“What are we doing tomorrow?” she asked him, as she sat cross-legged on the couch, sipping the wine, while he tried to get used to the idea.

“Whatever you like. I’m at your full disposal for the next two weeks.” He still had to work, but he had let everyone know that he would be in and out of the office while his daughter was in town. And he had warned Natalie that he would see very little of her too. She was going to Philadelphia on Christmas Eve for a few days, to stay with her brother and his family. She was going by train with her older nephew, who had just started law school at Columbia.

“I have to do my Christmas shopping tomorrow,” Heloise explained. “I didn’t have time to do it in Lausanne. I had exams till yesterday.”

“How did you do?” he asked with a look of concern. He was afraid that François might be distracting her.

“Okay, I think. I know a lot of the stuff we’re studying, from being here,” she said, looking relaxed.

They chatted for a little while, about school, Switzerland, and what the school had been like when Hugues had gone there, and eventually Heloise yawned and went to bed. On Swiss time for her, it was very late. And just as he had for nineteen years before she left, he kissed her and tucked her in.

“Night, Papa… it’s so good to be home,” she said sleepily. She blew a kiss in the air, turned on her side, and was almost asleep by the time he left the room.

He went to his own room then, sat pensively for a minute, thinking about her and how good it was to have her home, and then called Natalie again. She was still awake and wondering how it had gone.

“How is she?”

“In love with that boy, I think. But she seems happy to be home. Now she says she wants to do an internship at a hotel in Paris next year before she comes back. That means she’ll be gone for another year from now.” He sounded disappointed as he said it, and Natalie felt sorry for him. He was having a difficult time letting her go.

“It will go by very quickly,” Natalie reassured him, “and you can go over and visit her anytime.”

“It’s hard to get away from here.” She knew that was true too. He was so attentive to the hotel and on duty and available almost all the time. He always left his cell phone on when he was with her, even at night. And it was rare for him to let it go to voice mail, except when they were making love. Any other time, he answered.

“So when am I going to meet her?” Natalie sounded excited at the prospect, and she wanted to get the ice-breaking over with so she could get to know her.

“How about coming for a drink tomorrow? After work.”

“That sounds perfect,” Natalie said happily. “I can’t wait. This is like meeting a celebrity or a movie star,” she said, laughing.

“She is to me,” he confirmed, but she knew that. “How about seven? If it goes well, maybe we can all go to dinner.”

“Great!”

“I miss you,” he said in a whisper. He didn’t want Heloise to hear him, although he knew she was sound asleep, but just in case.

“So do I. I love you, Hugues.” And she hoped that one day she would love his daughter too. She wanted that for all of them. She wanted to be Heloise’s friend, not stand in for her mother, which wouldn’t have felt right. More like a favorite, very close aunt.

“I love you too, Natalie,” he said gently, and a moment later they hung up. He went to stand in Heloise’s bedroom doorway for a moment. She was sleeping peacefully with a small smile on her face. He closed the door softly and walked to his bedroom with a feeling of peace he hadn’t had since she left. He knew where she was tonight, that she was safe and that he would see her at breakfast in the morning. All was well in his world.

The next morning Hugues and Heloise ordered room service for breakfast. Two waiters came upstairs to serve it instead of one, and both kissed her excitedly when they saw her and told her that the hotel wasn’t the same without her and she’d better hurry up and finish school and come back.

And after that she went out Christmas shopping, and her father insisted she take an SUV from the limo service since it was snowing, and he knew she wouldn’t find a cab.

She shopped all day, met an old school friend from the Lycée for lunch, and was back looking happy and tired at five o’clock. She bounded into her father’s office, and Jennifer looked up at her with a smile.

“It sure is nice to have you back,” Jennifer said as Heloise kissed her on the cheek on the way past her into her father’s inner office. He was signing checks at his desk, and looked up with delight when he heard her come in.

“Do I have any money left, or did you spend it all today?” he asked with a grin.

“I spent most of it. But I left you enough so you can buy me a Christmas present.” She cackled at her own joke, and he laughed.

“Oh really? What did you have in mind?”

“I don’t know, something I can use at school. Like a tiara maybe, or a full-length sable coat.” Her face grew serious then. “Actually, I was going to ask you if I can have new skis. My old ones are all beaten up, and I’d love to have new ones for Gstaad.” It was a reasonable request, and one he liked.

“I was thinking of that myself.” He had also bought her a shearling parka at Bergdorf that he thought she could wear to school, and a gold bangle bracelet with her name engraved on it, and “Love, Papa” engraved inside. He had had a much harder time shopping for Natalie, who was simple and chic and appeared to have everything, and he wanted to give her something sentimental that she would wear. He had settled on an antique locket with a diamond heart on it, on a long gold chain, at Fred Leighton, and he hoped that she would like it. “Do you want to go out to dinner tonight, or just eat here?” Heloise looked embarrassed the minute he asked. She didn’t want to hurt his feelings, and she wanted to spend time with him, but she wanted to see her friends too. She had made dinner plans with two of them, and they were going to a party afterward in Tribeca.

“I’m sorry, Papa, I’m going out with friends. How about tomorrow night? I won’t make other plans.”

“Don’t be silly. That’s fine. Of course you want to see your pals.” He tried not to look disappointed and had to remind himself that he was not the only thing in her life, and she was young. “By the way, Natalie Peterson, the decorator, is coming over to have drinks with us at seven. She wants to meet you.”

