A Gentleman’s Offer

by Dara Girard

  “He’s been fighting this thing with me for years. She thinks that there’s a chance that this time I will get better. I don’t. I’m not someone special. I’ve never done anything great with my life, but with you I feel that my life has meaning.”

  “I don’t understand.”

  “When I die. You’ll receive all my money and as my widow no one can dispute that.”

  “As your widow?” she said, despair making her voice crack. “You’re just going to die?”

  He smoothed her hair. “Listen, you won’t have to take care of me. I have the money for care and—”

  Yvette covered her ears. “I don’t want to hear this.”

  He removed her hands. “I need you to,” he said, sounding desperate. “I’ve been trying to beat death for years and I’m not running anymore. I want to live in the moment. In you I see life and I want you to live the life you dream. Just think about it.”

  “Okay, I’ve thought about it.”

  He looked uneasy yet hopeful. “You have?”

  “Yes. If you get the treatment, I’ll marry you.”

  The hope in his eyes died. “I’m not having any treatments.”

  “Then we’ll just stay friends.”

  “No, we won’t. I don’t want you as a friend.”

  “Fine,” she said in a hollow voice, lowering her gaze.

  He lifted her chin and forced a smile. “You’re seeing too much in this. I want you to know that I’ve been looking at this from all sides and I’ve made my decision. There’s no one I would want to leave all my money to other than you.”

  “Then you’ll have to find someone else.”

  “Why?”

  “Because I love you.”

  “I love you, too.”

  “Then have the treatment. Do whatever it takes.”

  He glanced down.

  “Aren’t you going to say anything?”

  He looked at her with anguish. “I can’t say what you want me to.”

  “You’d rather drop dead and give me all your money than stay alive and live with me?”

  “It’s not like that. I’m tired. This is my third battle and I’m tired of wondering if I’ll make it. You know how freeing it is to stop worrying? To stop striving and trying to achieve? It’s a relief. I am not afraid of death.”

  “You’d rather welcome death than fight for life?”

  “Death has been knocking on my door for a long time.”

  “That doesn’t mean you have to open it.”

  His eyes filled with tears but he dropped his gaze before she could see them. “So you won’t marry me?”

  Yvette bit her trembling lip. “I can’t.”

  “Even if I told you that the money—”

  “I don’t care about the money! Why don’t you believe me? If you spent every last cent on getting better—”

  “But there’s no guarantee. What’s the point in spending money, time and energy on something you can’t control? How do you think it makes me feel to think of leaving you with a memory of me in treatments instead of lazing on a beach?”

  “At least I would know that you tried.”

  “And failed.”

  “You could succeed.”

  “The odds are against me.”

  “But there’s still a chance.”

  “A small one.”

  “But it’s there all the same.”

  He flashed a weak smile. “You’re still so stubborn.”

  “So are you.” Her voice fell. “Please, Nate.”

  He shook his head, then stood. “I’m sorry,” he said and meant it but it didn’t help. “At least we had fun.”

  “Yes, that’s something to remember.”

  He opened his mouth then closed it, knowing there was no more to say. He sighed as though the weight of the world had fallen on his shoulders and left.

  Yvette stared at the door for several minutes then began to pack. Moments later she entered the living room with her luggage. Kim sat alone on the couch. “He went for a walk.”

  “It’s okay,” Yvette said. “I don’t need to see him.”

  “I didn’t mean to ruin things for you.”

  “You didn’t do anything. You can’t ruin what isn’t real.”

  Kim jumped to her feet, distressed. “Please don’t make that mistake. What you have is real and wonderful. Don’t throw it away. Nate can be stubborn, but I know you could bend him a little. Perhaps if you gave it some more time…”

  “No,” Yvette said, wanting to believe Kim’s words, but not allowing herself to. “I was trying to make a wish come true that wasn’t meant to be.” Yvette placed an envelope on the table then put a leash on James. She took one last look around then walked to the door facing the reality that her dream had come to an end.

