At the Chateau for Christmas

by Rebecca Winters

  There hadn’t been a cloud in the sky during Laura’s stay there. She couldn’t believe the weather would turn like that. “Understood. Thank you.”

  After she’d hung up, she called the airlines and scheduled a flight to Nice on New Year’s Day, two days from now. Once that was done, she got on the internet and found information for several hotels near the entrance to Sophia Antipolis. She booked a room at one of them and arranged for a rental car.

  After thinking it over, she decided that when she reached Nice and was given an orientation with the other volunteers, she would make arrangements with a local restaurant to supply food and coffee.

  There wasn’t enough she could do for Nic. Sitting here in San Francisco feeling helpless was untenable. If the search didn’t produce anything, at least she would have the satisfaction of knowing she’d shown her love for him in the only way she knew how.

  Relieved to be doing something constructive at last, Laura showered and got ready to drive over to her mom’s. The issue with her aunt Susan was all that occupied Jessica’s thoughts right now. Finding the right psychiatrist was crucial.

  Later in the day she’d run to headquarters and tell Dean about the emergency that meant she’d be leaving the country again. Her assistant would have to reschedule her travel plans to the various hotels around the state. The marketing ideas were important, but they took a backseat to the search for Dorine.

  Nic had been in prison too long. If his wife’s case could be solved, it would add ten years to Maurice’s life, too. Maybe Laura was being fanciful, but she’d like to think her nana would be helping out from the other side. Irene had loved Nic, too.

  * * *

  Nic was still working alone in his office at seven on New Year’s Eve when his cell rang. He checked the caller ID and clicked on. “Gran’père? I thought you were at the family party at the château.”

  “I am, but something has come up. Where are you?”

  “I’m finishing some work at the office. I’ll join you eventually.”

  “Quit whatever you’re doing and meet me at the summerhouse.”

  Nic’s black brows knit together. “You mean now?”

  “Yes. Hurry.”

  “Are you all right?”

  “Of course, but we need to talk!”

  “I’m leaving now.”

  He turned off lights and walked out to the parking lot. Something told Nic the attorney had couriered the documents about the quitclaim deed to his grandfather and he was upset about it. Laura had filled the days for his grandfather while she’d been here, but now that she was gone, Maurice hadn’t been able to throw off his depression. By willing the house back to him, she’d made his outlook worse.

  Ever since Nic had watched Laura fly out of his life, he’d lost sleep and his emotions had been too raw to be around other people. It was a good thing his office had been closed over the holidays. Even between working on company business in solitude and putting together a search team with the detective, he’d barely managed not to go off the rails.

  The lights of the summerhouse beckoned. He pulled up next to the Renault, but almost dreaded stepping inside because Laura wasn’t there. Nothing was the same now that she’d gone. “Enfin,” his grandfather called out when Nic entered the living room. The older man held a sheaf of papers in his hand, just as Nic had suspected. “Take a look at this!” He handed him the top sheet.

  “I already know what Laura did.”

  Maurice squinted at him. “You do?”

  “Yes. Don’t be upset with her, Gran’père. You’ve found out she’s a wonderful, unselfish woman just like her grandmother. She could no more take your house with its memories away from you than she could stop breathing.”

  “But she did take it away from me.”

  Nic thought he hadn’t heard his grandfather correctly. “Say that again.”

  “You’d better look at this sheet.”

  Puzzled at this point, Nic reached for it. The quitclaim deed had been filled out with another name. Nicholas Honfleur Valfort.

  “She willed the house to you.”

  As memories of a certain conversation with Laura flashed through his mind, the evidence before his eyes rendered him speechless.

  “She also left this note. In the state you’re in, I’d better read it to you. ‘My dear Maurice—Nana told me I could do what I wanted with the summerhouse. So many happy memories reside there because of the love between the two of you. But I know of other happy memories of a Frenchman whose early youth was enriched because of the years he played in the old greenhouse and ruled his own fort.

  “‘Nothing would please me more than to know he can call it his own again. No one deserves a little piece of happiness more than your magnificent grandson, who once upon a time was a carefree boy Irene loved like her own.’”

  Maurice handed him the note. After clearing his throat he said, “When you’ve pulled yourself together, come to the château and join the party, mon fils. Your parents have assembled family and friends from afar to be of help to you in your search after New Year’s Day. The first thing we’re going to do is say a special prayer that your agony will end soon.”

  Long after his grandfather had left the house, Nic stood there, incredulous over what Laura had done. His mind went back to something Irene had said in the video. Her words had never spoken to him the way they did at this moment.

  You can experience a profound love more than once in this life, as Maurice and I found out. Otherwise what would be the point of existence?

  January 4

  Portable tables with a protective canopy had been set up all around the technology park to serve as a rest stop for hot food and first aid. Laura and a college guy named Patrick, who was on crutches, had been manning the station from the get-go. They gave out sandwiches and coffee from several bistros and restaurants. She’d funded everything from her bank account, which included paying the drivers in the trucks who made continuous deliveries.

