“They really are two peas in a pod, huh?” I said to Maxim.

  He glanced from the road to me, back to the road. “That’s an understatement. It feels like they’re long-lost twins or something like that.”

  He was right. Right here, in this moment, it felt almost like we were a family. I knew that was crazy to say, given that we’d only known these people for a few days, but it was a feeling I couldn’t shake. Everything felt so natural with them—how well Ryan and Lucie got along, the way Maxim opened up to me, the fun the four of us had together.

  In the midst of it all, I was forced to remind myself that this was just a temporary escape from my life. I couldn’t get too attached, because, in less than twenty-four hours, it would all be over.

  It had felt like I’d been living in an incredible alternate universe for the weekend, but I knew that this bubble would burst sooner or later. I had to enjoy it while it lasted, and, for Ryan’s sake, I was going to do everything I could to make sure this was the best last day of vacation possible.

  Ryan and Lucie tired of the license plate game by the time we hit the edge of Geneva, so they switched gears to a song Ryan had learned from the one summer I’d sent him to summer camp at the local community center. Ryan sang the words slowly and clearly until Lucie caught on. The faster they sang the song, the more words they stumbled over, and the more the four of us laughed.

  I’d always been the kind of person who felt like I had to fill the silence with something, whether it was conversation or the radio, but, today, I didn’t feel that way at all. I basked in the glow of Maxim’s smile and the laughter of our children as I stared out at a city too beautiful for words.

  Finally, when we hit the traffic in the center of the city, I asked Maxim where exactly we were going, having been given virtually no details about his plans for the day.

  “It’s a surprise,” he said. “But I think you’ll like it.” He glanced in the rearview mirror at Lucie and Ryan. “And you guys, too.”

  We drove on in happy silence for several more minutes before coming to a stop. Maxim handed his car keys to a valet driver in front of a gorgeous stone building that took up an entire block, with tall, stone columns surrounding the entryway. Based on its appearance, I guessed that it had to be a museum of some sort.

  “What is this place?” Ryan asked, using his hand as a visor to block his eyes from the sun.

  “I know!” Lucie chirped. “The art museum!”

  Maxim confirmed that it was, indeed, the art museum, and led the way up the steps to the ticket booth. For the first time, I was able to see how ordinary people in his native country, the people who were most likely to know who he was, acted around him. Though Maxim wasn’t a celebrity in the traditional sense, the occasional head turn of a stranger reminded me that I was with someone of high social status.

  I held out the last of my francs to Maxim as he purchased our tickets, but he shoved them away. “Don’t be silly,” he said. “I invited you and Ryan. You’re my guests for the day.”

  “Well, thank you,” I said. “I hope you’ll at least let me buy you a cup of coffee later.”

  Maxim winked. “We’ll see.”

  The four of us walked through the front doors, and it was if we had traveled back in time. Every square inch of the museum was meticulously designed, with several hallways branching off from the main gallery and tile work on the floor that was unlike anything I’d ever seen, even throughout my art school years.

  Maxim had no knowledge of my art background, which made it even more remarkable that he had decided to bring us here, of all places. I felt at home in art museums. Though I was no longer a full-time artist, art still played a huge role in who I was. I spent what little spare time I had painting at a small folding table in our living room at home, and it was like my own kind of therapy. For the first time on this trip, I felt as if I was 100% in my own element.

  “Daddy, is there a kids’ exhibit this time?” Lucie asked as we grouped together.

  “There is indeed,” Maxim said. He turned to me to explain. “Every few months, they open up a new interactive exhibit just for children.” He looked in the pamphlet he’d been handed upon our arrival. “It seems like the exhibit right now is focused on engineering and robotics.”

  “Awesome,” Ryan said.

  “Yeah, awesome!” Lucie echoed.

  “How about we walk you to the kids’ exhibit and give you some time to explore while Tia and I take a look at the gallery over here?” Maxim half-said, half-asked. “We can meet back up in an hour.”

