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.”