44 Charles Street

Chapter 1

Francesca Thayer sat at her desk until the figures started to blur
before her eyes. She had been over them a thousand times in
the past two months and had just spent the entire weekend trying
to crunch numbers. They always came out the same. It was three
o clock in the morning and her long wavy blond hair was a tangled
mess as she unconsciously ran her hands through it again. She was
trying to save her business and her house, and so far she hadn t
been able to come up with a solution. Her stomach turned over as
she thought of losing both.

She and Todd had started the business together four years ago.
They d opened an art gallery in New York s West Village where they
specialized in showing the work of emerging artists at extremely
reasonable prices. She had a deep commitment to the artists she
represented. Her experience in the art world had been extensive,
although Todd had none at all. Before that, she had run two other
galleries, one uptown after she graduated, and the other in Tribeca.
But this gallery that they had started together was her dream. She
had a degree in fine arts, her father was a well- known artist who
had become very successful in recent years, and the gallery she
shared with Todd had gotten excellent reviews. Todd was an avid
collector of contemporary work, and he thought that helping her
start the gallery would be fun. At the time, Todd was tired of his
own career on Wall Street as an attorney. He had a considerable
amount of money saved and figured he could coast for a few years.
The business plan he had developed for them showed them making
money within three years. He hadn t counted on Francesca s passion
for less expensive work by entirely unknown artists, helping
them whenever possible, nor had he realized that her main goal
was showcasing the work, but not necessarily making a lot of
money at it. Her hunger for financial success was far more limited
than his. She was as much a patron of

Danielle Steel has been hailed as one of the world s most popular authors, with over 650 million copies of her novels sold. Her many international bestsellers include Country, Prodigal Son, Pegasus, A Perfect Life, Power Play, Winners, First Sight, Until the End of Time, The Sins of the Mother, and other highly acclaimed novels. She is also the author of His Bright Light, the story of her son Nick Traina s life and death; A Gift of Hope, a memoir of her work with the homeless; Pure Joy, about the dogs she and her family have loved; and the children s book Pretty Minnie in Paris.

Praise for Danielle Steel

Steel is one of the best! Los Angeles Times

Few modern writers convey the pathos of family and material life with such heartfelt empathy. The Philadelphia Inquirer

Steel pulls out all the emotional stops. . . . She delivers! Publishers Weekly

What counts for the reader is the ring of authenticity. San Francisco Chronicle