At the Chateau for Christmas

by Rebecca Winters

  The admission pleased Nic possibly too much, but when she dropped the man’s name, his pleasure diminished. “Who’s Adam?”

  In the next breath she got up and put the pig on one of the side tables. “Adam Roth works in the accounts department at Holden headquarters.”

  “And?” he probed.

  “We’ve been dating some.”

  Nic bit down hard. For a reason he didn’t have time to examine right now, the news disturbed him. “Under the circumstances, he must be desolate you had to leave.”

  “He knows my grandmother’s death has taken precedence over everything right now.”

  “Why didn’t he come to France with you?”

  “Because I didn’t ask him,” she said without hesitation. “This was something I needed to do alone.”

  Her response told Nic she couldn’t be that deeply in love with Adam, or she would have wanted his support at a time like this. As for Nic, he would have insisted on going with her. Two people deeply in love should have no secrets.

  She turned to him. “What I’d like to do is go back to your villa now and make some phone calls. They need to know I could be here for a while. Tomorrow I’ll come back here and start going through everything.”

  “That’s a good plan. I’ll phone Maurice to bring the car.”

  CHAPTER FOUR

  WHILE NIC CALLED his grandfather, Laura walked over to the tree and hunkered down to look at all the gifts. She reached for a packet the size of a postcard, curious to know what it contained. When she removed the paper, she discovered a dozen letters bundled together. They’d been mailed to her, but on the outside was stamped Return to Sender.

  She scanned the dates and let out a horrified cry. These had been sent fifteen years ago. Laura started unwrapping the other presents that looked the same size. Before she was through, hundreds of unopened letters, some addressed to her mother and aunt, littered the Oriental rug.

  “Laura?”

  “Look at all these letters Nana wrote to us, Nic. Every one was sent back!” She got to her feet, almost hysterical. “How could Mother have done that?”

  As she trembled in pain, he put his arms around her. She knew he was only trying to comfort her, but he’d chosen the wrong moment. In her vulnerability she fell apart against him. For a little while he simply cocooned her in place until she regained control. It felt so good...he smelled so good...

  What are you doing, Laura? her conscience nagged at her. “I’m sorry,” she said in a dull voice, and finally pulled away from him when it was the last thing she wanted to do. Her emotions were in chaos for too many reasons. “Forgive me for going to pieces like that. I’m so ashamed.” She started gathering the letters, but he stopped her.

  “Leave everything until tomorrow. Tonight you’re emotionally exhausted. We’ll come in the morning after breakfast and sort them. Let’s be thankful your mother didn’t destroy them. This way you’ll have your grandmother’s letters to read. Little slices of life you’ll be able to savor.”

  Nic was wonderful beyond belief. She nodded and looked at him. “You’re right. I don’t know how I’ll be able to make this up to you and your grandfather, but I’m going to try.”

  Whatever he would have said was interrupted by his cell phone ringing. “He’s here. Let’s go.”

  She put one of the letters in her purse and took the afghan with her. Nic grabbed one of the DVDs and turned out all the lights. They left the house for the car, where they found Maurice sitting in the back.

  On the short drive to the château, he said, “I’m aware this has been an emotional night for you, Laura. Go home and get a good sleep. We’ll talk more tomorrow.”

  “Definitely. Thank you, more than you’ll ever know, Maurice.”

  “I’ve only carried out your grandmother’s wishes. Don’t forget the bottle of wine for you, Nic. It’s here in the back. Bonne nuit.” He patted both their shoulders before getting out. She watched him go inside the château before they drove away.

  “I don’t see a sign of anyone else around the château, Nic.”

  “No. When my parents learned you’d come, they went to my sister’s for a few days to be with the other members of the family.”

  Laura was filled with fresh pain. “So the pariah from San Francisco descended, forcing them to leave.”

  “Never say that again!” he exploded.

  “Do they know about Irene’s will?”

  “Not yet. Maurice will tell them soon enough.”

  “Nic—”

  “I know what you’re going to say, but let’s not discuss it tonight.”

  “I have to. I can’t live there and come and go from time to time with your parents close by.” I couldn’t live in the same country where you are, Nic.

  “Maurice will be there.”

  “Of course! This estate and everything on it belongs to him and your family, including the summerhouse. He restored it to accommodate Irene’s wishes, and, yes, it was their home together for a period of his life. But she’s gone now and he should be able to embrace his whole family again.”

  “He does that.”

  “It wouldn’t be the same with me around and you know it! Maurice ought to be able to spend time at the summerhouse and the château where everyone can congregate with no more outsiders. You know deep down I’m right.”

  She saw his hands tighten on the steering wheel. “Do me a favor and humor Maurice right now. He’s made it possible for you to discover your grandmother. Let her message to you sink in. The rest will work itself out in time.”

  “No. It won’t work itself out at all unless I take the proper steps to make things right.”

  He accelerated onto the main road, headed back to his house. “What steps?”

