of the paperwork and the property are details. We have an arrangement that works for us both,” he said in a smooth, matter-of-fact way.

  “That sounds complicated,” Stephanie said, frowning. “Divorce is very clear. You’re married or you’re not.”

  “Americans make it very simple. The paperwork and division of property is more complicated here. Sometimes it’s just easier to lead separate lives. The address is just an administrative detail. And you wait to divorce until you meet someone you want to marry. Otherwise, why go through all that pain and expense if you don’t want to marry again?” It was one way to look at it, but not hers. “My wife and I both agree that we’re free.”

  “That must be awkward for the people you go out with, and for your kids,” she said practically.

  “Most of their friends’ parents are in the same situation. It’s not unusual here.”

  Stephanie nodded. She couldn’t imagine wanting an “arrangement” with Andy. If their marriage broke down, she would want a divorce. It seemed cleaner. But Gabriel didn’t seem sneaky or dishonest, just French. They talked about many subjects and agreed on almost all of them. He explained to her about the French public health system, and social security, which paid all medical expenses for everyone. All you needed was a green credit card, a Carte Vitale, and you could have any procedure you wanted or needed, for a minimal amount or even for free. Surgeries which cost a fortune in the States cost very little or nothing at all in France.

  They discussed the high cost of medical care in the States, and then talked about their children. He had married young, and his four children were in their teens. She was amazed by how comfortable she felt with him, and the others seemed equally so in the nest Valérie provided. She was a wonderful hostess. The atmosphere was intimate and warm and sexy, like Valérie herself. Tom was following her around like a puppy while she continued to ignore him, but every now and then she would smile at him, and he looked like he was going to melt. Bill and Wendy noticed and laughed at how besotted he was. Valérie only appeared amused, and treated him like a silly child. His Don Juan act had dissolved like ice cream in the summer sun.

  She had bought a delicious apple tart for dessert, which she served with vanilla ice cream, and café filtre. No one made a move to leave until after one A.M., and it was nearly two when they finally made it out the door. The whole group left together, after thanking Valérie profusely. Gabriel offered to drive Stephanie home. He said it was too cold for her to go back on the bike. He offered the others a lift too, and they declined, but Stephanie gratefully accepted the ride with him. When they reached her building, he gazed deep into her eyes and didn’t speak for a minute.

  “I’ve never met a woman like you, Stephanie. You’re so honest and strong and brave. I wish I had met you a long time ago.” A chill ran down her spine as he said it, and she felt a powerful attraction to him, which she hadn’t felt in years for anyone. They had both had a fair amount of wine and she wondered if it was due to that. “When we left the office yesterday, I couldn’t wait to see you again. The night was too long without you.” It was a very romantic thing to say and she didn’t know how to respond. She was a married woman, and she didn’t have an “arrangement” with Andy, unlike Gabriel and his wife. And she’d only known him for two days. He seemed very intense. “I think destiny brought us together.” She wondered if that was true. He kissed her fingertips, which sent an electric thrill through her, and she got out of his car as the others arrived and parked the rental bikes in the stand in front of their building. A minute later Gabriel drove away with a last heated look at her and a wave.

  No one commented on how attentive he’d been to her as they walked upstairs. They didn’t know her well enough to say anything, but they had noticed. And once in her apartment, she thought about him. There was something so incredibly attractive about him. She tried not to think about it and called her boys as
soon as she took off her coat. They were with the housekeeper, who had picked them up at school. She said Andy was out. He had an appointment that afternoon, which he hadn’t told her about the night before. She wondered where he was.

  When she hung up after talking to the boys, she thought of Gabriel again, even though she didn’t want to. No matter what his arrangement was, he was a married man, and she was a married woman. She reminded herself of it again as she fell asleep, and thoughts of him filled her mind. She remembered the feel of his lips on her fingertips. She tried to make herself think of Andy, but she couldn’t and didn’t want to. All she could think of was Gabriel, and all she wanted was to see him again. The morning couldn’t come soon enough.