  “She’s gone,” Kim told Nate when he returned. “But she left you a note.”

  Nate raced over to the table and ripped the envelope open. The keys to the apartment and a check fell out. There was no note, no words, just a check made out to him for the remainder of the money she hadn’t spent. He fell into a chair as though he’d been punched. She didn’t want to be with him and didn’t want anything from him not even his money.

  “What did she say?” Kim asked.

  Nate crumpled the check in his fist. “Goodbye.”

  The moment Yvette stepped into the foyer of her building, Mrs. Cantrell opened her door. She noticed Yvette’s bags and smiled. “You’re back from your vacation. My Arthur won’t stop talking about how wonderful your date was. Come in. I think…”

  “Not today, Mrs. Cantrell,” Yvette said, dragging herself to the stairs. “I’m really tired.”

  “You just need some food.”

  “I just need some sleep, thank you.” She slowly climbed the stairs and walked to her apartment. Elliot peeked his head out.

  “So you’re finally back.”

  “Yes.” She opened her door.

  “I baked—”

  “No.” Yvette walked inside, dropped her luggage in front of the door then fell face-first on the couch. She couldn’t even cry. She felt too hollow inside for tears. She glanced up and saw On the Town magazine where she had left it on her coffee table. Suddenly anger gripped her as she thought of how empty and stupid her wishes had been. She leaped up, gathered all her magazines and threw them in the garbage. Then she called Rania.

  “It’s all a sham, isn’t it? You don’t make dreams come true. You just turn them into nightmares.”

  Rania replied to Yvette’s anger in a calm voice. “What are you talking about?”

  “Nate asked me to marry him.”

  “That’s wonderful.”

  “And then I find out he’s dying of cancer.”

  Rania paused. “Did he ask for a prenup?”

  “What?”

  “What will happen to the money after he dies?”

  For a moment Yvette was too stunned to speak. “Who cares? He’s sick.”

  “And that bothers you?”

  “Of course it does! Why wouldn’t it?”

  “Because you’ve never been really interested in men and this sounds like a great solution. You marry him for a few months and then he dies and you inherit his money. I thought you wanted lots of money, but the man didn’t matter.”

  “I was wrong. You tricked me.”

  “I didn’t trick anyone.”

  “I don’t mean you personally, I mean this whole stupid club. It promised things it can’t deliver.”

  “It gave you exactly what you wanted. You’re the one who changed the rules.”

  “This is why I prefer animals to people. Animals don’t have hidden agendas, animals don’t toy with your emotions, animals are genuine and they don’t hurt you.”

  “Funny how you’re always talking about how people have hurt you, but have you ever considered that you might be hurting him?”

  “What do you mean?”

  “The moment he didn’t do something you wanted him to, you le
ft him. Does that show true love?”

  “But I want him to get well.”

  “What about what he wants? Doesn’t that matter, too? Is it wrong for him to want to spend his life with you on his terms? He made himself vulnerable the moment he asked you to marry him. He doesn’t know how long he has to live, but he does know that he wants to spend that time with you. You can’t always be the one in charge, Yvette. People aren’t like animals that you can force to follow your rules. You have to give something, too. You can love animals unconditionally, but it’s time you learn to love people the same way.”

  The moment Yvette hung up the phone she covered her eyes. Perhaps Rania was right. Maybe if she talked to Nate some more they could compromise. She decided to drive to Diana’s apartment. She knocked on the door rehearsing what she would say to Nate when she saw him, but his sister opened the door instead. “Oh, you’re back,” Yvette said awkwardly.

  “Yes.”

  “Is Nate home?”

  Diana shook her head. “No, he just left.”

  “Do you know when he’ll be back?”

  “He’s not coming back.”

