At the Chateau for Christmas

by Rebecca Winters

  It wasn’t any too soon. Suddenly Nic swept back in the room. Before long the transaction had been completed. The notaries signed the documents. Laura’s signatures came last and Nic was none the wiser about the transfer or her personal note, thank heaven.

  When they reached the car, Nic helped her inside and they left for the château.

  “What did the detective want?”

  He looked over at her. “To let me know the whole department is behind the search. He’s worked tirelessly on this case and is anxious to solve it. While I was out in the hall, I heard from Maurice. He’s asked us to meet at the summerhouse, where he has one more surprise waiting. It’s your bon voyage gift.”

  “Do you know what it is?”

  “No.”

  She laughed gently. “There’s never a dull moment with him. No wonder my grandmother was so crazy about him.” After that comment he drove faster than usual and whizzed through the estate to the summerhouse.

  Pain of a new kind had a stranglehold on her. It wouldn’t be long before she was gone. She didn’t know if she could take it. There was no way they could make small talk right now. When they reached the house, she got out of the car the minute he stopped and hurried inside without waiting for him.

  “Et voilà, mes enfants.” Maurice hugged both of them. “I’m so glad you’re here. Come and sit down. I have something to show you that I couldn’t find until the other day. I had it put on a DVD immediately. It was in my old valise, the one I was using at the time Irene and I got married.”

  His excitement was so contagious, they did his bidding and waited until he started the machine. “When Irene and I decided to get married, I asked the concierge at the hotel where I was staying to find someone who would film our wedding.”

  Laura was thunderstruck as he started the DVD and Maurice and her grandmother suddenly appeared on the screen. “You look like movie stars!” she cried.

  Maurice nodded with tears in his eyes. “She was a vision in that white suit.”

  “You look just like her in that suit you’re wearing,” Nic murmured.

  Nic...

  Unable to sit still, she got up to move closer. “In that dark suit you’re so handsome, my grandmother couldn’t have helped but be in love with you, Gran’père. I never saw two people who looked so happy.”

  “For that day, we were divinely happy.”

  Even amid all the fighting that surrounded their union.

  She had to blink away the tears.

  The rest of the film showed them coming out of the building and getting in a limo. More video followed of the two of them eating at a restaurant she didn’t recognize. They kissed several times for the camera. It was so sweet, so loving.

  When it came to an end, Laura walked over and put her arms around him. “You’ve discovered a treasure.”

  “I want you to have it.” He sounded choked up.

  “No. You’ve given me everything else. This is for you. Now you can watch it whenever you like and remember that joyous time. The next time I come to Nice, I’ll watch it with you and then we’ll take walks together.”

  He got to his feet. “I know you have to go, but it’s hard.”

  “For me, too,” she admitted and kissed his cheek. “Is there anything I can do for you before I leave?”

  His moist brown eyes studied her. “You can decide to stay here. This is your home now.”

  No, it isn’t, but don’t tempt me.

  “There’s nothing I’d love more, but I can’t and you know why. Remember, I’ll come for visits. In the meantime, tell you what—I’ll call you every day to get your advice on my marketing schemes. What better tutor than the man who put Valfort Hotels on the map!”

  “You flatter me, but that was my grandfather.”

  “According to the letters Nana wrote me, you were known as the Valfort who brought the hotel business into the twenty-first century. With your help, I might make it to CEO one day.”

  “Is that what you want?”

  She swallowed hard. “I need a goal.” How else was she going to survive her life unless she had a goal that drove her day and night? “Why not rise to the top? It might be interesting to be the first woman on the board.”

  “If you’re that ambitious, why not move to France and work for me? You’re practically a Valfort, after all.”

  Laura cocked her head. “Is that a serious job offer?”

  “What if it were?” Maurice fired back. “Would you seriously consider it? Don’t answer that question yet. See what happens after you get back to San Francisco, then call me and we’ll discuss it.”

  The authority in his voice gave her a glimpse of the steel behind the charm. It was that same steel she’d heard in Nic’s voice. She’d never forget the moment when he’d first grasped her arms and made her promise not to tell his grandfather what she’d just told him about her family’s lies.

  “I promise to call you.” She kissed his cheek. “Now I’m afraid we have to be going.”

  He looked at Nic. “I’ll drive to the airport with you to see you off.”

  Laura reached for her purse, then looped her arm through Maurice’s. They walked out of the house together. Nic went ahead of them and opened the back door of his car for his grandfather. Laura took advantage of the moment to get in the front seat without his help. The less touching, the less torment.

  “Nic? En route could you stop by a store that sells picture frames? I’ll only be a minute.”

  “Bien sûr.”

  They drove through the estate to the main road. After Nic parked in front of a shop so Laura could run her errand, they headed for the airport. She looked around one last time. Talk about pain.

  She didn’t think Nic would ever get answers about Dorine, so it might be four more years before he was free again. Laura had reconciled herself to the fact that it might be that long before she could have a relationship with him, if he still wanted one with her. That would put her at thirty-one and him at thirty-seven. But it didn’t matter, because she’d wait twenty years for him if she had to.

