“I think we might need something stronger than tea,” Juliet said, jumping up and running to the tiny kitchenette. She returned with wineglasses and a bottle of red.

“I bought this to celebrate Jax’s and my engagement. Which was pretty naive, because I actually counted that we broke up six times. Don’t know why it took me number seven to get a clue.”

As Juliet poured, Tessa said, “I’m sorry, Juliet.”

Juliet sat there staring at her glass. “The truth is, I’m more relieved than sad. I think part of me knew all along that Jax wasn’t right for me. I just wanted him to be right.”

“I have a confession, too,” Viv said. “Mikhail and I have been broken up for a year. And I never had a job at the D’Orsay. Well, I did, but it involved taking people’s tickets at the entrance.”

Tessa couldn’t believe what she was hearing. Taking people’s tickets?

Viv continued. “For the past year, I’ve worked as a tour guide, a ticket taker, a cashier at a macaron shop, and a crepe maker. Oh, I also took photos of couples in front of the Eiffel Tower.”

“Viv…why?” Tessa asked. How many times had she wished she was Vivienne, strolling the streets of Paris? For all Tessa sacrificed, she’d at least felt that Viv was getting the opportunity of a lifetime. But to find out it wasn’t was heartbreaking.

Vivienne fidgeted her fingers in her lap. “I’m so sorry, Tessa. Turns out I’m not really very good at art. I dropped out of the art program, and I wanted to keep doing photography, so I did all these odd jobs, thinking I could get a business started. But I ran out of money. So I came home. I didn’t want you to know what a failure I was.”

“Oh, honey,” Tessa said. Viv looked so miserable, Tessa got up and sat next to her and hugged her. “It’s okay for things not to work out. What’s not okay is that you thought you had to hide it.”

“You did so much for me. All of you did. I hope you can forgive me.”

“We do things for one another,” Juliet said. “That’s what families do.”

“That’s right,” Gram said. “Whatever made either of you feel you had to be perfect?”

“No one is perfect,” her mom said. “That’s how we learn in life. Through making mistakes.”

“Somewhere along the line, I stopped sharing my own problems,” Tessa admitted. “And if that’s made me look like I somehow don’t have any, I’m sorry.” She wiped her puffy eyes again.

“It’s reassuring to see you’ve got problems, too, Tessa,” Vivienne said. “But yours actually might be solvable.”