44 Charles Street by Danielle Steel

to Ian. He looked up at her with interest, and went back to his drawing. And a moment later Marya set the plate of warm croissants and a steaming cup of coffee in front of her. Francesca sat down in the only spare seat at the table, across from her mother, silently dying, wishing she hadn’t come.
    The scene went on as it had been when she entered, for a few minutes, and then everyone went about their business. Marya cleaned up the kitchen, Chris went upstairs with Ian, and Doug and Eileen went back to her room, as Doug let them all know on the way out that they were going back to bed. Eileen’s girl-next-door halo was definitely slipping. A moment later only Francesca and her mother were left at the kitchen table as Marya buzzed around.
    “I can’t believe you’re living with those people,” Thalia said in horror, and looked as though she were about to burst into tears. “What are you thinking?” she said, ignoring Marya.
    “I’m thinking that I need to make my mortgage payments, and they’re all very nice,” Francesca said sternly, as Marya pretended not to hear them and finished the dishes.
    “That man with the tattoos?”
    “He doesn’t live here. He’s dating the girl who lives upstairs. She teaches autistic children.”
    “You’d never know it to look at her,” her mother said with a disapproving look. She wasn’t wrong. Her look had gotten racier as she got comfortable, and her skirts shorter.
    “She’s young,” Francesca said, trying to defend her, although she couldn’t stand Doug herself, and was also bothered that Eileen had come downstairs in a nightgown and robe. It was poor judgment and bad taste, but not a crime.
    “Everyone gets along very well,” Marya interjected, as she refilled Thalia’s cup with the delicious brew she had brought with her from Vermont. “They’re all very decent,” Marya reassured her, and Thalia looked at her mournfully, relieved to have found a friend and ally among them.
    “Doesn’t it upset you too?” Thalia asked her.
    “Not at all,” Marya answered. “I’m happy to be here. They’re all very kind young people. I lost my husband a few months ago, and I’m so glad to be here with them, and not alone at home in Vermont.”
    “What did he die of?” Thalia’s mother asked with interest.
    “A brain tumor. He was sick for a long time. The end was pretty rough. It’s a relief to get away now, and it will be good for me to be in New York.”
    “This is a hard town to find a man,” Francesca’s mother said bluntly, and Francesca was shocked and embarrassed, and then laughed. It was all Thalia ever thought of. That and herself. “Especially at our age,” she added, and Marya laughed. Thalia didn’t bother her at all. She had dealt with colleagues with far more imperious ways than Thalia. Many of the chefs she had worked with were notorious divas, and some had been downright nasty to her over the years, mostly out of jealousy or just because they were rotten people.
    “I’m not looking for a man,” Marya told her. “I don’t want one. I had the best one there ever was, for thirty-six years. No one else could ever measure up. I just want to have a nice time, do my work, and make some new friends.” Thalia looked as though Marya were speaking in tongues. She was a very attractive woman. Why on earth wouldn’t she want a man? She assumed that she was probably lying. In Thalia’s opinion, every woman wanted a man.
    “You’ll probably feel differently about it in a few months,” Thalia said knowingly, and then complimented her on the excellent coffee.
    “No, I won’t,” Marya said firmly. “I don’t need a man to be happy. I had a great one, that was good enough. I don’t expect to find another one like him, and why settle for anything less? I’m going to be perfectly content alone.” She looked certain of it, and Thalia stared at her as though she thought she was crazy.
    Francesca looked at her watch then. She was meeting a client