“Oh, Kellie—”
Then she hugged her again. “How absolutely fantastic! I’m so happy for both of you I could dance across the lake.” She patted Kellie’s little tummy. “I’m going to have a niece or nephew who’ll be half American. When the family hears this news, it will pull them out of a pit they’ve been in since the accident.”
Kellie shuddered. Claudine put an affectionate hand on her arm. “Don’t look so tragic. It is not the end of the world. This is the beginning.”
Tears blurred Kellie’s eyes. “How I wish I believed that. Philippe loathes the very sight of me.”
“Really.” Her lovely Gallic features mocked Kellie. “So explain the reason why he bought the Château des Fleurs.”
“He did it for Jean-Luc.”
“Ah yes? He bought a small palace from a prince for a little child? I think you and I need a heart-to-heart.”
“I’d like that, but not here. Let’s go for a ride in the boat where we can be alone.” She pulled two life jackets from the locker and handed one of them to Claudine.
“You mean before he decides to come back?” They both put them on and cinched the straps.
“Something like that, yes.”
“You’re really afraid of him, aren’t you.”
“No…yes…but not in the way you mean.”
Claudine’s eyes narrowed. “Come on. I’ll undo the ropes.”
Kellie started the motor. After Claudine jumped in, Kellie began to reverse away from the pier. For a few minutes they traveled at a steady speed, then she pushed on the throttle and they headed for open water.
Her glance took in the sky. It looked a little darker than it was before her brief nap, but there were other boats including a couple of sailboats still taking runs.
Deciding to remain on the side of caution, she only drove their boat another mile, then cut the engine so they could slowly drift back toward the pier with the help of the wind.
“We are alone now, my friend. I want to hear every detail from the moment Princess Lee arrived in the Ville d’Eaton.” It was one of the many little jokes she’d made that had endeared her to Kellie’s grandfather.
It was so easy to talk to Claudine. For the next half hour, all the pain and the anguish that had been locked up for so long came spilling out.
“The thing is, Claudine, I’ll do anything Philippe wants so he can be near his child. He’ll have daily access if that’s his wish. We’ll work out the visitation to make him happy. But I can’t stay at the château.
“It’s not just because of its royal history. You have to see I’ve done nothing to deserve such a grand scale of generosity. Naturally I understand he wants to be responsible for the baby. Of course he wants me to live in a decent place. So do I. But not at the estate. Raoul intended for Philippe to live there. Not his divorced wife!
“You’re close to Philippe. How do I tell him without making the wall higher between us?”
She gave a Gallic shrug of her shoulders. “You don’t.”
“Claudine—”
Her dark eyes flashed. “Aren’t you the one who asked for my opinion?”
“Yes.”
“Then take it and stay where you are! Philippe is right about you in one sense. You do try to orchestrate everything. It’s always with the best of intentions, of course. You want everyone to be happy. But life can’t always be structured like that, as you’ve found out to your detriment.”
Claudine was only speaking the truth.
“For once, why don’t you stop thinking. Just take one day at a time. You need to concentrate on yourself and the baby.
“If he didn’t adore you, he wouldn’t have bought the Château des Fleurs or given you carte blanche to decorate it the way you wanted. As for the greenhouse being turned into a restaurant, you can be certain Philippe obtained Raoul’s approval long before now.
“Once and for all, give my brother a chance to orchestrate things for a change. He may surprise you.”
Kellie had been listening.
She finally lifted her head to tell Claudine she would take her advice when a big wave slapped hard against the boat, soaking them in spray.
Distracted for the moment, she looked out over the water. While they’d been talking, whitecaps had formed. The shore appeared farther away than ever. They’d been pushed across the lake and were halfway to the other side which was still about two and a half miles away. By now the sky was filled with thunder-heads.
“We’ve got to go back right now.”
Claudine nodded, white-faced.
Without wasting any time, Kellie started the motor and turned the boat in the direction of their pier.
The wind had grown fierce. She’d never seen a storm like this on the lake before. There was no way she could speed through the swells. The twenty-eight-mile-long body of water resembled an ocean.
“Oh Mon Dieu—” Claudine cried out in terror. “Look over there!”
Kellie was concentrating hard on keeping the boat from capsizing. As she lifted her eyes in the direction Claudine was pointing, her heart almost failed her.
A funnel had formed from one of the blackest clouds. She watched in horror as it touched down on the lake and started coming in their direction.
“That’s a waterspout!”