  The light rain had pretty well kept up the whole time, forcing her to pull the hood of her water-resistant Windbreaker over her head. But on the third night of the search, it finally stopped long enough to give the volunteers working the grid in her sector some relief.

  Every so often a patrol officer would come by for coffee. She’d listen as they spoke with other officers on their radios, then she’d ask for a translation. They were counting on the dogs from the canine corps units to turn up something, but nothing had been found yet. It was a laborious, exhausting process for those walking in lines following a set pattern so that every inch of ground was covered. Their sacrifice was carried out in less than favorable conditions, but everyone there was committed.

  Her heart swelled to see the dedication. She could only imagine how Nic felt to know so many had turned out to search for Dorine. From what she could see, it looked as though a small portion of the city had come to lend their assistance. Cars, trucks and buses were parked everywhere. The tragedy that had befallen Nic and his wife was everyone’s tragedy.

  All the while she gave out food and drink, she was aware that Nic was somewhere in the park, walking the lines with his family and friends. Knowing Maurice, he would be waiting at the château with his brother for any word.

  By noon of the fourth day, word circulated that the search would be called off within the hour. The light rain had started up again. In the unnatural silence that followed the announcement, Laura’s spirits sank to think this entire effort might not have produced results, but they’d had to try and no one wanted to give up. Though it was time for her to go back to the hotel, she couldn’t leave yet.

  “I’ll stay until it’s over, Patrick. You’ve done your part. Go home and get some sleep.”

  “I couldn’t do that. I’ll wait it out to the end. If my fiancée had gone missing, I’d move heaven and ear
th to find her, too.”

  She handed him a cup of coffee. “You took the words out of my mouth. You’re a good person.”

  “So are you. Not every tourist would interrupt her vacation to help.”

  Laura moaned for Nic’s pain while they prepared to feed the last shift coming in. As she was putting fresh sandwiches out on plates, she heard voices coming from far off. Lots of shouting. The sound grew in strength to a roar. Her heart jumped to her throat. She looked at Patrick. “They’ve found something!”

  For the next few minutes Laura couldn’t breathe while they waited for word. Pretty soon a patrol car came by.

  “I’ll find out.” Patrick hurried over on his crutches to the officer. When he turned and moved toward Laura, she could tell he was excited. “The dogs found a grave with two bodies. Through certain physical evidence, one of them was positively identified as Dorine Valfort. They’ve called off the search.”

  A cry of thanksgiving poured out of Laura.

  Nic...Nic...it’s over, my love.

  He had to be overcome with so many emotions. Exquisite relief that she’d been found, of course, but now he would have to deal with the reality of what his wife’s trauma had been and all she must have gone through, plus the dawning realization that all hope that she could return to him was lost. This was a time for mourning and Laura feared for Nic. He could go into a depression of a different kind and might not come out of it for who knew how long.

  Laura started putting the food and cups back in the cartons for the trucks to haul away, but her hands were shaking. Filled with questions about the unidentified other body, she did her part to clean up, then hurried to her car. This news would be all over the media. She raced back to her hotel to check out and drive to the airport.

  Nic’s new grieving process was just beginning along with the families’. They would have a funeral, followed by more rivers of sorrow, to endure now that they could give in to their emotions.

  The thing to do was fly home and immerse herself in work. Laura had never known Dorine, but she mourned her death, too. One day Laura might see Nic again, but probably not, because he was sensitive to the feelings of Dorine’s family and his own. There’d be talk otherwise. His life needed to go in an entirely different direction now.

  CHAPTER NINE

  March 3

  “NIC?”

  “Oui, Robert?”

  “Lieutenant Thibault is here. He says it’s important.”

  “Tell him to come in.” Nic jumped up from his office chair. He’d almost lost his mind waiting for news.

  The detective entered his office. “The case is now officially closed, Nic. The Sûreté tracked down the man responsible. He’s now in custody in Rouen. They got a confession. It’ll be all over the evening news.”

  “Thank God.” This was the information that had sprung his prison door at last.

  “The lowlife and his wife worked at the Valfort Hotel in the Old Town. After resigning their jobs, they kidnapped your wife to collect a ransom. When they followed her from her office, they created a diversion so she would stop.

  “While his wife held a gun on your wife, he drove Dorine’s car into town and left it. Then he came back. But upon his return he found your wife dead in their car. His wife claimed there’d been a struggle and the gun had gone off by accident. In an angry rage because everything had gone wrong, he shot his wife and dug a grave for them that night before disappearing.”

  The news that Dorine hadn’t suffered long before she was killed went a long way to bring Nic peace, but he needed to be alone. “Thank you, Lieutenant.”

  Once the detective left, Nic told Robert he was going home. When he reached the villa, he told Jean and Arlette he needed his privacy.

  After they retired for the night, he went into the bedroom he’d shared with Dorine and collapsed on the bed. Great sobs shook his body. If he ate or drank, he didn’t remember it. Three days later his grandfather walked in on him.