  Her pulse picked up speed. “I realize my nana wanted to show me how much she loved me, but she didn’t really expect me to keep the house.”

  “Say that again? You heard Maurice read her will.”

  “I also know that she refused to live at the château when Maurice took her there. There’s no way I’m going to live on the estate. That would be the same thing.” She turned to him. “It was the gesture that counted, don’t you see? But that’s all it could be.”

  “Laura—”

  “The day after Christmas I plan to hire an attorney here in Nice. I’ll have him draw up the papers and will the house back to Maurice.”

  “You can’t do that.”

  “Oh, yes, I can. That way your family will never know about my grandmother’s will. I don’t want them hurt. As for Maurice, it will be my gift to my step-grandfather for uniting me and Nana. But I’ll make him the promise that we’ll talk on the phone all the time and I’ll come to visit him often.”

  She heard Nic’s sharp intake of breath. “If you do that, he won’t be able to handle it.”

  “That’s your love for him talking. But remember that he’s in the throes of grief, trying to hang on to Irene. She knew he’d suffer. That’s why she willed the house to me. By doing so, he’d have something of hers to hang on to, through me. Admit I’m right.”

  He kept silent, but she knew he’d heard her. The man was too intelligent not to know she was speaking the truth.

  “Those two loved each other to distraction. It’s so rare to see a love like that, with both of them trying to help the other. I’m so touched by it I could cry all over again. But it doesn’t have to work that way now. I’m alive and I love him already. I swear I’ll come to see him a lot. Our visits will keep her alive for both of us without the house to drive another wedge.”

  As for tomorrow, Laura planned to spend Christmas Day opening her presents and getting them packed to ship back to San Francisco. But by now Nic was silent in that scary way that broke her heart, because he was dealing with unresolved gri
ef of his own. She decided not to tell him any more of her plans tonight.

  By the time they reached the villa, the tension between them was palpable. After they went inside, he put the DVD on the table and unwrapped the bottle of wine she’d given him. He uncorked it and poured some into a couple of wineglasses.

  “I think we could use a drink.” So did she.

  He handed her one before tasting it. “Thank you for this. I haven’t enjoyed Riesling in years.”

  She took a sip. “Hmm. It is good.”

  They stood facing each other. “Need I remind you how guilt ridden Maurice has been all these years, keeping Irene away from her own family? He desperately wants to make it up to you. If you will the house back to him, it will be like a slap in the face.”

  “That’s why I intend to have a long talk with him about guilt.” Nic had said his grandfather might be able to shed some light on why Laura’s mother and aunt had lied to her, but it was a talk she wanted to have with him in private.

  “I don’t think it will do any good.”

  “Maybe not, but after hearing my grandmother on the video, he has nothing to feel guilty about. You saw all those returned letters she wrote. Those two committed no sin just because they loved each other. My mom and aunt are the culprits here, no one else. They should be writhing in guilt for keeping everyone apart.”

  Nic’s black brows furrowed. “He won’t see it that way.”

  “He will after I point out the facts. Clearly Nana loved Maurice so much she went to France to live with him. He didn’t haul her off at gunpoint.”

  At that remark, his lips twitched, letting her know he was listening. Nic was handsome in the way that hurt.

  “She went willingly because she was compelled by her deepest feelings. A lesser love wouldn’t have held her. A lesser love on his part wouldn’t have stirred him to marry her.”

  He drank what was left in his glass, communicating his agreement without words.

  “You said they were strong people, Nic. They were and are. It’s my opinion that everyone on both sides of the ocean was intimidated by such a profound love in the beginning. But all of that could have been overcome if something evil hadn’t happened.”

  “Evil?” His expression reflected surprise.

  “Yes. I know you were right when you said a big piece of the puzzle is missing. My aunt used the word evil in reference to Maurice. How could he possibly be evil when Nana loved him so much? I’ve always been curious about that. Now that I’m armed with information I didn’t have before, I’m going home to get the truth out of Aunt Susan and Mom. I’d like to liberate Maurice from the hell he’s been in all these years.”

  She wanted to liberate Nic from his own wretched hell.

  Putting his glass down, Nic reached out to cup the side of her face with his hand. He shouldn’t be touching her. She shouldn’t be letting him, but she couldn’t move. The man would never stop missing his wife...and Laura wanted his touch too much. If anyone was evil, she was.

  “You’re a rare woman,” he said in a husky voice.

  “Because I want to get to the bottom of this mystery? I think not. As it is, I let it go too long.” Struggling with all the willpower she possessed, she eased away, forcing his hand to drop. “What is it they say? Those who don’t know their own history are doomed to repeat it? I never want to cause a repeat of what happened to our two families because of ignorance.”

  “Nor I.”

  She wandered over to the couch and sat down. “Nic? Before I go to bed, I want to ask you a question about something else not related to our grandparents.”

  He found himself a chair opposite her. “Go ahead.”

  “I haven’t been able to get your wife’s disappearance off my mind. Is there any new avenue I could help you pursue while I’m here? Do you want to brainstorm?”