  The truck from the storage company had already arrived on the tarmac and was loading boxes in the rear of the jet with the steward’s help. Nic pulled up next to it. While he went around for her suitcase in the trunk, she got out and opened Maurice’s door.

  “I forgot to give this to you at the house.” She pulled a small photograph of herself from her wallet and fit it into the little frame she’d purchased. “This was taken a month ago at a marketing conference.”

  Maurice studied it for a moment before putting it in his pocket. “Merci, ma chère fille.”

  “God bless you, Gran’père. Don’t get on the plane with me. This is hard enough.” She gave him a huge hug.

  “Promise you’ll phone me the second you’ve arrived in San Francisco. I have to know you got there safely.”

  “Of course I will.” Tears blurred her eyes as she moved toward the jet and hurried up the stairs.

  * * *

  Nic followed her on board with her suitcase and put it up in the rack. He noted with satisfaction she was still wearing the scarf.

  “That little photo meant the world to Maurice.”

  Those iridescent-blue eyes stared up at him. “I came to Nice totally unprepared for what I’d find here. I’ll send him more.”

  He sucked in his breath and moved closer to her. “How soon do you think you’ll be back to visit Maurice?”

  A tiny nerve was throbbing in the base of her creamy throat. “With my travel schedule, not for a long time.” Moistening her lips nervously she asked, “Did the detective tell you how soon he’s starting the ground search?”

  “January 2.”

  “The day after New Year’s. That’s not very far away.”

  “It can
’t come soon enough for me.”

  “For me, either.” Her voice throbbed. He realized that was a big admission on her part. “I want your pain to end.”

  They stared at each other. “Hopefully because of the resources I’ve put behind it, there will be a big turnout of volunteers.”

  “If you ran ads over the television, the word would spread like wildfire.”

  “I’m not sure if the police will do that, but they have their methods when it comes to a search like this.”

  “Of course.”

  His lungs had locked tight. “I’m going to miss you, Laura.”

  She averted her eyes. “The three of us have been through a life-changing experience together. Nothing will ever be the same again, not for any of us.”

  He was fast losing control. “Do you have any comprehension of how hard it is to let you go?”

  Her body had started trembling. He could see it. “Don’t you know it’s killing me to leave? Please go, Nic. I can’t take any more.”

  The steward made an appearance. “The captain is ready to take off.”

  She paled visibly.

  This was torture of a different kind than Nic had ever known before. “Have a safe flight, Laura.”

  Nic had to get out of there now or he’d never leave. He wheeled around and exited the jet. Maurice had gotten in the front seat of the car and was waiting for him. Forcing himself to slide behind the wheel, he started the engine and took off. By the time they reached the main road, the Valfort jet had risen in the sky and would be out of sight any minute now.

  A groan escaped him he couldn’t prevent.

  “I feel the same way, mon fils. What do you say we go back to the summerhouse and finish the Pinot she gave me for Christmas? I believe there’s enough to help us get through the night.”

  Nic shook his head. “If your doctor could hear you talk...”

  “If my doctor knew how we felt right now, he’d give us his blessing and join us.”

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  AFTER LANDING IN San Francisco, Laura texted Maurice to let him know she was home safe and sound. A phone call would have wakened him. As for Nic, she didn’t dare contact him and start anything. Tomorrow she’d ring Maurice, who would communicate any news to his grandson.

  Once she was back in her condo and settled, she phoned her mom to let her know she was back. Then she called Adam and had the conversation with him that ended their relationship. He wanted to come over, but she told him no. After explaining she wasn’t the same woman who’d left, he quieted down.

  “When I went to Nice, certain things happened that have changed my life.”

  “This has to do with your grandmother.”

  “Yes. I got answers, but that isn’t all. My grandmother’s husband has a grandson, Nic Valfort. I stayed at his villa while I was in Nice. He was the one who came on the Valfort jet with my grandmother’s body.”

  “Are you telling me you got involved with him?”

  “I didn’t mean to. It just happened.”

  “Are you saying you slept with him?”

  “No. Not even close.”

  “But you wanted to.”

  Her heart was in her throat. “He’s a married man.” In the next few minutes she told Adam about Dorine and the ground search that would be happening after New Year’s.

  “You’re in love with him.”

  “Whatever it is I feel, it’s strong enough that I can’t go on seeing you.”

  “You mean you’re going to wait for him?”

  “Yes.”

  “Has he asked you to wait?”

  “No.”

  “If he never finds her, how do you know he’ll want you in four more years?”

  “I don’t, but while I feel like this about him, I can’t be with another man.”

  “You know all this in a week’s time?”

  “Yes. Forgive me.”

  “My hell, I can’t believe this is happening.”

  “This thing that happened was out of my control.” From the first moment she’d met Nic in the Holden headquarters foyer, she’d been drawn to him. “I’m so sorry. You have no idea how terrible I feel. I would never deliberately hurt you. You must know that.”

