Constance, 2004
Her husband had been right about one thing: All of Manhattan showed up to celebrate the tenth anniversary of the Electric Rose.
At one time, nights like this were the highlight of her year. But since her daughters had stopped speaking to one another, she couldn’t enjoy any of it. A diamond might say love, but what did it say when a diamond divided the entire family?
All day long she’d gone through the motions, slipping into her Ralph Lauren gown, getting her hair done by Orlando Pita. Laura Mercier stopped by to do her makeup. Constance knew she’d never looked better. And she’d never felt worse.
Sitting in the back of the limo, one block away from the store, Alan reached for her hand. She snatched it away.
“What’s with you tonight?” he said—as if the problem were just that night. With their daughters locked in conflict, the family they’d built together falling apart, she felt their relationship withering.
“What do you think?”
Elodie bristled at even the mention of her sisters’ names. Celeste had moved to some godforsaken beach town at the end of the earth. And Paulina traveled constantly with her husband and daughter, no doubt avoiding the tension in New York. Constance barely had any time with her only grandchild. It was a minor miracle that Alan had been able to wrangle them all together for the evening. She didn’t know how he made it happen, because the topic of their daughters was now an emotional land mine in their marriage.
They hadn’t been physically intimate in years. And no matter what any of the magazine articles said about aging and sexuality, she knew her body wasn’t the problem. It was her mind, her unmitigated fury at Alan for putting the company first, for not listening to her when she said the competition for the Electric Rose was a bad idea. For his refusal to admit, even now, what a mistake it had been. Whenever she tried to mention it, he just pushed back.
“A mistake? You can’t argue with results. Sales have never been better. I just wish my father were here to see it.”
His father? Elliot Pavlin had single-handedly changed the entire industry. All Alan had accomplished was a publicity stunt that destroyed the relationship between three sisters.
“You think your parents would be happy when our children no longer speak to each other? Pavlin & Co has always been a family business. What happens when the family falls apart?”
“Elodie is doing a fine job. The future of Pavlin & Co is secure. And the girls will grow out of all this silliness eventually. This will pass—you’ll see.”
She wasn’t so sure—about any of it. And she felt very alone, even in that moment, surrounded by photographers and a flurry of invited guests as they made their way across the sales floor of Pavlin & Co toward the podium, where Celeste and Elodie were already waiting. The bright lights made her blink too fast, and she felt shaky standing by Alan’s side in the center of the family. They were waiting for Paulina and Liam, who were late. She didn’t mind the extra time to collect herself.
When she spotted Paulina making her way toward them, holding her daughter’s little hand, she couldn’t help but smile. They looked so beautiful in their matching butterfly dresses. Constance felt a surge of love for her youngest. And regret that she hadn’t protected her more. Protected all three of her girls.
“Come along, everyone’s waiting for you,” Constance said, ushering them in place next to Elodie and Celeste. Then she walked back to stand on the other side of Alan. A photographer began clicking away, and a publicist asked for a pause so she could duck over and adjust the microphone.
She felt a tug on her dress and looked down to find Gemma beside her.
“What are you doing over here, sweetheart? You belong next to your mom.”
“She told me to come over here,” the girl said, her eyes filled with tears.
Oh, this was not good. She glanced over and sure enough, Paulina and Elodie seemed to be arguing. In front of everyone! As if they didn’t have enough trouble with the tabloids. She wanted to run over and tell them to cut it out, but that would only attract more attention. Besides, the more important thing was to keep Gemma from getting upset. She’d failed to do the best thing for her own daughters, but she’d be damned if she didn’t do things differently with her granddaughter.
“Oh, well, that’s so nice of Mommy. She must know I need some extra-special company.”
She gave a wink, and the little girl smiled. If only her older girls were so easily placated. She just hoped Alan was right: that the strife would pass.
She didn’t want to think about what the future would look like if he was wrong.