She didn’t know why, but her folks had never really warmed to the Felfans. Maybe it was the cultural difference, even though she thought at the time that being a vintner, her dad and David Felfan would have a lot in common. Even though he wasn’t a vintner himself, the fondness the French have for wine in general and French wine in particular is well-known.
But the few times the two parent pairs had met, the atmosphere had been convivial but the firm friendship that Steph had envisioned and hoped would spring up hadn’t blossomed. She herself adored her in-laws though. Both David and Pauline were warmhearted people, and from the moment Jeff introduced her, they had accepted her as their own daughter, and she’d felt as home in their Paris apartment as she did in Hampton Cove—or perhaps even more so.
She had told herself to stay strong, but the moment she saw their faces as they walked out of the airport terminal, she broke down in tears, and so did both David and Pauline. And for the next five minutes the three of them clung to each other like survivors of some terrible tragedy, which in effect they were.
“I can’t believe he’s gone,” said Pauline finally. She was a fine-boned woman, dressed with impeccable taste, who was hiding her eyes behind large sunglasses, and the moment she removed them, Steph could see why: she had probably been crying from the moment she’d received the terrible news that her son was dead.
David, too, looked gaunt and pale, and clearly hadn’t slept since the news had hit. “How are you holding up?” he asked, offering her a weak smile.
“As well as can be expected,” she said. Which wasn’t very well indeed.
“Have the police given you any more information about this man they arrested?” asked Pauline. “Is he the one who killed our boy, you think?”
“They haven’t told me more than what I already knew,” she said.
“And the man in charge of the investigation? Is he any good?”
“Yes, he is. My dad tells me he has a very good reputation.” He was odd, though, to be investigating Jeff’s murder accompanied by his wife and her two cats. Like some kind of weird quirk. But as long as he got results, that was all that mattered.
They walked to where she had parked her car, and for a moment they sat there, as Pauline glanced at the small rosary that dangled from the rearview mirror. It had been her present to Jeff and Steph. She said it would protect them. And it had, when that maniac had tried to drive them off the road. But it hadn’t protected Jeff when he had been lured to his death. Maybe he should have worn a second one, though she doubted that would have stopped whoever was responsible.
She put the car in gear, and soon they had left New York’s heavy traffic behind and were traveling East along the Long Island Expressway.
“We’ve talked about what happened, your father and I,” said Pauline now. She always referred to themselves as her mom and dad, which she actually loved. “And we still want you to come to Paris and live in the apartment we’ve bought for you.”
“Oh, I don’t know, Pauline.”
“Please think about it,” said Pauline softly. “It’s what Jeff would have wanted. It’s the home for you and Zoe, and the place where your heart can heal. Surrounded by the beauty and the things you love the most—and the people who love you the most,” she added quietly. “Not that yourparents don’t love you, of course,” she hastened to add, feeling that perhaps she had stepped on some toes.
Steph assured her that she hadn’t. But she felt it was too soon to think about the future. First she wanted to bury her husband, and get through these next couple of days. And then there was the investigation. She didn’t think she’d be able to consider her future until the man who killed Jeff was brought to justice.
“Where’s Zoe?” asked Pauline.
“At the house,” said Steph. “You’ll see her soon.”
Pauline nodded, satisfied.“Maybe it’s a good thing that she’s too young to know what’s going on,” she said, echoing the exact thought Steph had had herself. “Though growing up without a father…” She placed a hand on Steph’s shoulder. “At least she has her mother, and her family, who love her very much.”
All through this, David had hardly said a word. Steph glanced over to him, but he was keeping himself to himself. Once again, she thought he looked very haggard. As if discovering that he’d lost his son had aged him overnight.
Later, when she was showing Pauline and David their room and explaining about meal times, Pauline took her aside and said quietly,“David isn’t well.”
“Are you worried?”
“I am,” her motherin-law confessed. “He says he’s going to quit politics. Says he can’t do it anymore. And he’s going to retire from the law practice.”
“So he won’t run for mayor?”
“No, he’s giving that all up.” She darted a look of concern in the direction of her husband, who was lying on the bed with his eyes closed, clearly exhausted. “He says there’s no point now that Jeff is gone. There’s no point to any of it.”