  “I’m not sure I know anything anymore! You’ve just smashed all my dreams!” He clicked off first. It was better this way.

  With that hurdle taken care of, Laura showered and changed into her robe. Later she went through her business emails and checked for any emergencies, but it seemed her assistant had taken care of everything.

  She paced the floor. It was Nic she wanted. When she thought of him, she couldn’t breathe. The next best thing to being with him was watching a video of him.

  Along with the first video she’d seen of him at fourteen, she’d grabbed half a dozen of the DVDs and packed them in her suitcase. She hadn’t looked at any of those yet. He’d probably be in one or two of them. The boxes containing all her treasures had been picked up by the movers who’d met the jet. They’d be delivered tomorrow. Tonight she couldn’t wait to watch the ones that were handy. She put the disk from the top of the pile in the machine. Finally she could get comfortable on the couch and immerse herself in her grandmother’s gifts that kept on giving.

  The screen showed an old church on a busy street lined with trees.

  “My darling Laura—Maurice and I are in Grenoble. Today is Nic’s wedding to Dorine Soulis.”

  Laura gasped.

  “We attended the Mass, but came outside so we could take a picture as they walk out the doors. You can see the families assembled on the steps. It was a beautiful wedding. She’s petite and so chic. I think she makes the most adorable bride.”

  Adorable was the word Laura had used in describing Nic’s wife. Suddenly the doors opened and there stood an impossibly handsome, smiling Nic in a black tux with his arm around Dorine’s waist. Dressed in white with a flowing veil, she looked like a dark-haired angel.

  “They’re leaving for a honeymoon in Spain. They plan to be gone two weeks. Maurice and I will miss them, so we’ve decided we’re going to take a trip to Australia. I’ll make another video when we get there. By the time we get back, they will have returned to their new home in Nice. It’s not that far from us. She found them the perfect villa. Dorine is quite the decorator.”

  The camera moved closer and showed Nic helping Dorine into the limo. While she was smiling at everyone, Nic lowered his head and kissed her fully, to the joy of the crowd. Laura could hear the clapping and cheers from family and friends.

  But she couldn’t stand another second and shut the video off with the remote. Pain stabbed her repeatedly until she felt faint. Nic’s darling bride was no more. All that happiness wiped out one afternoon on her lunch hour, and Nic still didn’t have answers.

  Beside herself with grief for him—for Dorine and what horrors she must have suffered, for the horrors Nic would have conjured up wondering what had happened to her—Laura fell sideways on the couch and sobbed until oblivion took over.

  Jet lag must have caught up with her, because she didn’t wake until she heard her doorbell ring the next morning. By prearrangement the movers were here and she’d slept in her robe all night!

  She buzzed them through, then stumbled to the door and opened it to let them in, knowing she looked a wreck. They put everything in the living room. Once she’d signed the receipt, they left.

  Laura sank back down on the couch, burying her face in her hands. So many emotions were bombarding her she could barely function. After seeing the radiant look on Nic’s face in that video, a look that would never come again, she was thankful she’d flown home before she’d done something she’d regret through eternity.

  Laura had provided a few days of distraction for Nic’s grief. Becaus
e she was Irene’s granddaughter and he was Maurice’s grandson, they’d both been caught off guard by the unwitting attraction. But that’s all it was on his part. An attraction. It couldn’t be anything else and never would be. That man had loved his wife and still did.

  There was a love song with the lyrics, “If it takes the rest of our lives, I will wait for you.” It was one of Laura’s favorites. She’d told Adam she’d wait four years for Nic, but that was before she’d seen the video.

  Nic wasn’t hers to wait for...

  The video had made her mind up for her.

  If there was to be any visiting from here on out, Maurice would have to come to her while he was still healthy enough to travel. She’d already dismissed the idea of working for him. That would be madness.

  As she’d told him, with a lot of hard work she was aiming for CEO of Holden Hotels, like her grandfather Richard. That would be a goal to help her forget there was such a thing as a personal life.

  But while she sat there feeling utterly helpless and wishing there were something she could do to help Nic, an idea came to her that wouldn’t let go of her. She jumped off the couch and hurried to her bedroom. He would never have to know about it.

  In the next hour she put through a call to police headquarters in Nice, asking to speak to someone who spoke English and could tell her about the Valfort search.

  In a minute someone came on the line. “Yes? This is Jean-Jacques, one of the coordinators.”

  “Oh, good. I’m a friend of the Valfort family. I understand you’re putting a massive search group together to look for the missing wife of Nicholas Valfort starting on the second. I’ve never been trained for this sort of thing, but I’d like to help in any way I can, both physically and monetarily.”

  “Très bien! We can use volunteers who will help feed the rescuers coming and going off shift.”

  “I can do that. Just give me an address and a time and I’ll be there.”

  “Excellent. We are working in grids. The address I’m giving you will be in the north end of the park. There will be signs to help you find the exact spot.” The man gave her the specific information. “Bring warm clothing, boots and gloves. The forecast calls for eighty percent rain over those days. We could be working through three or four nights.”