“Honey. I promise. I’ll be there for the baby.”

“It’s not that. It’s just that . . . I mean . . . Dad, I expected this kind of thing from. But you? You’ve never done anything crazy like this, and it’s scaring me. Are you okay? I just . . . don’t want to see you do something you’ll regret.”

“I’m fine, darling,” Diana said, throwing some of her things into a box and getting ready to jet out of the building for the very last time in her career. She felt like she was thinking clearly for the first time in her life. Sure, the doubts were there, but there really was nothing that she would regret now. She’d made the career she wanted and followed this path to its end. Now was time for a new journey.

Besides, she’d already spent enough time regretting.

Now was the time to make up for those lost dreams.

“Just find a renter for the house—for me. Anyone. I trust you,” she said to Lily, pulling up the website for Versailles again. There were so many rooms, so many treasures, so many secrets to explore, and if she just took the risk, she’d be there soon, experiencing it all. “I’ve got to go. I have an adventure to plan.”

CHAPTER SIX

“And . . . done!” Diana said, pressing the BUY NOW button on the airline website.

It was a far cry from the waffling she’d done the day before. This time, there was no hesitation. No refunds or exchanges. Nothing short of an act of nature would get her to turn back now. She was finally doing this!

She was now the official owner of a one-way first-class ticket to Paris leaving the following evening from JFK. A seven-hour nonstop flight arriving at Charles de Gaulle Airport early the next morning. The red-eye—but she didn’t think it was possible to be anymore awake.

She found an inn off the beaten path, though still with a view of the Eiffel Tower, of course. After booking a suite, she navigated over to the website for Versailles and found the page for the masked ball. The price for a VIP ticket, including a buffet dinner, was 183 euros. She did the mental math in her head. Two and a quarter hundred in dollars. Plus, she’d have to rent a baroque costume, shoes, and jewelry, something that could be done right at the palace, though it looked expensive for one night of fun.

But it was a small price to pay for fulfilling the dream of a lifetime. This would be an experience she’d never forget. She added the single ticket to her cart and checked out without a second’s thought, humming a little tune as she typed in her address.

I am really doing this. In twenty-four hours, I will have said goodbye to New York, goodbye to America . . . for a full year! A thrill passed through her as she entered her credit card digits.