Perfect. Since the ball wasn’t until later the next evening, she could spend the entire next day visiting those lesser-known Parisian sights Stéphane had told her about.

As she stared at the map, she frowned. No, wait. Before going to the Arc, she’d have to stop by Notre Dame Cathedral since it was in an entirely different direction. And the Pantheon? What about the Sacré Cœur? Les Invalides? And did that bridge, Pont des Arts, still have all the locks? Stéphane had said he wanted to put one there for her, but last she heard, the locks were causing structural damage to the bridge.

And on and on. She planned everything to the moment, just as if she’d been scheduling one of her meetings. She got on such a roll with it that she outlined almost the first full month of her travels. After a few days in that inn, seeing all the sights around Paris, she’d have to rent a car so that she could move on to Nantes. She looked up and entered in the car rental information so she could call about that. Then she’d go along the coast . . . to LaRochelle . . . Toulouse . . . a stop in Barcelona to say she’d been to Spain, before heading to Nice and the French Riviera. Then, of course, on to Florence!

At that moment, she tapped her chin, wondering if she should try to book the hotels now. No, probably not. As good as her itinerary was, there was always the chance something could throw it off a bit. Better to book the hotels as she went. They’d likely have a vacancy.

It didn’t sit right with her—not having an exact date and destination. Thinking more on it, though, she decided to write in exactly when she should call each hotel and make the reservation so she wouldn’t forget. She found all the nicest hotels in the area, and wrote down their phone numbers.

Before long, though, she had filled the entire notebook with sights she wanted to see—all the usual places that anyone taking a first trip to Europe would want to visit. There were dozens more ideas she had, but she had to keep this realistic. She did a couple iterations of the itinerary until there were balls of crumpled paper all around her, but eventually, she was satisfied.

As she put on the finishing touches, her phone buzzed with a text.

She looked at the display. Sure enough, it was from the man who had forgotten he was still married to her. Lily called. She said she’s worried about you.

So look at that, he hadn’t forgotten her after all. Of course, he remembered her just long enough to chastise her.

Diana rolled her eyes, picked up the phone, and dialed his number. The last thing she wanted to do was to hear his voice when she was trying to look toward the future, but she had no choice. Always one to be attached to his cell, he answered immediately. “Diana, love, are you all right?”