Chapter 28
Atlanta, GA
Philip
A FEW DAYS BEFORE we flew to Europe, we were all packed and ready. In fact, four suitcases had been stacked in the foyer for a couple of days. Charles and I had each packed a small carry-on bag with shaving kits and a change of clothes in case our bags didn’t arrive in Paris with us, and we’d seen to it that the boys had done the same.
Marie flew in two days before we were to leave and was brought up to speed on the operation of the household. On the eve of our departure, we were all in the upstairs study.
“Steve,” Marie said, “is there anything I need to do for your business?”
“Like what, Mom?”
“Collecting the money, depositing it in the bank, that sort of thing,” she said.
“It’s under control,” Steve said. “This time of the year, most of our business
