“Wait, wait, when did France get put on the table? I thought you were going to Italy,” I said, buttering a piece of bread.
“Well, Benjamin and I talked about it and we realized it’s been ages since we had a real vacation, not just a weekend away. So we wanted to extend the trip a bit.”
“Wow, that’s going to be some honeymoon! Italy and France—sounds amazing,” I replied.
“And Switzerland. We added Switzerland too,” Jillian added, a guilty look on her face.
Mimi sighed romantically, clutching her roll close to her chest. “That sounds heavenly—a European honeymoon! I can’t wait to start planning my honeymoon. Ryan said we can go wherever I want, provided I wear lots of string bikinis for him to enjoy. And remove.” She giggled, then hiccupped. Champagne was still lingering.
“Wait, wait, wait—you’re going to Switzerland too?” I asked incredulously. “Anywhere else you’re planning that I should know about?”
“Well, I was planning on talking about this at the office, but—”
“Whoa, what’s going on?” I asked.
“Actually, we’re taking an open-ended trip,” she said matter-of-factly. “We just want to wander freely, and this seems like a good time to do it.”
I sat back in my chair, my head spinning. “How long are you planning on being gone?”
“Long enough to know that you’re gonna need an intern.”
“Wait a minute, just wait a minute. An intern? Seriously Jillian, how long are you going to be gone?” I asked, thinking of all the projects that were coming up on the calendar, to say nothing of the Claremont Hotel, if I was lucky enough to land it.
“Let’s talk about it at the office, okay? The food is here,” she said, nodding at our waiter with our dinner.
As he set plates down in front of us, I met her eyes across the table. “We’ll talk about it at the office,” she said again. “It’ll be fine, I promise.”
It was a quiet dinner. Except for Mimi’s hiccupping.
? ? ?
Text from Simon to Caroline:
Hey, babe, you free for lunch today?
I wish. I’m slammed.
I can come down there; I’ll even bring my hammer.
As much as I do love your hammer, I’m literally buried under a pile of colored pencils at the moment.
Hmm, how about dinner?
Negative, Ghost Rider, I’m heading out to Sausalito tonight as soon as I leave work.
For the hotel? And did you just Top Gun me?
Yup, tonight is the first chance I’ve had to get out there to actually see the place. And yes, I totally Top Gunned you. You want to meet me out there? We could grab a quick dinner afterward.
We could grab a quick something . . .
Babe.
Sorry. OK, text me the address and I’ll meet you out there. 7?
Perfect.
Dammit Simon, now all I can think about is a quick something.
Aaand we’re back. See you at 7.
? ? ?
I walked around the property, checking sight lines and viewpoints, noticing where the late afternoon light hit the buildings. I saw windows where they weren’t, walls where they could be moved to exploit the natural landscape, and pocket gardens that could be renovated to bring a sense of green to a modern shell.
I was getting excited to bid on this job.
A Range Rover’s honk broke me from my reverie. I turned from the front walkway to see Simon pulling up in front. Not quite done with what I was doing, I lifted a finger to indicate that I needed another minute. He parked and walked to where I was.
“So this is the place, huh?” he asked, wrapping his arms around me as I gazed up at the structure.
“Yep, what do you think?”
“I think my girl’s gonna kick some ass on this project,” he replied, resting his chin on the top of my head.
“It’s a beautiful location, isn’t it?”
“What, Sausalito? Yeah, I suppose.”
“Are you kidding? Look at that view!” I pointed back over the bay at the city. San Francisco twinkled in the twilight, the cars going back and forth over the bridge. Coit Tower. Transamerica building. Lovely.
Then I did a 180 and looked back at Sausalito. It wasn’t just a great place to gaze at San Francisco. The houses were glowing against the mountain, streetlights just coming on, sailboats dotting the marina, people walking along the waterfront on their way to dinner or shopping or going home.
“The restaurant isn’t far from here. Let’s walk,” I said, tugging him toward the main drag.
He twined his fingers through mine and as we walked, we talked. About my design ideas, about the upcoming wedding, about his next trip. He was leaving again in two days, this time for South Africa. He was going out on a shark boat, getting shots of the great whites feeding. I couldn’t really think about it without shuddering.
Shudder.
“So Jillian told me today they added France and Switzerland to their honeymoon. Looks like they’re going to be gone awhile,” I said as we headed toward the pier with the restaurant.