“A son by his first marriage who’s seventeen and lives with his mother. I know Robert. He’s done with that part of his life. He’s obviously ready for his second childhood with that infant he said he’s been seeing behind my back.” Her voice cracked with bitterness.

“Be that as it may,” Preston said, obviously trying to be patient, “we can set those terms for you. If he agrees, well, then we’ll talk more about how to make it happen. If he doesn’t, then we could have a long fight ahead of us.” He took another, even deeper breath. “And I’d urge you to consider the child. Wouldn’t it have the right to know its father?”

Out of the corner of her eye, Jules saw Vivian swell up with rage. But she didn’t explode. “Preston, those are my terms. You’re my lawyer. Make them work.” She stood up, clutching her handbag.

Jules quickly stood up too.

He sighed. “I’ll do my best, Vivian. But please understand this is very unusual.”

“I understand everything just fine. Good morning.” She turned and left.

Preston and Jules shared looks of commiseration before Jules followed her.

Vivian’s silence was welcome as they walked down the hallway. It gave her time to consider Preston’s point. Wouldn’t it be good for the child to have their father in their life? Of course, single parents raised kids every day. And based on his reaction, it seemed likely Robert wouldn’t want any part of raising it.

There were going to be questions someday. How come I don’t have a dad? Didn’t he want me? Why did you keep him away from me?

What a fucking mess. Maybe Vivian would change her mind if Robert did. Nothing to do but wait and see.

When they were back in the car, Vivian said, “How did Lucia handle the meeting with Givenchy?”

Jules tried hard to remember. She’d been more than a little distracted by worrying about the woman now standing next to her, who would accept no such excuse. “Fine, I guess. I’ve never sat in on a meeting like that before, so I don’t really know how it’s supposed to go.”

Vivian sounded remarkably patient when she said, “Who did most of the talking?”

“Alyson. Uh, she was mainly talking about the transitional spring stuff. You know, pieces she’d like to see featured on the splash page.”

“I see. How did Lucia respond?”

“She said most of them were okay, I think. Alyson gave her some photos and a couple of sample pieces. She said she’d show them to you.”

“How many photos?”

“Er…” Now that Jules thought about it, there hadn’t been that many. “Maybe seven? Ten, tops.”