Danielle Steel - 44 Charles Street

About the Book

Everything is falling to pieces for Francesca Thayer. Her beautiful old house is full of leaks and in need of total restoration. Then her relationship with lawyer Todd collapses and he moves out. As the owner of a struggling art gallery she can’t possibly manage the mortgage alone, so she is forced to do the one thing she never imagined she would: she advertises for lodgers.

First arrives Eileen – a young, attractive schoolteacher who has just moved from LA.

Then comes Chris, a newly divorced father struggling with a difficult ex-wife and the challenges of parenting his seven-year-old son who visits every other weekend.

Last to arrive is Marya – a famous cookery author who is hoping to rebuild her life after the death of her husband.

And so Francesca finds that her house has become a whole new world – and as things begin to turn around, she realizes that her accidental tenants have become the most important people in her life. Over their year together, the house at 44 Charles Street fills with laughter, hope and heartbreak.

And Francesca discovers that she might be able to open her heart again after all…

About the Author

Danielle Steel is one of the world's most popular and highly acclaimed authors, with eighty international bestselling novels in print and 600 million copies sold. She is also the author of His Bright Light , the story of her son Nick ’Traina's‘ life and death. She lives in California and Paris.

Also by Danielle Steel

LEGACY

SPECIAL DELIVERY

FAMILY TIES

THE RANCH

BIG GIRL

SILENT HONOUR

SOUTHERN LIGHTS

MALICE

MATTERS OF THE HEART

FIVE DAYS IN PARIS

ONE DAY AT A TIME

LIGHTNING

A GOOD WOMAN

WINGS

ROGUE

THE GIFT

HONOUR THYSELF

ACCIDENT

AMAZING GRACE

VANISHED

BUNGALOW 2

MIXED BLESSINGS

SISTERS

JEWELS

H.R.H.

NO GREATER LOVE

COMING OUT

HEARTBEAT

THE HOUSE

MESSAGE FROM NAM

TOXIC BACHELORS

DADDY

MIRACLE

STAR

IMPOSSIBLE

ZOYA

ECHOES

KALEIDOSCOPE

SECOND CHANCE

FINE THINGS

RANSOM

WANDERLUST

SAFE HARBOUR

SECRETS

JOHNNY ANGEL

FAMILY ALBUM

DATING GAME

FULL CIRCLE

ANSWERED PRAYERS

CHANGES

SUNSET IN ST. TROPEZ

THURSTON HOUSE

THE COTTAGE

CROSSINGS

THE KISS

ONCE IN A LIFETIME

LEAP OF FAITH

A PERFECT STRANGER

LONE EAGLE

REMEMBRANCE

JOURNEY

PALOMINO

THE HOUSE ON HOPE STREET

LOVE: POEMS

THE WEDDING

THE RING

IRRESISTIBLE FORCES

LOVING

GRANNY DAN

TO LOVE AGAIN

BITTERSWEET

SUMMER’S END

MIRROR IMAGE

SEASON OF PASSION

HIS BRIGHT LIGHT:

The Story of Nick Traina

THE PROMISE

THE KLONE AND I

NOW AND FOREVER

THE LONG ROAD HOME

GOLDEN MOMENTS*

THE GHOST

GOING HOME

*Published outside the UK under the title PASSION’S PROMISE

For more information on Danielle Steel and her books, see her website at

www.daniellesteelbooks.co.uk

DANIELLE

STEEL

44 CHARLES

STREET

A Novel

This eBook is copyright material and must not be copied, reproduced, transferred, distributed, leased, licensed or publicly performed or used in any way except as specifically permitted in writing by the publishers, as allowed under the terms and conditions under which it was purchased or as strictly permitted by applicable copyright law. Any unauthorised distribution or use of this text may be a direct infringement of the author’s and publisher’s rights and those responsible may be liable in law accordingly.

Version 1.0

Epub ISBN 9781409092797

www.randomhouse.co.uk

TRANSWORLD PUBLISHERS

61–63 Uxbridge Road, London W5 5SA

A Random House Group Company

www.rbooks.co.uk

First published in the United States

in 2011 by Delacorte Press,

an imprint of The Random House Publishing Group,

a division of Random House, Inc., New York

First published in Great Britain

in 2011 by Bantam Press

an imprint of Transworld Publishers

Copyright © Danielle Steel 2011

Danielle Steel has asserted her right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 to be identified as the author of this work.

This book is a work of fiction and, except in the case of historical fact, any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

ISBNs 9780593063040 (cased)

9780593063057 (tpb)

This book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, resold, hired out, or otherwise circulated without the publisher’s prior consent in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition, including this condition, being imposed on the subsequent purchaser.

Addresses for Random House Group Ltd companies outside the UK can be found at: www.randomhouse.co.uk

The Random House Group Ltd Reg. No. 954009

2 4 6 8 10 9 7 5 3 1

Contents

About the Book

About the Author

Also by Danielle Steel

Title

Copyright

Dedication

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Chapter 19

Chapter 20

Chapter 21

Chapter 22

Chapter 23

Chapter 24

To my wonderful, beloved children,

Beatie, Trevor, Todd, Nick, Sam,

Victoria, Vanessa, Maxx, and Zara.

Please be safe, be careful,

be happy, be loved,

and, whenever possible, wise,

compassionate, and forgiving.

And may you always be

lucky and blessed.

A perfect recipe for life.

With all my love,

Mommy / d.s.

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 the arts as a gallerist. Todd was in it to make money. He thought it would be exciting and a welcome change of career for him after years of doing tax and estate work for an important law firm. But now he said he was tired of listening to their bleeding-heart artists, watching his nest egg dwindle to next to nothing, and being poor. As far as Todd was concerned, this was no longer fun. He was forty years old, and wanted to make real money again. When he talked to her about it he had already lined up a job at a Wall Street firm. They were promising him a partnership within a year. As far as selling art was concerned, he was done.