‘I think so. Do you usually put lights up at your place in Paris?’
‘No. I’m in an apartment so it’s hard. But I put them in the window and I always decorate a tree. Even if it is just for me.’
‘You live on your own?’
‘Oui. You heard…about my marriage?’ He rubbed his finger along a groove in the table.
She nodded. ‘I didn’t mean to pry – I just meant, like, you don’t have a roommate or anything?’
‘No. No roommate.’ He flushed a little and rolled his eyes. ‘Or wife. As you know.’
‘I…don’t know what to say about it. I mean, I’m sorry if it caused you pain…but equally, I’m happy that you’re divorced ifshecaused you pain. Does that make sense? A bad marriage is worse than no marriage… I’ll shut up now.’
He gave a soft laugh. ‘It’s okay. I understand what you mean. And…I agree.’
Ashleigh bit her lip on a bunch of other questions she wanted to ask, just out of sheer nosiness but also because she really, really hoped the divorce hadn’t caused him heartache. She hadn’t seen him for years, but what she had seen recently was enough to remind her of the all the other reasons she’d been besotted with him that weren’t just physical. The mischief coupled with kindness. His sense of humour, including the way he readily laughed at himself. How helpful and passionate he was about things. Unless he’d changed drastically over the last seven years, Olivier was still one of the best people she knew, and she would never want his soft, sentimental heart to be broken.
Even if it meant he was single now.
‘I don’t really understand why people feel the need to get married at all these days.’
‘Says the woman designing a wedding dress.’ His eyes travelled over to sketch pad she’d left on the table.
She laughed but pulled her sketch pad towards her and flipped it over to hide her drawings. ‘It’s not an endorsement of the choice. Just a favour.’
‘Which you want to do to help her have a special day?’
‘Sure.’
‘Because, even though you don’t see the point of the legal document, you can appreciate she wants to celebrate finding love? Just like Christmas – it’s notnecessaryto put the lights on the outside of the house to have Christmas but it’s a way of brightening up our lives and sharing joy.’
She raised her eyebrow. ‘Are you trying to convert me?’
He grinned. ‘I’m not sure I really need to.’
Ashleigh laughed and sipped her coffee. Olivier really hadn’t changed if he thought she was less of a cynic when it came to relationships than she made people think. She couldn’t even commit to a work friendship because she knew they would never last, and as for marriage and men…well, she was happy to stick with Christmas lights as her means of celebrating the brighter things in life.
