Lucy felt off balance as she took the steps down to the arcade that ran on all four sides of the place des Vosges, unsure whether it was the unevenly worn stone steps or Elizabeth’s startling statement. “Your careers come first?” she asked, incredulous. “Before love and marriage?”

“Uh, yeah, Mom.”

There were benches in the park in the middle of the square, and Lucy sat down on one. “Once I met your father, nothing else mattered,” she said. “He was everything to me. All I wanted was to get married and start a family.”

“Times have changed,” said Elizabeth, sitting beside her. “I don’t want to have to depend on a man, financially or emotionally.”

Now that she thought about it, Lucy realized that very few of her friends’ children had married. Her son, Toby, had married Molly quite young, but he was the exception. Sue’s daughter Sidra was also married, but Tim Stillings, Richie Goodman, and Eddie Culpepper were showing no signs of settling down.

“I don’t know if I ever want to get married,” continued Elizabeth.

Lucy thought she might be having a heart attack. “Really?”

“Yeah, Mom. Look at you. It’s taken you years and years to get to Paris, lots longer than it took me.”

“But you don’t even like it here,” said Lucy.

“Yeah, but I found out early. Imagine if I’d spent my whole life dreaming of Paris, and then, when I got here, I’d be so disappointed.”

Lucy wasn’t convinced. “I was married by the time I was your age, and was expecting a baby. Trust me, I think you might be disappointed if you get to be my age and you’re all alone, no husband, no kids, no grandkids, nothing but a cat for company.”

“Meow!” said Elizabeth, hopping up and grasping Lucy’s hands, pulling her to her feet. “C’mon. I bet Sue’s cooked up something great for dinner, and I’m hungry.”

“Meow, too,” said Lucy.

Chapter Eighteen

Chapter Eighteen

There were no mouthwatering scents in the air when Lucy and Elizabeth got back to the apartment, and no dinner preparations were under way. Instead, everyone was clustered around Ted, who was pressing one of the expensive fillet of beef steaks intended for dinner to his eye.

“What happened?” asked Lucy.

By way of reply, Ted removed the steak, revealing a very black and swollen eye.

“Oh my!” she exclaimed. “Who did that?”

“Some types, tough guys,” said Pam in a rather unsympathetic voice. “He was out with Richard, playing investigative reporter. They went to a banlieue where they had no business being.”

“You mean one of the immigrant neighborhoods?” asked Elizabeth in a worried tone.

“Slum is more like it,” said Pam. “Crowded, dirty, and filled with unemployed youth who have nothing better to do than beat up nosy Americans.”