by Hannah Ford
Danielle listened to her and nodded. “Well good. I just…I really care about you, Nic. You’re one of my best friends and you’re the only one who knows what it’s like to be in this kind of situation.”
“What kind of situation?” Nicole asked. A flock of birds suddenly burst from a nearby grouping of trees. Watching them soar into the sky and take off into the distance, she thought of her never-to-be-born child and her heart twisted in her chest. Maybe her child’s spirit was soaring off with them, completely free and unbound.
Danielle followed Nicole’s gaze. “You know the situation we’re in. Getting married to an extremely wealthy man. All of the shenanigans, the drama, dealing with business associates and friends and ex-lovers and family members. Everyone feeling threatened by your new place in his life.”
Nicole nodded, thinking of Red’s vindictive mother. “I do know about that stuff. It’s not easy to deal with those people.”
“And everyone thinks you’re after his money,” Danielle complained. She gripped her hat so tightly in her hands that Nicole thought she might tear it to pieces. “Even he suspects that you might be in it for a quick payday. And then you have the whole awkwardness of negotiating the prenuptial agreement.”
Nicole didn’t respond to that. She just licked her lips and looked away.
“I mean, hasn’t Red talked to you about a prenup yet?” Danielle said, when Nicole didn’t say anything.
“No, not really.”
“What do you mean? Aren’t you getting married soon? Haven’t you two even discussed the financial part of the whole thing?”
Nicole shrugged. “I mean, sort of.”
“Well you need to sort that out. He’s going to want a prenup, Nic. They all do. So don’t get all pissy with him when he brings it up.”
“Danielle, he doesn’t want one.”
Danielle stared at her for a long time. “You’re sure about that? He said that?”
“He said we share everything fifty-fifty.”
She snorted. “Well, there’s a lot less to share now, isn’t there?”
Nicole’s eyes narrowed. “That’s a shitty thing to say.”
“I’m sorry, you’re right. That was really a mean thing to say.” Danielle stood up, still gripping her hat for dear life. “The thing is, it really bothered me when Kane brought up the contract. The prenuptial agreement. It hurt my feelings.”
“I understand it did. Of course.” Nicole tried to hide the tiny feeling of triumph she felt that Danielle and Kane didn’t have the same kind of trust that she and Red shared. The way Danielle was prancing around, flaunting her new social status, it was hard to sympathize with her plight. But Nicole didn’t want to gloat over something so trite. “Did you tell Kane how it made you feel?”
“Of course,” Danielle said, pacing across the verandah. “And he explained to me that the contract was merely precautionary and meant to protect both of us. Also, it’s not as if I get nothing if we have a divorce.” She stopped and looked at Nicole. “I must sound so shallow right now.”
“Not at all.”
Danielle flushed. “I just hate to feel like I’m one of those stupid celebrity wives that gets dumped after two or three years and then sits around getting Botox injections and tennis lessons for the rest of her life.”
“You’d never be that kind of woman.”
“But the prenup made me feel like that kind of woman. I kept reading it and thinking how there should have been more for me in there. I hated how greedy it made me feel to think about our relationship that way.” Her expression was genuinely pained now. “And here I was, assuming that you and Red had the same arrangement as us and now I feel like a complete fool.”
“Danielle, don’t be silly. Nothing you’re saying is foolish.”
“Well Red must really love you if he’s not protecting himself at all.”
“It’s got nothing to do with love.”
“Then he must trust you.”
Nicole thought about it. “He does trust me. But just because Kane had you sign a prenup doesn’t mean he trusts you any less.”
“Doesn’t it, though?”
Nicole didn’t know what to say. Danielle turned and stared out at the property. “You know what? Those trees are really beautiful just the way they are. I wouldn’t change a thing if I were you.”
***
Nicole and Danielle decided to have a picnic for lunch. They gathered cheese and crackers, fruit, and a bottle of wine and put everything in a cooler. They took a blanket and walked out to the grounds and just started to stroll, in order to find whatever place might feel right to sit down and have their picnic.
The sky was clear and blue, with only a few passing clouds, but there was still a nice breeze that would cool you off if the sun ever started to feel too warm.
Finally, they settled for a spot on a hilly section of land that gave them a three hundred and sixty degree view of the property. Danielle spread that blanket out and kicked off her shoes, while Nicole opened the cooler and took out the cheese and crackers and poured wine into two plastic cups.
She handed a cup to Danielle and then sat down next to her on the blanket and sipped her drink for a moment. They both popped a few grapes in their mouths and grinned at one another.
“How crazy is this?” Danielle laughed, after a moment. “The two of us married or engaged to billionaires, drinking wine and relaxing on the acres of land surrounding your mansion. Just a couple of months ago we were struggling to find jobs to make rent on our crappy Brooklyn apartment. How lucky are we?”
Nicole tried to smile. She didn’t feel lucky right now. At the same time, she was appreciative of Danielle’s friendship and the fact that her friend was going through a similar process of fitting into a powerful man’s life and all the complications that entailed.
“What do you love most about Kane?” Nicole asked, out of the blue.
Danielle cocked her head. “I guess, I love the way he looks at the world. He’s not afraid of anything.”