“I’d like to meet her too, but I don’t know if I have time. We have a dinner reservation downtown at eight.”

“You don’t have to stay long. She’s thrilled you like the suite.” Heloise smiled, gathered up her packages a few minutes later, and went upstairs to get organized for that night. And Hugues tried to look calmer than he felt. He didn’t want to insist on her meeting Natalie, but it was important to him, and he was trying to act nonchalant.

When he went upstairs himself at six-thirty, Heloise was racing around the apartment wrapped in a towel, talking to a friend on her cell phone, making additional plans for that night. She waved to her father and disappeared into her own room. And the desk called him promptly at seven to tell him that Miss Peterson was downstairs. He told them to send her up.

He opened the door to her himself and didn’t dare kiss her in case Heloise ran back into the room. He whispered to Natalie instead.

“It’s a little crazy around here. She’s going out. I told her you were coming for a drink because she liked the suite so much.”

“That’s fine,” Natalie said, looking relaxed. She was used to young people Heloise’s age from her nephews and nieces. Her brother in Philadelphia had four, among them twins Heloise’s age.

He poured her a glass of champagne, and half an hour later Heloise appeared in black leggings, a black leather tunic, and toweringly high-heeled black sandals, and her hair was still wet. Hugues had never seen her wear an outfit like that before, and he couldn’t tell if the tunic was a dress or a top. She had always been much more conservative, and in the sexy outfit she looked frighteningly sophisticated and adult. A very fashionable adult, like the women in the halls of the hotel and the bar.

“This is Natalie, the interior designer who worked magic in nine-twelve,” he said as he introduced the two women, and Heloise smiled at her. She thought Natalie looked like a nice person. She had a warm, easy manner and a sincere smile.

“I really love what you did,” Heloise said truthfully as her father handed his daughter a glass of champagne and invited her to sit down. “I can only stay five minutes. I have to pick everyone up at quarter to eight, and we have to get downtown.” It had stopped snowing, but at this time of year, before Christmas, it would be hard to find a cab. She accepted the champagne anyway, sat down on the couch, and took a sip. “My father said he’s giving you more suites to do. I bet they’ll be gorgeous,” Heloise said politely, with a cool smile.

“Maybe you can help me pick the fabrics this time,” Natalie said easily, watching her. She was a very pretty girl and looked more sophisticated than she’d expected or than Hugues had described.

“That would be fun. But I’m leaving pretty soon. I’m sure you and my father will do a good job.” She glanced at her watch then with a look of panic and stood up. “I’ve gotta go,” she said to her father, kissed him on the cheek, and looked at Natalie, oblivious to anything that was going on between them. “Nice to meet you,” she said, and two seconds later they heard the front door close.

“I’m sorry,” Hugues said, looking disappointed. “I wanted you two to have a chance to talk. She wants to see her friends while she’s here. I forgot to take that into account.” Most of all, Natalie realized, he had forgotten to take into account that she had her own life now.

“It’s fine,” she said easily. “Kids don’t want to waste their time with old farts like us.”

“I may be an old fart,” he said with a smile, “but you very definitely are not.” She looked anything but in a short skirt, high heels, and a pretty blouse.

“I am to her,” Natalie said realistically. “To her we’re practically dead, and she only has two weeks here, so it makes sense that she wants to see her friends. Does she suspect anything about us?”

“Not at all,” he said firmly. He had been very careful that she didn’t. “I haven’t said anything except about your design work in the hotel. I wanted her to meet you first. And she just got back last night.” Natalie nodded and kissed him as he poured them each another glass of champagne. “She’s grown up a lot since she left,” he said, looking slightly unnerved. “I think it’s the boy.”

“I think it’s her age. And going away to school. The same thing happened to my nieces when they went to Stanford. Going away matures them.”

“And makes me feel old,” he added. He was still sorry that Heloise hadn’t had more time to get to know Natalie. He desperately wanted Heloise to like her, and they had barely met.

They went out to dinner at La Goulue on Madison Avenue that night and had a relaxed dinner in a setting they both enjoyed, and then they walked back to the hotel. He didn’t want to go to Natalie’s in case Heloise came home early. They had a nightcap upstairs, and Natalie left before midnight. Heloise came in long after he was asleep, at four.

She looked a little tired the next morning at breakfast, and he didn’t dare bring up Natalie’s name again. He didn’t want to tip his hand by looking too determined about it.

“What are you up to today?” he asked her offhandedly.

“I’m going skating with friends in Central Park. And another party downtown tonight. Everybody’s home from college for Christmas,” she said reasonably, and he was beginning to realize he was going to have to stand in line for her time. The chances of spending an evening with her and Natalie, getting to know each other, were less than slim. There were too many other things she wanted to do in her limited amount of time.

By Christmas Eve there had been not a single break in Heloise’s busy schedule for them to meet again. He was meeting Natalie for lunch to exchange presents, and she was leaving for Philadelphia that night. She was coming to the hotel to see him, and then they were having lunch downstairs. And Natalie arrived at the apartment promptly at noon. Heloise was just about to go out to meet friends again.

“Oh, hi,” she said as she saw the interior designer at the door to the apartment and didn’t know what she was doing there. She looked at Natalie with a blank expression. She clearly suspected nothing between her and Hugues.

“Merry Christmas,” Natalie said, smiling at her. “I’m having lunch with your father.”