“For a while, yes.”
“You’re going to go back to working like you have been?”
“I can’t cut back forever.”
“For heaven’s sake. You can’t continue to slave your life away at the firm. Besides, what about your child? You’ll have to go to recitals, soccer games… Children take time, even if you have nannies.”
He frowned. He hadn’t thought about that at all.
Stella sighed. “You were planning to go on like you always have, weren’t you?”
“Er…sort of.”
“I didn’t say anything when you got married. I thought… Well, Amandine’s an adult, and she can understand how work can come first. But children won’t, and it’ll wear her out, making excuses for you to the child.”
“But if I don’t work, how am I going to make money? How am I going to provide for my family?”
Stella gaped at him, then snapped her mouth closed. “Gavin Emmanuel Lloyd!”
Uh oh. His mother hadn’t used his full name since he’d turned sixteen.
“I always thought you were one of the smartest kids I knew, but obviously I was wrong. Have you checked your bank account recently?”
“Well, yes.”
“You have over twenty billion dollars according to Forbes. And you’re talking like you have to work to make the month’s rent!” She put down her iced tea and huffed. “I wasn’t going to pry about the photos, especially with you telling me you had a second honeymoon. But you cannot continue to act like you’re single. You can’t work your life away. What will you do with another twenty billion that you can’t with the money you already have? Is it worth missing out on the pleasure of spending time with your wife and child?”
The questions shocked him. His drive had always been all about making more money, becoming ever more successful. Climbing the ladder.
To show that he wasn’t some loser to be tossed away. That he was “more.”
“You hired additional staff for her, didn’t you? She needed somebody, but you couldn’t be there, right?”
He nodded.
“Gavin, Amandine doesn’t want more strangers in her home. She’s not like Catherine. And yes,” she continued in a different tone, “I know Catherine played you and Jacob off against each other. I’m not happy with her, though I don’t think she deserved what she got either.”
She knows…? This was quickly becoming surreal.
She sighed. “In any case, Amandine’s a homebody, an introvert. She just wants peace and solitude in her house.”
“But she’s always been great at dinners and parties…” Amandine had never once complained about having to host an event. She’d been tired afterward, but he’d assumed it was from the prep work and late hours, not because she was an introvert working hard to be an extrovert.
“She needs something that belongs to her, and only her. Think about that.”
Gavin cursed inwardly. He’d hired more and more staff to make sure she was taken care of at all times because he couldn’t always be there for her. He’d done it to assuage his guilt. But he’d never asked himself if that was what would make Amandine happy. Damn it. How could he have been so blind?
“Anyway enough of that.” Stella smoothed her dress. “I’m sure you didn’t come on a workday for marital advice. What’s going on?”
“It can wait,” Gavin said, still trying to process everything. “Let’s have some lunch first.”
He took her to a nearby restaurant where they had a meal focused around New England seafood. As the waiter was clearing the dessert dishes, he said, “I need your help.”
“Tell me.”
He told her about the huge trust fund he’d started for the family members who depended solely on income from The Lloyds Development. Ethan had set something up as well. But they weren’t sure if everyone would take the money.
“Meredith already turned me down,” Gavin said. “I called her a few days ago, and she said to go away.” Meredith’s actual response had been more colorful, but there was no reason to repeat it verbatim.