Once when she’d been out boating with Philippe, he told her the lake’s proximity to the Jura mountains produced waterspouts, mostly during the summer months. But sometimes they happened during storms as late as October and November. This was one of those rare times.
He’d warned her that if she ever sighted one while out on the water, she should make a ninety-degree turn away from the direction it was coming and head like hell for shore.
Following his advice, she turned the wheel, but she had to keep the speed down to negotiate the waves.
Claudine was too terrified to scream. She kept crossing herself. That was good. They needed all the help they could get to survive this.
Kellie never looked back. She didn’t dare or she’d probably pass out with fright. To make things worse, it began raining. Not in drops, but sheets!
If the downpour continued for any length of time, the boat would be swamped. Kellie found herself muttering a prayer as they plowed through the angry water. Visibility was now zero.
“We’re g-going to d-die, Kellie.” Between fright and the freezing cold elements, both their teeth were chattering.
“N-no we’re n-not! We’re g-going to live!”
I have a child to raise with Philippe.
It seemed like they’d been going nowhere for hours when suddenly they crashed against some wood pilings. Claudine was knocked to the floor of the boat. The impact pressed Kellie hard against the steering wheel. Thanks to her life preserver which acted like an air bag, she felt no pain.
Almost immediately she heard some people shouting. Before she knew it, strangers had helped pull her and Claudine out of the boat. From what she could gather, it was a middle-aged couple. They owned a vineyard near the shore and introduced themselves as Valerie and Louis Charriere.
“Are you all right?”
“Can you walk?”
She and Claudine both answered yes.
“Come in the house,” the woman urged. “You must get warm and dry.”
The hospitality for which Switzerland was famous had never been in more evidence.
At Kellie’s request, Louis said he would contact Philippe. His wife hustled them inside their house. She handed them robes. It was heaven to be able to take a shower and enjoy hot soup afterward.
Valerie was like a fairy godmother. Their clothes had already been washed and were now drying. While they tucked into a second bowl of what Kellie considered a hearty beef stew, Louis entered the kitchen with their purses. He smiled at Kellie.
“I just spoke to your frantic husband. He’ll be here shortly.”
Claudine’s gaze darted to Kellie’s with that I-told-you-so look in her eyes. The thought of seeing Philipp
e sent a thrill through her body.
“We heard the severe weather warning and went out to secure our boat. That’s when we saw yours headed toward our pier.”
“I’m sorry our boat ran into it. You couldn’t see anything out there for a little while. We’ll pay you for the damage.”
“Let’s not worry about that now.”
After the soup, she made them hot chocolate. “Drink it! After such a scare, you need the sugar.”
Valerie waited on them with the same care she would have given one of her own children. Soon their clothes were dry, even their sneakers. A few minutes later she and Claudine were fully dressed again and felt renewed.
They went back to the kitchen to thank Valerie for everything. While they stood talking, Louis walked in the kitchen followed by two tall, strikingly handsome men, one of whom was still dressed in midnight-blue trousers. She hardly recognized the damp, dirt-stained shirt as the one he’d worn to court. The tie was gone along with his suit jacket.
Valerie cried out, “Prince Raoul!”
But Kellie’s eyes were focused on Philippe who no longer looked like the angry man who had driven off hours earlier with no hint that he would ever be back.
His pronounced pallor bespoke the true state of his emotions as he came closer to reach for her and Claudine at the same time. His strong arms went around both of them.
“Thank God you’re safe!” His voice trembled with a huskiness that bespoke his suffering. He hugged them tighter. Kellie felt him bury his face in her hair and kiss her as if she were something precious.
“Raoul and I were at his château when he was informed of the storm warning. We hurried down to the pier to secure his boat, then drove over to secure ours. That’s the moment we saw the waterspout.”
Kellie could feel the sinews in his arms harden as if he were reliving his terror.
“Mon Dieu—when I discovered the boat was missing and you two weren’t anywhere around—”
“Thanks to Kellie’s quick thinking and courage, we are alive and well,” Claudine broke in. “I’m ashamed to say that if it had been up to me, we would still be out there somewhere.”
“That’s not true,” Kellie defended her friend.
“Oh, yes, it is. You knew exactly what you were doing while I just sat there waiting for the inevitable to happen. I’m very ashamed of myself.”
“All I did was remember what Philippe told me to do if I ever saw one of those coming.”
