The Life She Wanted: A Novel(87)

Later the same evening, Pandora sat on the porch in front of the cottage and thought about Archie. Esme was asleep, and Willie was reading in the living room.

She had told Archie everything, and he hadn’t responded. There was nothing else she could do. Her heart felt so heavy.

She was about to go inside when Archie appeared on the lawn. He was still wearing his suit, and he carried a rectangular box. Her chest tightened; she wondered what he was doing there.

“There you are,” he declared. “I brought you something.”

It was the shoe box that they had used to collect leaves. Pandora hadn’t seen it since they were teenagers.

“Open it,” Archie urged.

Pandora pried it open. She recognized her own handwriting on some of the leaves. There were other leaves she hadn’t seen before. Archie must have collected them. She gathered them and read the wishes out loud.

“I wish Pandora has her dream wedding. I wish Pandora’s boutique is successful. I wish Pandora is safe and happy on the French Riviera.” Pandora gulped.

“I don’t understand,” she stammered. “We stopped collecting leaves years ago.”

Archie’s eyes shone pale blue under the porch light. He had never looked so handsome.

“We stopped collecting them together, but I kept up the tradition,” he corrected her. “I was always thinking about you, Pandora. I only wanted you to be happy.” He waved at the box. “Read the last leaf.”

Pandora turned it over. “I wish Pandora loved me back.”

Her eyes filled with tears, and her heart seemed to beat too fast.

“Why did you wait until now to show me?”

“I dug the box out the day I broke up with Lucy.” Archie took her hand. “It’s always been you, Pandora. There’s never been anyone else, there never will be. But you fell in love with Owen. After Owen proposed to Lillian, I was going to say something. Then you and Harley fell in love. Harley was my close friend, so I stepped aside.”

“You never said anything, even the night we made love,” Pandora said, almost to herself.

“I did say it that night, but you didn’t seem to hear it. Why do you think I agreed to go to England? I couldn’t bear to be around your marriage. I thought about you the whole time I was there. After you didn’t respond to my letters, I even went to Paris.” His eyes darkened. “But I saw you sitting in a café with a man, so I turned around and took the first train back to London.”

It really had been Archie she’d seen outside the café window in Paris! If only he had come inside, or if she’d realized it was him and ran after him, they might have been together sooner.

Archie kept talking. “I couldn’t defy my parents, and I couldn’t break up with Lucy. It was only when I came home and saw you again, so sure of yourself and looking so lovely with that French haircut, that I had to act.”

Pandora felt almost dizzy with happiness and relief.

“You were so angry with me. I thought you’d never speak to me again.”

“I was angry at you, and I had my pride,” Archie agreed. “But what good would my anger do if it meant living without you.”

Pandora couldn’t help but smile.

“So you do have feelings for me?” Pandora had to hear him say it again.

Archie pulled her close. He touched her mouth.

“If you don’t believe me, I’ll have to show you.”

Archie’s kiss was long and deep; Pandora thought she’d never breathe again.

They pulled apart and Pandora laughed.

“I believe you, but you might have to keep showing me.” She reached up and kissed Archie again. “We have years of kissing to catch up on.”





The next morning, Pandora sat in the cottage’s living room, sipping a cup of coffee.

Virginia appeared in the doorway. She wore one of Pandora’s own designs, a yellow pleated skirt and sleeveless yellow blouse. She had a Lenglen Bandeau wrapped around her forehead.

“I didn’t know you were home,” Pandora said in greeting.

“I just arrived.” Virginia sat down opposite her. “I saw Esme playing on the lawn.”

Esme and Picasso were spending the morning chasing each other in the garden while Pandora caught up on some paperwork.

Pandora handed the shoe box to Virginia.

“I recognize this,” Virginia responded, puzzled. “It’s from a pair of mother’s old Stead and Simpson pumps.”

“I have something to tell you. It’s about me and Archie.” Pandora sat back against the cushions.

Virginia glanced at Pandora questioningly, and Pandora let it all tumble out. That she realized she had always been in love with Archie. She told her of driving into New York to tell him her feelings and hoping he felt the same. Their meeting at P.J. Clarke’s and then Archie appearing at Riverview with the shoe box and telling Pandora he was in love with her too.

The only part she left out was her secret about Esme. She would never share that with anyone but Archie.

“I always knew you would end up together,” Virginia said when Pandora finished.

“You never said anything.”

“We were so young; you were hardly going to get married at fifteen,” Virginia reflected.