  I was hesitant about the idea of letting our children wander around the museum on their own until Maxim explained to me that the interactive exhibit was staffed by childcare providers. It was essentially a hybrid of a babysitting service and an art exhibit so that both parents and children could enjoy the museum. That worked out well for us, since I was genuinely excited to walk through the gallery with Maxim. I hadn’t taken him for the artistic type, but maybe there were still pieces of him that I had yet to be exposed to.

  We walked the kids over to their exhibit and reminded them to stick together before leaving them to venture into the world of robotics. It was right up Ryan’s alley, and I couldn’t wait to hear what he thought about it.

  “Shall we?” Maxim let me lead the way, somehow sensing my high level of comfort around art.

  We slowly made our way around the gallery, taking the time to observe and discuss each piece. Despite my passion for art, I’d never been on a date to an art museum, so it was a welcome change to have someone to chat with about the different pieces.

  The first painting that made me stop in my tracks was an abstract piece by a local artist. “Look at the intentionality in those brushstrokes,” I said. “It’s really something special.”

  I looked over at Maxim to find him smiling at me. “You mean to tell me that, on top of running your PR business and raising Ryan, you have time to study art?”

  I shrugged. “It’s just a hobby.”

  “Well I’m enjoying your takes on each of these pieces,” Maxim said. “Truly. I’ve been here a dozen times, and you’ve made me see things in this artwork that I hadn’t seen before.”

  Though I was fairly certain at least some of Maxim’s words were spoken with the intent of flattering me, I still made me unspeakably happy to get to spread my love of art. Back when I’d been an art student and an artist, I’d gotten to share art with far more people. Nowadays, the closest I got to art was Ryan’s yearly art show at school.

  I felt at ease here more than I had the entire trip. I could be me. I didn’t have to hide behind the façade I’d created, because art was a part of me. Maxim was clearly impressed by my understanding of art. His eyes grew wide and he took a step back each time I talked about a piece, as if he was learning something new about me. I supposed he was.

  “I’ve been wanting to ask you something,” Maxim said as we approached a large impressionist piece.

  “Oh yeah?” I tried my best to keep my voice even, despite being desperately curious as to what he’d been wanting to ask me. The fact that he’d even been thinking about me made my legs turn to jelly.

  “The more time I spend with you and Ryan, the more it becomes clear how close the two of you are.” Maxim waited to continue until my glance was in his direction instead of on the painting. “I suppose I’m just wondering how you have time for it all. For Ryan, for your work, for hobbies like art.”

  “I’m not really sure,” I said. “I just do what I have to do.”

  “Well, I want to do what you do,” he said. “I want to have that relationship with Lucie. We were so close when she was younger, and it feels like we’ve grown more distant these past couple years. You’ve mentioned a busy work schedule, so I thought maybe you would have some pointers for me.”

  I was dumbfounded. Maxim’s walls were coming down, and he was showing a more vulnerable side to him than I’d seen up until that point. Sure, he’d talked vaguely about wanting to see Lucie more, but, as a single parent, I knew how incredibly difficult it must’ve been for him to work up the courage to ask for help and advice.

  “Is Lucie’s mom in the picture?” I asked, surprising even myself. I hoped that it came across as helpful and not intrusive.

  Maxim opened his mouth to answer as if I’d just asked him his favorite ice cream flavor. “She left when Lucie was young,” he said. “It’s been just Lucie and me for as long as I can remember.”

  “Oh, I’m sorry.”

  “How about Ryan’s dad?”

  I shook my head. “He’s never even met him,” I said. “He wanted nothing to do with us.”

  “That’s awful,” Maxim said, notes of sincerity in his voice. “But you might not be so close with Ryan if his father was in the picture, so maybe it was a blessing in disguise.”

  “It was a blessing. No disguise needed.”

  “Most of the time, I love that it’s just Lucie and me. I cherish my time with her. But, other times, it would be nice to have someone to share the responsibilities with, you know? To have someone else to share a bond with Lucie so that I could work and travel without the guilt.”

