Page 79 of My Best French Wedding

“Really?” She would have been less surprised if Corinne suggested they get matching BFF necklaces.

“It sounded stupid as shit, but you pulled it off.”

Hildy put a hand to her heart to show how moved she was by this tribute.We, she thought.Walter and me. That’s who pulled it off. Not that he cared about the result.

“Maybe we’ll work at the same place someday.” She glanced at Corinne, afraid she might catch her in an eye roll of deep scorn, but her expression was pleased—in a cautious and extremely jaded way.

“Sure. You can hire me at your magazine.”

It almost sounded like she was imagining it too.

26Hildy

TWO DAYS BEFORE THE PRESCOTT-SCHAFER WEDDING

TAMNIÈS, France—When the knock sounded at Hildy’s door that evening, her first reaction washallelujah, a break from talking about numbers with Corinne!

Until she found herself face-to-face with a despondent Robbie, at which point the spreadsheets didn’t seem so bad. She steeled herself. Time to pay the piper.

“Do you want to come in?” Hildy gestured behind her. “Corinne and I were just having a quick business chat.” That was a euphemism formaking emergency plans in the likely event that our current business model goes up in flames.

“Actually, I was hoping you could come outside. To talk to Fiona.” He stuck his hands in his pockets. “It’s about the wedding,” Robbie finally admitted, surprising exactly no one. He glanced past Hildy at the papers spread on her coffee table, overseen by a grim-faced Corinne. “But I don’t want to interrupt your meeting.”

“Don’t worry about it,” Hildy said. “I’ve been waiting for a chance to apologize. Give me five minutes and I’ll be right there.”

Robbie nodded, still looking weighed down by his cares. “She’s at the pool.”

“Got it.” Hildy sent him off with an encouraging smile, closing the door before turning slowly back to Corinne.

“You’re coming, right?” Hildy asked, ducking into the bathroom.

Corinne set down her wineglass. “Talking people around is your area. Half the time they don’t even realize it’s happening.”

“I mean, they sort of know,” Hildy said, keeping it humble. “They just choose to go along with it because they realize it’s in their best interests.”

“Either that or you wear them down until they don’t have any strength left to resist.”

“Potato, potahto.” Hildy hesitated, afraid to give voice to her fears in case it made them manifest. “What if I fuck it up?”

“You won’t.”

“How do you know?”

“Because that would be very bad. For our bottom line.”

“And sad,” Hildy reminded her. “For Fiona and Robbie.”

“Yes, Dr. Seuss. And don’t forget howmadyou’ll be if we get kicked off the story and Walter has it all to himself.”

“Right.” She shook out her arms. “Okay, I’m getting fired up.”

Corinne stood to gather her papers. “Go get ’em, tiger.”

Fiona was sitting on the edge of the pool with her feet in the deep end.

“Mind if I join you?” Hildy asked, kicking off her sandals.

Fiona glanced at her. “Did Robbie find you?”