  “I don’t pretend to know the deep suffering you’ve gone through, mon fils, but I do know Dorine is in heaven and happy. She’s been there over three years and wants you to be happy, too.”

  Nic turned over on his back, looking at Maurice through red-rimmed eyes. “How terrified she must have been.”

  “Yes. But how moved she must have been to hear all the wonderful things said about her at the funeral, especially the outpouring of love from her honorable husband.”

  “Don’t ever call me honorable.”

  “Why? Because you lost your heart to Irene’s granddaughter during your Gethsemane? Want to know a secret? I lost my heart to her too. That dear girl helped both of us keep it together at the darkest moment of our lives. Now it’s time to get on with living and put all the pain, all the guilt and all the suffering away. It’s time to move into the summerhouse and dream new dreams.”

  * * *

  Nic phoned Robert. “You’re going to have to run the office for a while, because I’m leaving for California within the hour. I’ll let you know when I’ll be back.”

  On his way to the villa he phoned the pilot to get the jet ready. After he’d packed some clothes and was on his way to the airport, he phoned Maurice and gave him the news. “I’m flying to San Francisco.”

  “It’s about time, mon fils.”

  Long past time, was more like it Nic mused as he entered Holden headquarters the next day. It was two in the afternoon. When he saw the security guard in the foyer, it was like déjà vu.

  “I’m here to see the marketing manager, Laura Tate.”

  “I’m sorry, but this is her first day of vacation, sir.”

  Nic felt as if he’d been punched in the gut. “For how long?”

  “A week.”

  “Thank you.” He turned on his heel and went back out to the limo. Maybe she hadn’t left yet town yet. He’d try her condo. When he entered the foyer, he had to buzz her suite. If she didn’t answer, then he’d phone her mother and find out her destination.

  He was about to walk away when he heard her voice. “Yes?”

  Beyond elated she was home he said, “I thought you were on vacation.”

  There was such a long silence, he wondered if she’d even heard him. Then, “Nic?” The joy in that one word would live with him all his life. “Is it really you?”

  His eyes closed tightly for a moment. “Why don’t you let me in and find out?”

  “I’m on the second floor,” she said in a tremulous voice. “Just take the stairs and I’m around the corner, number six.”

  He heard the click of the inner door, then hurried through and took the stairs three at a time. She met him when he’d reached the top step.

  “Nic—” Her crystal-blue gaze played over him, blazing with a hunger to match his own. Deep in his soul he sensed nothing had changed between them. If anything, their love had deepened. “I’ve imagined this a thousand times in my dreams. I was afraid I might never see you again. I—I can’t believe you’re here.” Her voice faltered.

  “Invite me in and I’ll convince you.”

  She backed into the condo, never taking her eyes off him. He shut the door behind him.

  “I’ve done my grieving, Laura. Dorine is at peace now, and so am I. We can catch up on everything later, but right now I don’t want to talk. I just want to hold you.”

  In the next instant she ran into his arms, enveloping him with her intoxicating fragrance. He crushed her beautiful body against his. The reality of her hadn’t begun to sink in yet. He needed more of her, wanted all of her. He wanted too much all at once. He was still trying to get it through his mind and heart she was here with him at last. No barriers to keep them apart.

  Impatient for everything denied them, he picked her up and carried her over to the couch. She clung to him with a hungry moan
as he followed her down. He was desperate for this closeness while he kissed the mouth he craved over and over again.

  They lost track of time trying to merge, but no kiss, no matter how long and deep, could satisfy his need. He would never be able to get enough of her. Their legs tangled while his hands became enmeshed in her silvery-gold hair.

  “I love you, mon amour. I’ve wanted to say that since Christmas Eve, when we watched the video in my den. You changed my world.”

  Laura covered his face with kisses, thrilling him as he hadn’t thought possible. “I knew I’d fallen in love with you before I climbed out of the limousine that first day. I love you so much I hurt to the palms of my hands.” She sought his mouth again with the kind of passion that was burning him alive.

  “We need to get married. Since you willed it to me, I’m thinking the summerhouse. A small, intimate ceremony. We’ll make our home there after we come home from our honeymoon.”

  “I think I’m dying of happiness.”

  “Tomorrow we’ll fly back to Nice. You’ll have to handle your corporate job long-distance. I don’t ever want to be separated from you again. These past months...” His voice cracked. He couldn’t finish.

  “Hush, darling. It’s over. All of it.” She pressed his head to her chest. For a little while they both let go of their emotions and wept. While she rocked him, she kissed his hair and told him how she’d flown to Nice to help in the search.

  “You were there?”

  “Yes. I heard the noise and the barks of the dogs.”

  “I can’t believe it. You never told me or Maurice.”

  “No. That was your private time. I knew how much you loved Dorine. I saw the video of your wedding after I got back to San Francisco. That’s why I didn’t come near you at the time, or phone you. I knew I had to wait and hope that like our grandparents, who were given a second chance at happiness, one day you might grow to love me enough to come for me.”