  “Maxim, can I be forward with you?”

  Maxim shifted his feet. “I wish you would.”

  “It’s clear how much you love your daughter. I can see it, and I have no doubt that she can see it, too. It’s just a matter of prioritizing.”

  “Prioritizing?”

  Taking note of the time on the enormous clock in the center of the wall, I cocked my head in the direction we’d been walking and motioned to Maxim to follow. I was enjoying our deeper conversations, but I also wanted to make sure we saw as much as possible before the kids were done.

  “What matters more to you?” I asked. “Lucie or your business?”

  “What a silly thing to ask.”

  “Answer the question.”

  “Lucie, of course,” he said.

  I nodded knowingly. “There’s your answer. Sometimes we have to make sacrifices for the people and things that we love. It doesn’t have to be all or nothing. Maybe you start by taking fewer trips, or forgoing some of your usual luxuries. As long as you’re not in financial duress, everything else will work itself out. I’ve been there. If it’s money that’s the issue—”

  I stopped mid-sentence, remembering where I was and who I was supposed to be. Tia, the PR executive, didn’t have financial worries, nor did the billionaire standing in front of her. I was just so used to having all of the work-life balance issues be related to money that I’d forgotten there were people in the world who didn’t work just to make enough to pay the bills.

  “Financial duress?” Maxim questioned, raising an eyebrow.

  “Yeah…” I said softly. “I’m, uh, sort of new to this life of not worrying about money. I grew up in a poor household where we didn’t have much. It wasn’t until the last few years that I climbed my way up the ladder and saw the financial stress melt away.” I hoped that was enough to save me.

  “Wow. I didn’t know that.”

  “I don’t talk about it much,” I said. “I’m often surrounded by people who come from wealth, and I was raised on the opposite end of the spectrum. Family vacations meant day trips to local parks or beaches. We only went out to eat on special occasions. We bought all of our clothing on annual back-to-school shopping trips, and that had to last us for the year.”

  “That’s hard to picture.” Maxim rested a hand on my shoulder. “I appreciate you being honest with me.”

  Guilt settled in my core as he spoke. I wondered if, somehow, he could sense that I was talking more about my present situation than my past. I reminded myself that there was no real use in confessing the truth to him, given that we were leaving so soon. On the other hand, I was relieved that there were parts of my actual life that I could now share with Maxim. I didn’t have to pretend that I’d grown up rich like he had. It was a part of me that I didn’t have to hide anymore.

  “Just remember that your daughter loves you,” I said, shifting the conversation back on track. “And all the money in the world can’t buy time. You can never get these precious years back.”

  “You’re quite insightful, Tia Birchfield,” Maxim said with a grin. “Thank you for the advice. I definitely needed to hear it.”

  “Anytime.”

  To my surprise—and pleasure—Maxim took my hand in his. We strolled hand in hand around the rest of the gallery, the rest of our conversations much lighter and happier.

  I tried to imagine how my trip would have been if I hadn’t bumped into him that night at dinner, and it was a picture I couldn’t quite visualize. It seemed as though the universe had thrown us together, which felt both thrilling given our fabulous time together, and cruel because we would be torn apart and thrown back into our separate worlds soon.

  For now, I wanted nothing more than to spend the rest of the afternoon exploring Geneva with Maxim and our wonderful children. No matter what happened next, I already knew that this would be one of those days I would always look back on and smile.

  Chapter 13

  Maxim

  The art museum had been a bigger hit with Tia and Ryan that I could have anticipated. It was as if Tia had been an artist in another life. I had already found her to be incredibly interesting and easy to talk to, but this little adventure had taken that to a whole new level. I couldn’t help but smile each time I looked over at her. She was simply stunning, and I wasn’t sure that she knew just how beautiful and intelligent she was.