Nicole smiled and took a long sip of wine.
Danielle tilted her cup back toward Nicole. “And you?”
“Me what?”
“What do you love most about your man?” she asked, laying back and staring at the sky.
“I love the way he looks at me,” Nicole said. She felt her face flush with embarrassment at such an honest assessment.
Danielle turned to her. “That’s awesome. Now I want to change my answer.”
“Your answer was beautiful.”
“No. I said I love that Kane’s not afraid of anything. But I didn’t say anything about us, you know?” She shook her head. “Maybe we’re missing something.”
“Danielle, no. You guys are awesome and you’re so happy. You shouldn’t compare yourself to anyone. Red and I are just two people and we’ve had plenty of ups and downs as you well know.”
Danielle assented to that fact. “But,” she said, picking another grape and popping it in her mouth, “you seem to have gotten past all the drama. You guys seem like you really found your stride.”
“I guess we have. That doesn’t mean we don’t have our problems.”
Danielle nodded as if she completely understood. “What about the wedding?” she said eventually. “Sometimes I wish Kane and I had done a big production instead of marrying just the two of us on the island. Are you super excited?”
“I don’t know. I’ve started to question whether I want much of a production. Maybe something really, really small. I’ve even thought of eloping. Just me and Red together, nobody else around to worry about.”
“I hope you don’t do that,” Danielle told her. “I really want to be there for your ceremony. It would mean a lot to me.”
“Yeah.” Nicole sighed. “I just don’t know if I have the energy to plan something like that and deal with all the stress involved.”
“What you need is a wedding planner.”
What I need is to have my child with me, growing insi
de of me still.
“Yeah, maybe a wedding planner,” Nicole replied listlessly.
Danielle started to smile. “Hey—you guys would still invite me and Kane to the wedding and everything, right—Red wouldn’t keep Kane from attending?”
“Of course we’d invite both of you.”
“I wish we could get Red and Kane to hang out under different circumstances,” she said. “I just know the two of them could be friends. I mean, Kane really likes Red.”
Nicole didn’t know what to say to that. She thought it highly unlikely that Red would ever seriously consider trusting Kane Wright enough to be friends with him. In fact, they hadn’t yet discussed Kane’s attendance at the wedding, so she was already going out on a limb by telling Danielle that her husband could even come.
“Let’s just see how it goes. We can’t force them to have play dates like they’re a couple of kindergarteners.”
“Speaking of kindergarteners,” Danielle said, getting a big grin on her face. “I was talking to Kane about kids, and he told me he might want them someday.”
Nicole got a strange feeling in her stomach, like she’d just been kicked. For a brief second she’d forgotten about her loss. And now, with this one comment from her friend, it all came flooding back like some horrible nightmare.
She forced a smile to her face somehow. “How do you feel about it?” she asked.
“Of course I want to have kids. I mean, I’m not sure when.” Danielle twisted one of her braids around a finger, still smiling and red faced. “I just picture us together—a little happy family. And then I picture all of the things I didn’t have, and giving them to our little boy—or girl,” she added hastily.
Nicole nodded with a dry mouth and eyes that were ready to fill with tears. She looked away and had a big gulp or two of her wine. She refilled the cup. “Sounds great, Danielle. Seriously.”
“I didn’t think Kane would want children. Something about him screams bachelor lifestyle, doesn’t it?”
“I don’t know him that well.”
There was a somewhat awkward silence. And then, Danielle asked the one question Nicole couldn’t take right then. “What about you and Red? Have you talked about kids yet?”
Nicole burst into tears. Again.
“Hey! Did I say something wrong, Nic?” she cried, moving closer and putting a hand on Nicole’s shoulder. “What is it? What’s wrong?”
Nicole’s whole body shook, she was wracked with sobs. And then it was as if a part of her was standing to one side and watching the fiasco and seeing how ridiculous this whole scene was. So she began to laugh. And that made her seem even crazier.
Danielle was mystified. “I’m so sorry, whatever it was I did. Nicole, tell me what’s going on. I’m…you’re freaking me out!”
Nicole tried to talk between laughing and crying. “It’s not your fault,” she finally was able to say.
“It sure seems like it’s my fault. Are you all right? Do you want to go back to the house?”
Nicole shook her head. “No.” She was catching her breath now. The storm of crying had started to pass.
“No, you’re not all right, or no, you don’t want to go back to the house?”
“Both.”
“What’s wrong? Is it something to do with Red? Is it about Kane coming to the wedding? I can tell him not to, Nicole. If it really freaks you out that much…”
Nicole began laughing again, wiping the tears from her eyes. “It’s not about Kane at all.” She sniffled. “I wish that were all it was. Something as silly as a wedding invitation.”
Danielle’s expression became grave. “You’re not…sick or something, are you?”
“No. It’s not like that.”
“Come on. I told you about my prenup drama, the least you can do is tell me what’s going on that’s got you so upset.”
Nicole swallowed. “I—I was pregnant and I had a miscarriage.”
Danielle just stared at her. “Oh, Nicole. I had no idea.”
“I wanted to keep it quiet for a little while, obviously. It was early in the pregnancy.”