  Nic sat forward with his hands joined between his legs and shook his dark head. “That’s a kind offer. Don’t think I don’t appreciate it, but I’ve been stuck for three years now.”

  “You said she drove her car to a street near her favorite restaurant.”

  “In the same block.”

  “Did she normally eat with friends?”

  “Not often. Once in a while someone from out of town working on the same project would fly into Nice. They’d always eat at the Bonne Femme.”

  “Was her work classified?”

  “Some of it.”

  “Where do those people live who were working with her at the time she disappeared?”

  “She had several projects going. One team in India, the other in China.”

  “Did she travel to those countries?”

  “Sometimes.”

  “Has the detective on her case learned of any deaths or disappearances of people in those countries associated with her company before or after she went missing?”

  “Not that I’ve been told.”

  “Maybe she was the victim of a corporate espionage scheme and those countries have withheld information. It’s possible she was lured away from her office by someone on the team she would never have suspected could do her harm. Did she have her laptop with her?”

  His head reared. He stared hard at her. “Yes. She took it back and forth from the office.” Nic got to his feet. “Where are all these questions coming from?”

  She took a deep breath. “I work for a big corporation. When I go out for lunch, it’s usually with a regional manager who flies in to talk business. It would never dawn on me that one of the hotel managers I routinely visit throughout the state would come looking for me to injure me. But if so, I would have no reason to be nervous when first approached.”

  He looked tired as he rubbed the back of his neck. She wished she hadn’t said anything. “I’m sorry I brought up something so painful.”

  “No. I’m glad you did. It prompts me to call Lieutenant Thibault and run your thoughts by him. The French Sûreté has resources at Interpol that could find out if evidence from those countries to do with her firm has been suppressed over the last few years.”

  She got excited. “It wouldn’t hurt.” To be excited sounded so awful, but if Nic could finally find out what happened to his wife, he could learn to live again. To get through each day wasn’t living, not when certain fingers were still pointed at him. Her heart ached for him.

  “You’re right.” His eyes played over her with a thoroughness that sent a tingling sensation through her body. “What do you say we do something happy and watch another DVD? I brought the one sitting on top of the stack.”

  “You just read my mind.” They needed to get off painful subjects.

  “We’ll go in the den and watch on the big screen. I need a large one for my work. Bring your wineglass.”

  She reached for the afghan and did his bidding, following him into the next room on the other side of the house. One lamp was burning. No clutter in here. Just state-of-the-art equipment, bookcases with scientific tomes and some wonderful framed black-and-white photos of an eclipse of the moon in many stages. Riveting!

  He poured more wine for them, then put the disk in the machine. The rounded couch filled one wall and part of the other. It was roomy and comfortable. A long, narrow coffee table was placed next to it.

  Laura took off her shoes and sat on the end of the couch with her feet curled up under her, throwing the afghan over her.

  Nic watched her. “Maurice used to hold the skeins of yarn while Irene wound it into balls while she was working on that afghan for you.”

  “A labor of love,” she mused aloud. “I would have given anything to see them together.”

  “Perhaps you will through the videos.” Nic removed his suit jacket and tie. After unbuttoning his collar, he rolled up his sleeves to the elbow.

  When he sat down, he extended his h
ard-muscled legs and crossed them at the ankles. She was far too conscious of his arms spread across the top of the cushions. His nearness filled her with unassuaged longings.

  He glanced at her and sipped a little more wine. “This is nice. Maurice isn’t the only one who’s been rattling around in an empty house.”

  Nic.

  Their eyes clung for a minute. “After all you’ve done and been through, I’m glad you’re able to relax with me. Who would have thought it after our inauspicious beginning in San Francisco?”

  His quick smile melted her bones. “That’s what your coming has done for me.”

  She looked around. You have such a beautiful home.”

  “Dorine found it and decorated it.”

  Laura was surprised. “Where did you live before your marriage?”

  “At an apartment in Nice she found uninspiring.” Laura smiled. “I was so busy building my business, I didn’t want to be a home owner, with all the headaches.”

  “But you took them on with her.”

  He nodded.

  She should stop talking in case it was making his pain worse. “Shall we see what Irene wanted me to see?”

  “The DVD case says this was filmed nineteen years ago.”

  “Nineteen?” she cried. It didn’t seem possible.

  Once again he smiled that devastating smile that caught at her heart. “You’d be eight, and I, fourteen. I confess I’m totally intrigued to find out what’s on here.” He pressed the remote.

  In an instant there was her grandmother, big as life, but much younger, beautiful, dressed in pants and a blouse and standing against a hilly background. Would that Laura might look half that terrific at her age one day.

  “Darling Laura, Maurice has brought me to the fortified city of Carcassonne, famous for the Crusades in 1209. One day you’ll learn about them in school. My husband is taking the movie right now. You always loved palaces and castles. I thought you’d like to see this place. I wish you could be here. Maurice’s grandson Nic has come with us. I call him Nic even though his name is Nicholas. The longer name is too formal.