  Chapter 15

  Over next several months Yvette buried herself in work. She kept to herself, leaving Greg to handle clients while she dealt with the dogs. She never came out from behind the curtain until the end of the day. Her routine was made up of work and home. She didn’t return phone calls or e-mails. She didn’t want to talk to anyone. One evening, while she was teaching James a new trick, someone knocked on the door. She sighed, glancing briefly outside as the late-autumn wind beat at her window, then answered. Bernard stood there with a large canvas.

  “What are you doing here?” She gripped the door handle, stunned.

  “Sorry it’s a little overdue.”

  “It doesn’t matter.”

  “May I come in?”

  Yvette stepped aside and he entered. He glanced around, impressed. “Nice place.”

  “Thanks.”

  He rested the canvas against the wall then bent down to pet James.

  “What are you doing here?”

  “Nate’s sister, Diana, gave me your address.”

  “That’s not what I meant.”

  “I know.” He sat then said in French, “I’m not the enemy.”

  Yvette stood and faced him, unmoved. “There’s nothing for us to say.”

  “At least look at the painting.”

  “There’s no point.”

  “Please,” he said softly.

  She reluctantly tore off the paper and stared at the finished portrait. It showed Nate as her valet and she as his mistress. A flood of memories threatened to come forth, but she pushed them back. “It’s beautiful, but it represents a time of make-believe and that time is over.”

  “I met Nate when he was in the hospital. I worked at the hospital doing art therapy. He was one of my best students. He had the heart of a true artist, intense, passionate with an eye for detail.”

  “I know how talented he is.”

  “Through him I was able to meet his family when they came to visit. I got to know his father and his aunt and his cousin.”

  Yvette made an impatient motion with her hand. “What does what you’re telling me have to do with anything?”

  “Have you been to the Kerner mansion?”

  “Yes.”

  “Have you seen a large painting of Cathleen with her mother?”

  “You painted that?”

  “Yes. I got to spend a lot of time with Cathleen when her mother wasn’t around, which wasn’t often, but it was often enough to allow me to fall in love with her.”

  “With Cathleen? Why didn’t you say anything?”

  “I wasn’t sure how she felt about me. I was just a poor artist working with patients at a hospital. I didn’t feel I had anything to offer her. She was young and pretty and rich. What would she like about me, I thought. So once I finished my contract at the hospital, I left without a word. Although I thought about her often, I felt certain I had made the right choice. Until I saw you.”

  “Me? Why?”

  “You dared to live life fully and freely. You enjoyed every moment not caring about the next day or the next moment. You lived without fear. I watched you show Nate that same fearlessness. And I knew I wanted to be fearless, too.” He pulled out a ring. “She may say ‘no’ or she may say ‘yes’ but that doesn’t matter to me anymore because at least she’ll know that I love her.”

  “Now may not be the right time,” Yvette said, thinking of Lewis.

  Bernard shrugged. “Now is the only time we have.”

  Cathleen sat on the edge of the waterfall sculpture, staring blindly at her reflection in the water. The day was unusually warm for autumn, the rays of the sun pounded her back but inside she still felt cold. Lewis’s betrayal still stung, but what hurt her more were her last words to Nate and his abrupt departure. She hadn’t been able to reach him—no one had, (except his father who wouldn’t tell anyone where he was) but when she got the chance she’d make it up to him.

  He was her cousin and her friend and she’d been unfair. She’d been flattered by Lewis but she hadn’t truly loved him. It had taken her an agonizing month to realize that and face how foolish and blind she’d been.

  “You look like a painting.”

  She turned when she heard the voice then jumped to her feet. “Bernard!” All her sorrow disappeared as she remembered the months she’d spent with him. She’d missed his face and his easy grin, but most of all their walks together down the hospital corridor where she’s shared her worries about Nate and her relationship with her mother and he’d listened without judgment. Then one day he’d left without saying goodbye. “Nate’s not here.”

  “I know. I didn’t come to see him. I flew all the way from Paris to ask you a question.”

  She frowned confused. “What?”