  Chapter Seven

  For the rest of the week, they toured the hospitals with the best emergency services. They met other doctors and government officials, went to lectures and meetings, visited the different facilities and offices, and met with police and the SAMU, which were teams of doctors who treated victims on the street, right where they were injured. As a rule, SAMU didn’t move patients until they were stable. The doctors saw videos of recent attacks and how the SWAT teams handled them, pointing out where mistakes were made and where the operation had gone smoothly.

  There was a constant flood of information, which the American team tried to absorb attentively and discuss with their French counterparts to better understand how the systems worked in France. They worked well together as they got to know each other, and their respective strengths provided similarities and contrasts and posed some interesting questions they sought answers for. The mesh of the group was perfect, and by the end of the week all eight of them had bonded and were a cohesive group.

  They had the weekend off, which everyone needed. They were exhausted from all the facts and details and new material they had studied.

  Tom invited Valérie for dinner, and she flirted with him as she declined, which tantalized him unbearably. She was seeing patients on Saturday, and driving to Normandy on Sunday to see her mother. She didn’t tell him what she was doing in the evening, but said she was busy. She did it so charmingly that it drove him insane. He wanted her so badly he could taste it, and he stared at her during most of their meetings.

  Gabriel always seated himself next to Stephanie and spoke to her in whispers, but she didn’t mind it. She loved being near him, and couldn’t pull herself away from him. She had agreed to have dinner with him on Friday night. And Valérie had whispered a warning to her, as they left one of the hospitals they visited.

  “Don’t forget he’s a married man, and he’s French,” she said softly, which startled Stephanie. She knew that about him, but was telling herself they could be friends. But he didn’t act like that was all he wanted, and their mutual attraction was a powerful magnetic force.

  She and Wendy were going to the Louvre together on Saturday, and planning to have lunch afterward, and they wanted to go to the Galeries Lafayette to do some shopping. They were going to have a girls’ day, and they both wanted to catch up on their reading on Sunday. Stephanie liked having a woman friend in the group, and Wendy enjoyed it too. She had stopped seeing everyone for the last few years, and lost touch with her women friends, so she’d be available anytime Jeff wanted to drop by. And suddenly she was free, and had someone to do things with again. Marie-Laure had invited them both over for tea on Sunday to meet her children. The two youngest were close in age to Aden and Ryan, also boys, and her oldest son was eleven. They were very young, and they rarely saw their father. It was all on Marie-Laure’s shoulders, as she had explained to them one day over lunch. Her husband had left her when her youngest was born, five years before. She managed on her own, with babysitters, which Stephanie thought was heroic. When her husband left her, she’d had an infant, and a three- and a six-year-old.

  Bill was catching the Eurostar at six o’clock on Friday night to see his daughters in London. He had booked two connecting rooms at Claridge’s, and he was picking them up that night. He was beside himself at the prospect when he left by cab for the train station. He ran into Wendy as he was leaving the building, and she wished him a good weekend and a great time with his girls. She was on her way to the little food store nearby, so she could have dinner in her apartment. She said she was exhausted after their busy week. So was Bill, but he was revitalized at the idea of seeing his daughters.

  And Tom had convinced Paul Martin, the young French doctor from the COZ, to go barhopping with him to meet women. They had a plan and Paul was picking Tom up at nine. Tom had a list of bars he’d been given and wanted to try, and Paul was young and game for anything. He thought Tom was a lot of fun.

  Gabriel picked Stephanie up at eight-thirty in his car, and drove her to a small, cozy restaurant in her neighborhood where they could talk quietly. Gabriel lived in Neuilly, a residential neighborhood full of families and some very pretty houses, and he looked very pleased to be having dinner with her. She told herself it wasn’t a date, and they were just colleagues getting to know each other and becoming friends, but he was warm and supportive, and enthusiastic about everything she said, which was exciting for her.

