21.

Cassie sat at a window table at Fenton’s café, sipping an espresso. She picked up a pack of sugar and then put it back on the table. Italian coffee was so bitter; she had to learn how to drink it black. She glanced at her watch. Alexis was joining her for afternoon tea but she was late.

Cassie checked her list to see if she had taken care of all her last-minute errands. She had her passport, she sent her attorney her contact information in Florence, and she left a whole notepad of instructions for the assistant manager taking over the emporium.

“I’m sorry I’m late.” Alexis swooped into the café wearing a bright yellow linen dress and gold espadrilles. She kissed Cassie on the cheek and sat down opposite her, keeping on her Oliver Peoples sunglasses.

“I love the dress and the sunglasses. You look like Katharine Hepburn in Philadelphia Story.” Cassie put down the espresso cup and blotted her lips with a napkin.

“Haven’t seen that one.” Alexis put her napkin in her lap. “Your mother was right. Yellow is the color of the summer. I’m seeing it everywhere.” Alexis took off her sunglasses and studied Cassie. “You already look European. I love your hair and that dress is perfect on you.”

Cassie blushed. She had moved out of Alexis’s house and was staying with her mother until her departure. Diana insisted Cassie visit her stylist and get a more continental hairstyle. Her hair fell to her neck in long smooth layers, and she had wispy bangs covering her forehead. Diana also brought home Fenton’s boxes of dresses and skirts, sweaters, cigarette pants, and short bolero jackets.

*   *   *

“Mother, I don’t need shoes.” Cassie had opened a box of suede Tod’s loafers, Gucci pumps, and Manolo sandals. “I’m going to Italy.”

“You’re representing Fenton’s.” Diana walked in circles around the pile of boxes in the guest bedroom. “You need to dress like a young sophisticate, not an American schoolgirl.”

“I have more clothes than Grace Kelly when she departed for Monaco to marry Prince Rainier.” Cassie fingered a black cocktail dress and a lace sundress with spaghetti straps.

“I’m very proud of you.” Diana tapped her cigarette holder on the mahogany desk. She wore a yellow silk top and harem pants cinched with a red ostrich belt. “This is a huge undertaking. Alice was tickled when I told her. She credits your success with the years you spent volunteering in her garden.”

“I still feel bad about leaving the emporium,” Cassie replied nervously.

“Nonsense.” Diana clicked her tongue. “It hums like a machine. Vanessa Getty was on the cover of W this month, eating a Fenton’s heirloom tomato and holding a Princess bag.”

“Maybe you can visit us.” Cassie studied her mother’s face. Her skin looked pale in the afternoon light and there were new spidery wrinkles around her mouth.

“Italy in the fall?” Diana mused. “It would be wonderful to visit the Vatican and meet some designers in Milan. If Fenton’s isn’t too busy, I’ll think about it.”

“James would love to see you.” Cassie smiled. “He’s afraid he won’t work fast enough without you whipping him into shape.”

“James is a fine young man.” Diana walked over to the door. “He reminds me of your father; that thin athletic build. I’m going to have Maria prepare some dishes you can take with you. You don’t want to eat in restaurants every night.”

“I know how to cook, Mother.” Cassie grinned. “And I’m going to teach James.”

“I suppose it would be tricky to get them through customs.” Diana frowned. “I’ll have her write up the recipes.”

*   *   *

“Your mother is going to miss you.” Alexis signaled to the waiter. “It’s her way of showing you. I have something to tell you.” She smiled like a Cheshire cat and covered her face with the menu.

“You’re having a baby?” Cassie leaned forward.

“Carter’s only been home a week.” Alexis shrugged after she placed her order. “Hermès approved the mini boutique in Fenton’s. I’m going to be surrounded by Birkins!”

“What a coup.” Cassie smiled. “My mother has wanted a Hermès boutique for decades. She’ll be thrilled.”

“I was just in her office. We’re going to Emerald to celebrate. We’ll probably sit around talking about you.” Alexis grinned.

“Have you told Carter about Fenton’s?” Cassie nibbled a slice of German chocolate cake.

“I told him the day he landed.” Alexis scooped whipped cream with her fork. “I decided you can’t have lies in a marriage, even if they’re lily white.”

“How did he take it?” Cassie ate another bite of cake.

“At first he was furious, but he started reading blogs that said I am one of San Francisco’s most powerful women under forty. He saw my Facebook fan page and how many followers I have on Twitter. San Francisco magazine is doing its cover story on us next month: San Francisco’s new it couple. He’s so happy he can’t get enough of me. We have sex all night; I can hardly walk in the morning. He promised me a baby.”

“Really!” Cassie’s eyes sparkled.

“A baby Birkin. The latest model: twenty-five-inch, ostrich skin, twenty-four-karat gold hardware. He’s going to pull some strings so we jump ahead on the wait list.”

“Who said a girl can’t have everything?” Cassie sipped her espresso.

“Have you talked to Aidan?” Alexis took a bite of chocolate cake.

“I called him and told him I would be out of the country for four months.” Cassie shrugged. “The divorce should be final when I get back. He thanked me for letting Isabel work at Fenton’s.”

“Isabel has amazing fashion sense for a teenager.” Alexis nodded. “I’m thinking of adding some lines by young designers, like Ashley Olsen. And she’s a very hard worker. I’m going to offer her the position part-time in the fall.”

“I did a little research on the consortium that owns the castle,” Cassie said slowly, looking directly at Alexis. “A familiar name appeared: Princess Giselle.”

“Giselle may have suggested your name for the position but the board had to vote.” Alexis didn’t blink. “You’ve put Fenton’s on the map in the food world.” She paused and finished her coffee. “You’re not angry, are you?”

“Angry that I get paid to spend four months in Tuscany creating a vegetable garden and living in a castle with James?” Cassie grinned. “But what happened to being completely honest?”

“Not telling you something doesn’t constitute as lying,” Alexis replied innocently.

“I’m going to miss you.” Cassie smiled, looking out the window at the tourists milling around Union Square.

“While you’re zipping through the hills of Tuscany on the back of a Vespa? You’ll be back before you know it.” Alexis pushed the chocolate cake away and fiddled with the pearl choker around her neck. “You know what would be great?”

“What?” Cassie asked.

“If in a year from now we are sitting here pregnant. We could wear Gwyneth Paltrow’s new line of maternity dresses and shop for Bugaboos and those darling onesies by Petit Bateau.”

“James and I aren’t even married,” Cassie protested.

“He’ll pop the question the minute you’re free.” Alexis shrugged. “He’s like the prince in the fairy tales we read when we were children. He finally found his fair maiden.”

Cassie put down her fork and looked out the window. She saw couples walking arm in arm, peering into department store windows. She watched women pushing strollers and balancing cups of coffee. She saw a mother hold a little boy’s hand as they crossed the street.

She turned to Alexis and smiled. “Yes, it would be great.”