“Is he going to be okay?”
“Yes. He bled a lot. Oh my God, the amount of blood. You wouldn’t believe a person could bleed so much and live. But he is stable. Now for the catch.”
“Here, let me get you a tissue.”
“I don’t have any.”
“Then loo roll will have to do.” Candace padded into the bathroom and came back with a whole roll. Angelica dabbed her eyes gratefully. “So what’s the catch?”
“Jack is dying of lung cancer.”
Candace’s jaw swung open in astonishment. Even she couldn’t have foreseen that. “He’s dying of cancer?”
“Yes. He told me as he bled onto the rug. He said it didn’t matter one way or the other because he was going to die anyway.”
“Holy shit!” Candace shook her head. “This is really heavy duty.”
“I know. I didn’t believe him at first, but he insisted. He said he was sorry that he hadn’t told me earlier, but he hadn’t wanted to spoil things.”
“Hold on. He encouraged an affair knowing that he only had a limited time to live?” Now Candace was cross.
“Yes. He said I made him feel like the man he used to be, whereas his wife looked at him with pity.”
“Oh great! So he uses you to forget his illness?”
“I suppose so.”
“How selfish is that? I told you he was selfish. You know, if he had once considered you and your family, he would never have pursued you. I knew he was selfish right from the start.” When Candace got angry, her nostrils flared and she emphasized her words with verve, as if punching them out with her anger.
“I believe he loves me.”
“Of course he loves you! What isn’t there to love? But he shouldn’t have made you fall in love with him.”
“If I had listened to you that day in Starbucks, none of this would have happened.”
“And the girls would have nothing to talk about!” Candace laughed.
“That’s not true. I imagine Kate has kept you all busy this past week.”
“And some!”
“Oh dear.”
“I’ll let her fill you in. The last thing I want to do is steal her thunder, and besides, I’m not done yet.”
“Okay, so the last thing he said to me before he passed out was that the only important thing was that he loved me.”
“And you haven’t spoken to him since?”
“No. But get this? Anna told me that she loves him enough to take pleasure from his happiness.”
“From his screwing around?”
“I wouldn’t put it quite like that. She isn’t possessive. She really isn’t.”
“She’s clearly not from this world.”
“I think you’re right. She told me that he has had many affairs but that he’s never lost his heart to anyone like he lost it to me.”
“Generous of her to share that with you.” Candace raised an eyebrow cynically.
“I’m not sure that he does though. I feel wretched and betrayed. I left yesterday evening on my scheduled flight without a word to him. I’d hidden my passport and rings in my wash bag.” She fingered her diamonds fondly.
“Clever you.”
“Only because the rep in Jo’burg told me to. Thank God for her.”
“I’d hate to think of those brutes running off with your beautiful diamonds.”
“So would I. I don’t know what they ran off with. Not much, I suspect. South Africans don’t keep large quantities of money and jewelry in the house for that very reason.”
“I don’t know whether to admire Anna or mistrust her.”
“If you met her, you certainly wouldn’t mistrust her. She’s the real thing, I tell you.”
“So what are you going to do?”
“I’m hoping you’re going to tell me.”
“You really want my advice?” She chuckled. “I’m rather wary of giving it to you, after all you’ve been through.”
“No, I want you to tell me what is right. I’m ready to listen now.”
“Okay, if you’re sure.”
“I am. I should have listened to you months ago.”
“You love him, that’s obvious.”
“Yes, I do. But I feel hurt, and I don’t want to risk losing Olivier or the children. I know I’ve been foolish and selfish, too. I’m definitely part of the ‘me’ generation. I want to call him now . . . more than anything in the world. I want to make him better. But I know it’s got to end.”
“Well, here’s the deal. You write him a letter, and you tell him it’s over. I don’t think it would be wise to speak to him, considering he’s in the hospital recovering from a bullet wound, and it’ll be harder on you if you hear his voice. Then you go upstairs to your office and block his e-mails and delete his address from your system and his number from your telephone, and you make a conscious effort to send back any letters he writes to you and any e-mails that he manages to send you. Trust me, he’ll try to find you.”