  They shared a passion for medicine, and he understood everything about her work. It was impossible not to be drawn to him, and he seemed so much more mature than Andy, who was always complaining about something, pouting, ignoring her, trying to make her feel guilty, angry at her, or acting hurt. It was so tedious to listen to. She always had to be justifying herself, and it made all their exchanges so unsexy. It was just one long battle. Being with Gabriel was so much easier, and the attraction between them was undeniable. She was trying to resist it, but it was hard. She had an enormous crush on him, was physically attracted to him, and he looked as though he was totally swept off his feet by her. She had never felt like this about any man since she had married Andy.

  She hadn’t come to Paris to have an affair. What’s more, however he described it, Gabriel was a married man. But by the end of dinner, as they sat across the table from each other, they were holding hands. They’d both been drinking wine, but not enough to account for how she was feeling, or how attracted they were to each other. He told her he had never felt this way about any other woman. He readily admitted that he had been unfaithful to his wife, and didn’t view it that way given the lack of emotion between them. But he said the other women had never meant anything to him, and he thought Stephanie the most enchanting woman he had ever met. He couldn’t keep his eyes off her, or his hands, and when they left the restaurant, he kissed her, and for an instant she melted into his arms. Her own willingness to do so shocked her, and they had just met.

  There were tears in her eyes when she pulled away from him. “Gabriel…we can’t…I’m married. A lot more so than you are. I have a husband and two children waiting for me at home.”

  “And you’re unhappy with him. You’ve said it in a thousand ways. He doesn’t understand you. He’s jealous of your work. He makes you feel guilty. You constantly feel torn between him and your career. You can’t live like that forever. He’s holding you back.” What Gabriel was saying was true, but they were married and had two little boys, and in some ways, she knew Andy was right, she didn’t spend enough time with their sons. And she had left them to come to Paris for a month, and she felt guilty about that too. It was the age-old battle between family and career. She wanted both, and the career path was an easier one for her. Now she was kissing a man she barely knew and felt fatally attracted to.

  “I’m not unhappy enough to leave him,” she said honestly. Or she never had been until now. But what if Gabriel was right, and Andy was the wrong man, or they had outgrown each other? Their life together seemed so dreary to her now. His writing career had stalled, and she sensed that Andy blamed her, or was jealous of the fact that her career was going well. But she worked harder than he did, and was more determined to succeed than he was. Stephanie was more ambitious, and And
y was more of an artist. She used to find it charming, but she no longer did. Gabriel was a powerful man in a powerful position, it made him infinitely more attractive to her than Andy with no real job, and nothing but dreams about his writing. She felt guilty for everything she was thinking. Gabriel was temptation personified, and she was having trouble resisting. That had never happened to her before, but she had never met a man like him.

  “Let’s not waste what’s been given to us, Stephanie,” he said gently. “Something like this doesn’t happen more than once in a lifetime, for soul mates to meet. What if we were meant to be together? We will regret it forever if we don’t follow our hearts.” There was more than her heart involved, and he knew it too. It was a powerful physical attraction that had hit her like a tidal wave. She had come to Paris to work, and was being swept away by a handsome Frenchman. She felt like this was a movie, and she was afraid of how it would end. She couldn’t ignore the fact that he was married too. They had the potential to create a huge mess if they gave in to what they were feeling. She had been sensible and responsible all her life. And suddenly she didn’t want to be. She was doing everything she could to resist him.

  “We don’t have to make any decisions,” he said in a voice that was smooth as silk. “This is only the beginning. You’ll be here for a month, let’s see where this goes. We have time. And I’m coming to San Francisco for a month. By then we’ll know what we should do.” What he said almost sounded sensible if she was willing to get out of her marriage, but that was a huge decision. She couldn’t do that for a man she had known for five minutes. But he was right, in the next two months, they would know if it was real or an illusion. The prospect was exciting and terrifying, and while she thought about it, he kissed her again.