Page 156 of Ten Years and Then…
“You’re still not.” Nora managed to smile as she said that; she wasn’t sure how.
“Here, see for yourself.” He tapped away at the keyboard, pulling up his email. “Starting from this one,” he clicked on a message halfway down the list. “And then the next two. Read them and you’ll understand. See, that one from Kristin…?”
“You dragged me out of bed to show me an email from another woman?”
“Yes! I mean, no, not like that.” He paused, trying to collect himself. “I worked with her in Chicago. She’s asking for help because her company’s being bought out.”
Nora skimmed the message. “Okay … that’s unfortunate for her.”
“Now look at the signature. Where’s her company based?”
“CentraLine Systems. In Boston.”
“Exactly. Now this one—that’s my boss. He wants to meet right away when I’m back. Major opportunity, big raise, life-changing stuff. But he didn’t say what.”
She nodded slowly. “And…?”
“Now read this last one. I didn’t finish it Thursday—Bianca dragged me off.”
It was a company-wide announcement. Piedmont Integrated Systems had just acquired… CentraLine Systems.
In Boston.
Boston!
It all made sense now. And as much as she needed several more hours of sleep, Daniel had been right to wake her up for this. “You think it means…?”
“I know it, Nora. That’s what Mr. Dellaplane wants to talk about, sending me up to Boston to manage CentraLine. It has to be.”
If he was right—and she agreed, he was definitely right about this—the last obstacle was gone.
The one thing they hadn’t talked about yet, hadn’t figured out, had just been solved for them.
Chapter 51
Returning Home—Paris, France
Daniel, January 2, noon
This was where they had to part ways.
He and Bianca were headed to Terminal 1 and United Flight 183. Nora and Rachel were going to Terminal 2 for their flight to Boston on Air France.
He’d considered asking Rachel to swap tickets with him, so he could fly to Boston with Nora, and Rachel would go with Bianca to Charlotte. Nora had the same idea in reverse, and they’d laughed at themselves.
Neither Bianca nor Rachel laughed, though.
They would both have done it, but it wasn’t practical. He and Nora both had to be at work tomorrow, and it definitely wouldn’t do to miss a meeting where his boss was going to offer him a promotion and relocation to where his fiancée lived.
His fiancée. It was strange how not-strange it felt to say that. To see the ring on her finger, and to know that all her friends and coworkers would see it tomorrow.
It almost hadn’t happened.
Cartier had been closed yesterday—most of the stores in Paris had been. It was a holiday, and a Saturday besides.
But the concierge knew a place. She’d directed them to a small high-end jeweler on Rue Cardinale that was open.
They’d spent three hours there, with the owner herself showing Nora every ring in the shop, most of which she’d personally designed. In the end, he’d maxed out his Visa card. Then he had to walk two blocks in the snow to an ATM to take out another 3,000 francs to pay for the one Nora finally chose.
