He’d never been to Normandy, so they drove to Deauville the next day, with the ocean and the beach, the quaint shops, two big old-fashioned hotels, and the ancient Normand houses that were very picturesque. Finding a house for herself there appealed to her, and worried Mike.

“I’d feel better with you in your apartment in the city, with good security all around you, and plenty of alarms, and panic buttons.” She knew he wasn’t exaggerating. He saw dangers for her everywhere.

“I can’t live like that forever, Mike,” she said as they ate lunch at a little bistro. She was having onion soup and he was having a wonderful bouillabaisse, chock-full of local seafood and rouille to add to it.

“You have to, Theo. You can’t avoid it.”

“The whole world isn’t going to try to kidnap me,” she insisted.

“It just takes one who succeeds, or a group of them,” he said unhappily.

“I miss driving, and living like a normal person,” she said wistfully. “I used to drive myself to the château on the weekends.”

“You’re not a normal person. You’re an exceptional, remarkable one that people are jealous of, which makes you a target. And there are dangerous people in the world.” He was adamant on the subject. She hated the thought of it and didn’t want to think about it. She was quiet for the rest of lunch, and they went for a long walk on the beach, past the little old-fashioned cabanas with stars’ names on them lining the boardwalk, before they drove back to the city.

She was totally relaxed as they drove home and she dozed off for a little while. He smiled over at her. It was the best Thanksgiving of his life, and she was the best woman.

When she woke, she smiled at him. She liked seeing him next to her, and not a driver. The DGSE tail had followed them in a separate car, but Mike had driven them without a bodyguard in the car. “Did I snore?” she asked him, and he laughed.

“Like an old man, a chorus of them!”

“I did?” She looked embarrassed and he grinned.

“No, you didn’t.” She was glad he was coming back at Christmas, but it was a month away. He had asked her about going skiing, but she hadn’t skied in years. Axel had gotten too good for her by the time he was ten, so she finally gave up, since she couldn’t keep up with him. Matthieu had been an outstanding skier too. She didn’t veto Mike’s suggestion, but they didn’t organize it yet. And Courchevel was full of Russians, with their mistresses and hookers, and so were most of the snow towns, and they would be mobbed at Christmas. She was thinking maybe they should go someplace else, like someplace warm.

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