  We’d come to Geneva at the perfect time, as the lake cruises were just starting up again for the season. I’d wanted to do something special for Tia, Ryan and Lucie, and I knew that this was the perfect opportunity, so I’d called after Tia and Ryan had agreed to come into Geneva with us to arrange a private lake cruise for the four of us. The look of excitement on my sweet Lucie’s face when she saw the boat was infectious.

  “This is just for us?” Ryan asked, dumbfounded, as we boarded the cruise.

  “That’s right,” I said. “It’s all ours.”

  It was becoming more and more clear to me just how modestly Tia and Ryan lived at home. That was a refreshing change from the sort of people I usually associated with, who felt the need to consistently throw money at things. I’d be foolish if I didn’t recognize the irony of my thoughts, given we had just stepped onto a boat that could fit a party of forty that I’d decided we needed to ourselves, but it was all to show these three lovely people how special they were to me.

  “Maxim, this is incredible,” Tia said, twirling around to soak it all in.

  “You’re incredible,” I replied, fully aware of just how cheesy it sounded. “I wanted to make sure you got to see Geneva the right way.”

  Lucie and Ryan ran back and forth from one side of the boat to the other, trying to decide which area gave them the best view. It had been so long since I’d seen Lucie play with kids her own age, and the joy she radiated took me right back to the advice Tia had given me about making sacrifices.

  “Daddy, we’re hungry,” Lucie said as we left the dock. “Can we get lunch after this?”

  Luckily, I knew my daughter well enough to have anticipated this. “How about lunch during this?” I asked.

  Lucie’s eyes lit up, and she, Tia and Ryan followed me to the lower level, where a lunch buffet was waiting for us. I’d requested a wide range of option, unsure of everyone’s food preferences: several quiches, chicken nuggets, which were Lucie’s favorite, an onion tart, bratwurst, potatoes, and an assortment of pastries.

  “This is the best day ever!” Ryan squealed. He sprinted toward the buffet, then suddenly stopped in his tracks to look back at Tia and me. “Thank you, Maxim.”

  “That’s one polite kid you’ve got there,” I said to Tia. “And his mom isn’t half bad, either.”

  Tia squeezed my arm then headed over to the buffet. The four of us ate and joked around with a level of comfort I hadn’t quite expected.

  When Ryan found out that I had been to the pyramids in Egypt, I thought he was going to jump out of his seat. Apparently, he’d had a fascination with Ancient Egypt since he’d learned about it in history class. I told him about the trip in as much detail as I could remember as he listened in amazement. It definitely earned me some bonus points with both him and Tia.

  After lunch, while the kids took turns looking through the giant binoculars at the back of the ship, Tia and I sat on one of the benches. The views were absolutely breathtaking, and I did my best to point out different buildings and monuments I thought might be of interest to Tia.

  I’d reserved the boat for three hours, not certain of how long everyone would want to spend on it, and we used every last minute. It was Ryan’s first time on a boat, unless a canoe counted, and he seemed to feel so comfortable out on the water that I decided it wouldn’t surprise me one bit if he became a ship captain or cruise ship director.

  After the cruise, we spent the afternoon taking the kids to all of the typical tourist spots. I’d been to them all a handful of times before, but taking Tia and Ryan made everything feel new again. While other children ran around the museums causing trouble, Lucie and Ryan were on their best behavior. On the way to the last museum, we stopped at a giant carousel in the middle of the square to give them a chance to ride. To my surprise, all four of us enjoyed the carousel, so much so that we rode it three times.

  We ended our day at my favorite ice cream shop in all of Geneva. “Get whatever you want,” I told the others. “It’s on me.”

  Ryan and Lucie went crazy for the shop’s homemade chocolate cream flavor, each getting their own cone with three scoops. My favorite was the pistachio flavor. It had giant chunks of real pistachios, and I realized upon tasting it for the first time in months that it might be one of my favorite ice creams not just in Geneva, but in the world.

  Tia couldn’t decide between chocolate hazelnut and almond cream, so she opted for a scoop of each. The four of us sat around a small circular table, Tia and I watching in amusement as most of our kids’ ice cream ended up on their shirts and faces.