“And Red knew?”
Nicole nodded. Felt her eyes fill up for the millionth time. She wiped the tears away with her sleeve. “He knew and he wanted the baby. We were so excited.”
Danielle sat up. “Nicole, I’m so sorry for your loss. Can I give you a hug?”
“Sure.”
The two friends hugged, and Nicole realized that it actually helped a little bit. She still felt the emptiness and the sadness and all of it—but having someone genuinely empathize with her, someone besides Red—made a difference.
They sat in silence for a long time and ate and drank wine. It wasn’t an uncomfortable silence though.
“I’m really glad you told me,” Danielle said. “You know, I’m so proud to call you my friend and I want to be here for you if you need me.”
“Thanks,” Nicole said. “You’re an awesome friend to me. And I want to be a better friend to you too. I know I always say that…”
Danielle laughed. “You do! It’s true. But I don’t need you to anything different, Nic. You’re too hard on yourself.”
“I want the four of us to get together,” Nicole told her. “You’re right that it’s ridiculous for Red and Kane to be at one another’s throats because of business. It’s not like Kane tried to have Red assassinated or something. They’re both rich guys who had competing businesses and so it got a little bit rough.”
“Exactly,” Danielle said, excited now. “It reminds me of two star baseball players on different teams. They have a rivalry but they can still be friends off season, right?”
“Right,” Nicole said. “I’m not sure that Red sees it that way, but I’ll work on him.”
“Speaking of Red,” Danielle said, “I think he’s home.” She pointed to the private road, which was visible in the near distance.
Nicole looked and saw that he was indeed driving back to the house. “I guess that’s my cue,” she sighed.
“You’re really brave,” Danielle told her.
“No, I’m not,” Nicole replied. “That’s the problem.”
They gathered their things and set off for home. It was only a few minutes walk and neither of them said much. It was enough to just be together and for Nicole to know that Danielle understood what she was going through and hadn’t tried to talk her out of being sad about it.
When they arrived home, Red was already inside. They found him in the foyer, standing and looking at his phone. When he saw Nicole, his face lit up with a huge smile.
“Come here,” he said, and scooped her into his arms, hugging her tightly and kissing her on the head. “How are you doing?” he said softly.
“Good,” she said, giving him a smile to let him know she meant it.
“Hey Danielle,” he said, nodding to Danielle, who stood awkwardly in the entrance to the foyer.
“Hey,” she said, giving a small wave.
Red looked at the blanket and cooler. “What’s with the stuff? You two go camping?”
“Picnic,” Nicole said. “We had some much needed wine and discussed the fact that it’s silly for you and Kane to hate each other so much.”
Red gave her a look. “You had too much wine, maybe.”
“We should all get together. I promised Danielle we would.”
Red’s jaw tightened. “You’re kind of putting me on the spot here.”
“Actually, it’s really not a big deal,” Danielle said. “So don’t feel put on the spot. Nicole and I were just having some girl talk, you know how it is.”
“Not really,” Red replied.
“Well, sometimes girls can get chatty and silly, especially when wine is involved.”
Red nodded. “So, I actually wanted to show Nicole the new office space I found in Hartford. You’re welcome to come with us, Danielle.”
Nicole looked at him. “You found something?”
He grinned. “And it’s perfect. I rea
lly want to sign a contract ASAP but I need to show my partner first.”
“Wait, you guys are business partners now?” Danielle said.
“I didn’t talk to her about the new company,” Nicole replied quietly. She was surprised that Red would openly discuss it in front of her, knowing she might tell Kane.
But he seemed totally unconcerned about that. “We’re going to start a business,” he said, “and I need Nicole’s approval for every step we take.” He grabbed Nicole’s hand and squeezed it. “Which is why I really want to drag her to this building. I know she’s going to love it.”
“I don’t know if I’m up to it right now,” Nicole said. She was already feeling a slight comedown from her wine buzz.
“I should go, anyway,” Danielle told them. “My driver’s been waiting and I told Kane I’d be back for dinner.”
“You sure?” Red asked her. “You’re welcome to hang with us.”
“I’m sure.” Danielle came and gave Nicole another tight squeeze. “It was great seeing you and catching up,” she said softly. “Call me anytime.”
“Of course,” Nicole told her. “And thanks for always being there.”
Danielle nodded and waved goodbye to Red, and then she left. They stood at the front door and watched her get in her limousine and ride off.
“Did you have a nice time?” Red asked, putting a hand on Nicole’s back and gently rubbing.
“Yes, actually. I was pretty emotional though.”
He turned and looked at her. “You have every right to be emotional.”
She nodded, wanting to cry yet again. But this time she was able to not cry for once. Maybe that was progress. “You really want to show me the new space?”
“I really do,” he said.
“Okay then. I’m game.”
They left the house immediately and got in Red’s car, setting off down the private way as the sun started to dip in the sky.
Red asked her about Danielle, and Nicole told him about the prenuptial agreement and how Danielle felt weird about it.
“Most very wealthy people should have an agreement like that when they marry,” he said.
“She got really sad when I told her that you’ve never asked me to sign anything.”