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“I love Connor,” Max said. “I love children. So to me, that is a benefit.”
“And Harry will always be around. He will never go away. He’s a constant.”
“He does not bother me. I’ve always liked Harry.”
“I’d want to stay in my house,” I said. “Not here. I won’t uproot Connor.”
“Fine,” he said.
I was quiet. I didn’t know exactly what I wanted. Except that I wanted more of him. I wanted the experience of him again. I kissed him. I moaned. I eased him on top of me. I closed my eyes, and for the first time in years, when I closed them, I did not see Celia.
“Yes,” I said as he made love to me. “I’ll marry you.”
&n
bsp; Disappointing Max Girard
Now This
June 11, 1982
EVELYN HUGO DIVORCES HARRY CAMERON, TO MARRY DIRECTOR MAX GIRARD
Evelyn Hugo is the marrying kind! After 15 years of marriage, she and producer Harry Cameron are going their separate ways. The two have just come off a winning streak, both taking home Oscar gold earlier this year for their film All for Us.
But sources claim Evelyn and Harry have been separated for some time. Their marriage turned into little more than a friendship within the past few years. Some are claiming that Harry has been living in the home of their late friend John Braverman, just down the street from Evelyn.
Meanwhile, Evelyn must have used that time to warm up to Max Girard, her director on All for Us. The two have announced plans to marry. Only time will tell if Max is the lucky ticket to happiness for Evelyn. But what we do know is that he will be husband number six.
MAX AND I GOT MARRIED in Joshua Tree, with Connor, Harry, and Max’s brother, Luc. Max had originally suggested Saint-Tropez or Barcelona for our wedding and honeymoon. But both of us had just finished movies shooting in Los Angeles, and I thought it sounded nice, just a small group of us in the desert.
I dispensed with white, having long ago stopped feigning innocence. Instead, I wore an ocean-blue maxi dress, my blond hair feathered ever so slightly. I was forty-four.
Connor wore a flower in her hair. Harry stood next to her in dress pants and a button-down.
Max, my groom, wore white linen. We joked that it was his first wedding, so he should be the one to wear white.
That evening, Harry and Connor flew back to New York. Luc flew back to his home in Lyon. Max and I stayed in a cabin, a rare night alone.
We made love on the bed, on the desk, and, in the middle of the night, on the porch underneath the stars.
In the morning, we ate grapefruit and played cards. We flipped channels on the television. We laughed. We talked about movies we loved, movies we’d shot, movies we wanted to make.
Max said he had an idea for an action movie starring me. I told him I wasn’t sure I was fit to be an action hero.
“I’m in my forties, Max,” I said. We were walking in the desert, the sun beating down on us. I had forgotten the water in the cabin.
“You are ageless,” he said to me, kicking up sand as we went. “You can do anything. You are Evelyn Hugo.”
“I’m Evelyn,” I told him. I stopped in place. I grabbed his hand. “You don’t always need to call me Evelyn Hugo.”
“But that is who you are,” he said. “You are the Evelyn Hugo. You are extraordinary.”
I smiled and kissed him. I was so relieved to feel loved, to feel love. I was so exhilarated by wanting to be with someone again. I thought Celia would never come back to me. But Max, he was right there. He was mine.
When we got back to the cabin, the two of us were sunburned and parched. I made us peanut butter and jelly for dinner, and we sat in bed and watched the news. It felt so peaceful. Nothing to prove, nothing to hide.
We went to sleep with Max cradling me. I could feel his heartbeat against my back.
