Elise put a comforting hand on Dannie's arm. "My point is that you totally can. I'm sorry he's being difficult about accepting all that you have to offer beyond the ability to schedule personal appointments. But you've got what he needs emotionally, too."
Did she?
And did she have what he really needed or only what he thought he needed? For a long time, she'd smugly believed she knew the difference and her job was to guide him into understanding how to express his true desires. But really, her own pent-up needs had messed that up. And how.
Dannie took Juliet upstairs to Elise's war room, complete with a long lighted mirror and counter, racks of clothing and more hairstyling and makeup tools than a Vegas showgirl dressing room.
"All this is necessary?" Juliet's gaze darted around the room, her nostrils flaring. "What is that? Will it hurt?"
The panicked questions lightened Dannie's mood. "It's a straightening iron. For your hair. We don't stick your fingers between the plates unless you fail at balancing a book on your head." The other woman's cheeks blanched and Dannie laughed. "I'm kidding. Sit down in that chair and let's get started. Drink?"
Dannie crossed to the small refrigerator stocked with water, lemons, cucumbers and ice packs, the best beauty accoutrements on the planet behind a good night's sleep.
"Thank you. I'm not thirsty."
"You need to drink plenty of water. It's good for your skin and helps you stay full so you don't feel as hungry." Elise's lessons rolled out of Dannie's brain effortlessly. "Lemon gives a little bit of taste, if you prefer."
"I prefer to be sailing or swimming." The frown had no trouble reaching Juliet's eyes, unlike her smile. "I miss the water."
"Where are you from?" Dannie asked as she plugged in the hair dryer, straightening iron, curling iron and hot rollers. She hadn't decided yet how Juliet's long hair would best be styled, though it would surely benefit from a more elegant cut. And she'd definitely need a facial. Dannie mentally ticked off a few more details and realized she was humming.
It was the happiest she'd felt all week.
"South of France. Delamer." Juliet spat out the country's name as if it had the reputation of being a leper's colony instead of a Mediterranean playground for the rich and beautiful.
"That's a lovely place. And you've got those two gorgeous princes. I read that Prince Alain is getting married soon. I hope they televise it." Dannie sighed a little in what she assumed would be mutual appreciation for a dreamy, out-of-reach public figure and his royal romance.
Juliet instead burst into tears.
Dannie gathered the other woman into a wet embrace and patted her back. "Oh, honey. What's wrong?"
Juliet snuffled against her shoulder. "Matters of the heart. They can undo us like no other."
She had that right. "Is that why you left Delamer? Someone broke your heart at home?"
With one last sniff, Juliet pulled out of Dannie's arms and dragged the back of a hand under both newly steeled eyes. "I want to forget that man exists. In Delamer, it's impossible. They splash his picture on everything. If I marry an American husband, I don't have to return and watch him with his perfect princess."
Dannie finally caught up and sank into the second director's chair. "Prince Alain broke your heart?"
This story called for chocolate and lots of red wine. Unfortunately, it wasn't even lunchtime and Elise kept neither in the house.
With a nod, Juliet twirled a brush absently, her thoughts clearly thousands of miles away. "There was a scandal. It's history. I can't change it and now I have to move on. What should we do first to transform me into a woman who will attract an American husband?"
Dannie let her change the subject and spent the next two hours teaching Juliet the basics of makeup and hair. It was a challenge, as the woman had never learned an iota about either.
"If you line only the bottom lip with a pencil that's a shade darker than your lipstick, it'll create an illusion of fuller lips." Dannie demonstrated on Juliet's mouth.
"Why would I want to do that? I can't sleep in lipstick. In the morning, my husband will realize I'm not pouty lipped, won't he?" Juliet pursed her newly painted lips and scowled at her reflection in the mirror.
"Well, figure out a way to distract him before he notices," Dannie suggested and moved on to eye-shadow techniques. There was no polite way to say Juliet needed some style.
Tomboy she was, down to her bitten-off fingernails, Mediterranean sailor's tan and split ends. The tears had unlocked something in Juliet and she talked endlessly with Dannie about her life in Delamer, minus any details about the prince.
Dannie bit back her questions, but she'd love to know how such a down-to-earth woman without an ounce of polish had gotten within five feet of royalty, let alone long enough to develop a relationship with a prince. Then there was the briefly mentioned scandal.
She didn't ask. The internet would give up the rest of the tale soon enough.
Elise checked in and offered to have lunch delivered. Since Dannie had nowhere else to be, she stayed the rest of the day. She took Juliet shopping at the Galleria in North Dallas and by the time they returned to Elise's house, Dannie had made a friend. Which, she suspected, they both desperately needed.
Before Dannie left to go back to her empty house, Elise pulled her aside. "You did a fantastic job with Juliet. If you're in the market for a permanent job, I would hire you in a second."
Dannie stared at the matchmaker. "Are you serious?"
"Totally." Elise flipped her pageboy-cut hair back. "It takes time to groom these women, and I've got more men in the computer than I ever thought possible. Successful men don't have a lot of patience for sorting out good women from bad and I provide a valuable service to them. Business is booming, in short. If you've got spare time, it would be a huge help to me."
Elise named a salary that nearly popped Dannie's eyes from their sockets. "Let me think about it."
Her job was Leo Reynolds's Wife. But suddenly, it didn't have to be. She could make money working for Elise and take care of her mother.
Leo was married to his company, first and foremost. He made that choice every day. And now, Dannie had choices, too.
She didn't want a divorce. She wanted to be Leo's wife and have the marriage of her dreams, but Leo was half of that equation. Before she made a final decision about how she'd spend the next fifty years, he should have the opportunity to fully understand what her choices were. And how they'd affect him. He might give her the final piece she needed to make up her mind.
Maybe she'd get an exorcism of her own out of it.
* * *
The exorcism was not only a colossal failure, but Leo had also learned the very uncomfortable lesson that he couldn't find a method to erase the scent of strawberries from his skin.
He'd tried four different kinds of soap. Then something called a loofah. In one of his less sane moments, sandpaper started looking very attractive. It was totally irrational. The scent couldn't actually still be there after so many days, but he sniffed and there it was. Essence of Daniella.
Leo clenched the pencil in his hand and pulled his gaze from the Dallas skyline outside his office window. The garbage can by his desk overflowed with crumpled paper. He balled the sheet on his desk and threw the latest in another round of useless brainstorming on top. It bounced out to roll under his chair. Of course. Nothing was happening as it should. Normally, paper and pencil was his go-to method when he needed to unblock.
Surprise. It wasn't working.
Tommy Garrett was very shortly going to be furious that he'd signed with Leo instead of Moreno Partners. This deal represented the pinnacle of venture capital success and Leo's brain was fried. He had nothing to show for his half of the partnership. He was supposed to provide business expertise. Connections in manufacturing. Marketing. Ideas.
Instead he'd spent the past few days mentally embroiled in about a million more fantasies starring his wife, whom he'd deliberately driven away. For all the good it had done.