  He got down on one knee and held out a black box. “I should have asked you this over a year ago, but I didn’t have the courage. I love you, will you marry me?”

  “Absolutely not!” Penny said, coming through the patio doors. “I want you to leave.”

  “He’s not going anywhere, Mother, because I will marry him.” She turned to Bernard. “But he will have to wait.”

  Bernard’s hands trembled as he placed the ring on her finger. “As long as you want me to.”

  “My God!” Penny cried. “You have nothing to offer my daughter.” She looked at Cathleen. “He’s only after your money.”

  “No, he’s not. I’ve learned the difference between flattery and true love.”

  “But we don’t know anything about him. How old are you?”

  They shared a glance then Cathleen replied, “Thirty-five.”

  She’d made a big mistake. She shouldn’t have come to New York and she certainly shouldn’t have come here. Yvette sat inside the taxi, tugged on her jean skirt, which covered her last pair of new stockings. She took a deep breath. She had to do this. She had to see him again. There were so many things she wanted to tell him and so many things she wanted to know. Kim hadn’t been able to tell her anything about where Nate had disappeared to over the last few months, but all she knew was that he’d returned home the past two weeks.

  Yvette looked out at the building in front of her. It wasn’t an ordinary house but it wasn’t a mansion, either. It was too small. It was a lot like Nate—unassuming, but grand; stately yet homey. It rested on acres of land dusted white by a brief winter snow. She glanced down at James, who sat in his carrier. “It’s now or never.” She opened the door.

  The taxi driver unloaded her luggage. Yvette paid and tipped him. She heard the taxi drive away as she made her way up the front steps. She knocked on the door. A man answered but it wasn’t Nate. He was a tidy-looking man with a stocky build and dark eyes. He took her bags before she could introduce herself. “Follow me,” he said.

  “Don’t you want to know who I am?”

  He motioned to a fram
ed sketch in the hallway. “Is that you?”

  Yvette blinked surprised. “Yes.”

  “That’s what I thought.” He led her into the living room. “Please, take a seat. You can let James out.”

  “You know about James, too? Has he told you about me?”

  He only smiled. “Please, take a seat. I’ll tell him you’re here.”

  Yvette let James out of his carrier, but she didn’t sit down. She couldn’t. She was too excited to see him. Had he been eating well, sleeping well? The moment he came into the room she knew the answer. He hadn’t.

  He looked terrible. His eyes were red and his face unshaven. He looked tired, but managed a sly grin. “Hello.”

  She ran up to him. “I don’t care how much time you have. I want to be with you. I understand if—”

  “Yvette.”

  “I have to be by your side. I won’t leave you alone.”

  “Yvette.”

  “And I want you to know that—”

  He grabbed her shoulders. “Yvette. Listen.”

  “Yes?”

  “Don’t worry. I just didn’t sleep last night. I got a call from my doctor.”

  Her heart stopped. “And?”

  He began to smile.

  She stared at him in numb astonishment. “You’re cancer-free?”

  He smiled and nodded. “Yes, I’m in remission.”

  She threw her arms around him, nearly knocking him over. “I missed you.”

  He hugged her back so tightly she thought her ribs would break, but she didn’t care. She pressed her head against his chest and listened to his heart beat, its strong rhythmic motion making her want to weep with gratitude.

  “Come. Let’s sit down.” He led her to the couch, but not before scooping James up and patting him on the head. In the excitement of seeing Nate, he’d had a little accident but only the valet noticed and discreetly cleaned it up. James licked Nate’s face.

  Yvette snuggled close, not wanting any distance between them. “What made you change your mind?”

  He sighed with remembered pain and put James down. “The check. When I opened that envelope and saw it, I knew you didn’t want or need my money. At first I was angry. That’s why I left. Then I realized that I had relied on it a bit too much. I always used it to get what I wanted. I thought it was my money that got you and thought I would use it to keep you, but you made me see that I was wrong.”