A single tear slid down Fleur’s cheek. She angled her face away from the other diners. “He wanted to. In fact, he was furious with me. But I couldn’t be with him. I love him, but it was never going to work.”
“Why not?” Skye lifted a hand to her mouth. “It’s not my business, I just—,”
Fleur reached out, patting her hand reassuringly. “I chose to confide in you.” She frowned. “You’re very easy to talk to.” Pleasure infused Skye’s cheeks with pink. “And more than that, I think you are a genuinely kind and wise person. I’m very glad my cousin found you.”
Skye’s heart exploded, first with jubilation and then with panic. The more she spoke with Fleur, the more she felt like an awful liar, and the more desperate she was about their situation, because she knew now that her heart was devoted to Matthieu, and she had no idea if he felt anything similar for her.
“Leaving my husband—I didn’t choose to leave him because I stopped loving him. I left him because I loved him too much to deny him what he always wanted.”
Skye shook her head. “I don’t understand.”
“I found out six months ago that I cannot have children.” The words were whispered, low and quiet, her voice heavy with emotion. “We’d been trying for a while, and it never happened. I got checked and unfortunately, there’s no hope.”
Skye leaned forward, shaking her head. “But surely—,”
“No.” Fleur toyed with her napkin. “I’ve explored my options thoroughly.” She blinked up, meeting Skye’s sympathetic gaze. “On our first date, Olivier told me about his family—he has six brothers, and wants a large family. He loves children. He’s so good with them. I couldn’t deny him that, just because my body is broken.”
Skye’s heart cracked. “Did he feel the same way?”
Fleur sipped her water, without answering.
Suspicion formed inside Skye. “Did you tell him, Fleur?”
“No.” It was barely a whisper. “I knew he’d stay with me, out of loyalty.”
“Out of love,” Skye supplemented.
“Out of love, yes, but that love would fade over time, when the emptiness in his heart took over and he came to resent me. I couldn’t bear that. I couldn’t bear to live with the ticking time bomb of his disappointment.”
“Oh, Fleur. I’m terribly sorry for your situation, but if I can speak honestly—,”
“After I dragged you on a shopping spree you clearly would have preferred to avoid? Of course.”
“Actually, I’m glad you did,” Skye promised, leaning closer. “I just wonder if you made a mistake, with your husband.”
Fleur nodded softly. “You’re newly in love,” she said with a fatalistic tone to her voice. “From your perspective, there is no problem so great you cannot overcome it.”
“But this was a problem too great to overcome?”
“Yes.”
“How do you know, when you didn’t tell him?”
“I couldn’t burden him. I know he would have said he wanted to be with me—,”
“And meant it, I’m sure.”
“In that moment, maybe. But he will be happy now. He’ll meet someone else, and they’ll have the children he’s always wanted.” Her voice broke and another tear slid down her cheek. “And I will be a very doting aunt to the babies you and Matthieu make.”
Something shifted inside Skye, a recollection, a piece of a puzzle moving into place. “Does Matthieu know—,”
“No. You may tell him, if you wish.”
Skye shook her head. “It’s not my place. I just wasn’t sure if he knew.”
“Nobody does, besides grand-mère.”
“Your grandmother,” Skye expelled a soft breath, something clicking into place in the recesses of her mind.