Kellie eased away from her husband’s arm enough to look up at him. “I’ll always be thankful for those words of wisdom. They saved the three of us.”
She watched him swallow hard before his gaze dropped to her stomach covered by the blouse.
He gathered her against him once more. “Let’s go home.” He whispered the words against her ear where she felt the brush of his lips. His touch traveled through her body like a current of electricity.
Over his broad shoulder she saw Claudine’s eyes gleam with an unspoken message. It said, “Don’t think, my friend. Just go with the moment and see what happens.”
That’s exactly what Kellie intended to do.
The next few minutes passed in a blur as they thanked the Charrieres for everything they’d done. Kellie heard her husband promise they would be repaid for their help. Then Raoul assisted Claudine out to his Land Rover.
While they got in the front, Philippe helped Kellie into the back. When he was seated and had shut the door, he pulled her onto his lap. She melted against him, unable to believe she was finally where she’d always wanted to be.
He crushed her in his arms without saying anything, but she could hear the strong pounding of his heart against hers. They were communing in the age-old way.
Words would come later. Right now all that mattered was to be held in his embrace. She would do as Claudine advised and just feel instead of think.
In the front seat Raoul had asked Claudine for a blow by blow account of what had happened on the lake. It was cathartic for her to work the tension out of her system by telling him about their harrowing experience. He made an exceptional listener.
Kellie loved Raoul for being such an incredible friend to all of them, but especially to her husband.
It seemed that when Philippe had left her in the foyer, he’d driven to Raoul’s instead of speeding out on the highway where he might have been injured. No matter what an expert he was behind the wheel of a car, he wouldn’t have been paying attention, not when certain demons were driving him.
His solid masculine warmth, the familiar smell of his skin combined with the scent of the soap he always used in the shower—all mingled to arouse desires she’d had to suppress these last few months.
It was automatic to burrow her face in his neck. She found herself kissing him. She couldn’t help it.
When his breath caught, she realized he was barely holding on to his control. Kellie had made love with her husband too many times not to pick up on the signals that meant he could hardly wait to get her alone.
She lifted her head to gently bite his earlobe. For some reason that had always been one of his sensitive spots. She enjoyed driving him crazy there.
He was going crazy now. She could feel it in his body tension.
The second Raoul pulled the Land Rover to a stop in their parking area, Philippe jumped out of the back seat so fast with her, she didn’t have time to blink.
The storm had passed over. Everything was dripping wet, but at least the rain had stopped.
Raoul leaned out his window. “Claudine’s going to spend tonight with Lee and me. See you two around.”
He backed up in a hurry and drove away.
CHAPTER TEN
BEFORE Kellie could countenance it, Philippe had picked her up in hard-muscled arms. He started across the lawn with her.
She thought he would take her inside the château. Instead he headed for the tower. He moved with effortless male grace. From watching videos, she knew her husband climbed mountains the same way, making it look easy.
Kellie didn’t know how he could see where he was going with her long hair spilling all over his face and arm. But he seemed oblivious as his strides brought them closer to their destination.
When he pushed the door open without having to use a key, she realized he must have come in here earlier looking for her and hadn’t bothered to lock it.
Again he surprised her by removing her jacket and lowering her to the couch rather than the bed. But Kellie had learned her lessons the hard way and didn’t question his actions.
He pulled off her shoes and stockings as he’d done last week, then found the white quilt and put it over her. Their eyes met and clung in feverish anticipation of what was about to come.
“I’m going to build a fire,” he murmured, bending over to brush his lips against hers. “Don’t move.”
“I wouldn’t dream of it,” she responded in a trembling voice.
Loving every centimeter of his powerful body, she watched him hunker down. Out of need, she caressed his back while he worked. Within minutes the kindling had caught fire. He put two logs on top of it, then turned to her.
Kissing the palm that had been touching him he said, “I need a shower.”
“Hurry,” she begged him.
His eyes glowed with desire. He reached out and slid his hand over her jeans to the hard little mound where their unborn baby lived. She saw unabashed joy spread over his face.
Too soon he got to his feet and disappeared into the bathroom.
It had grown dark out. A steady wind blew, filling the tower with its mournful sounds. Firelight flickered against the walls. There could be no place in the world more romantic.
Back again with her beloved husband, she could honestly say she’d never been this happy in her entire life. In a few minutes she would show him what he meant to her.
Her heart raced when he came in by the fire with a towel riding low around his hips. His dark male beauty took her breath.
He pulled back the quilt and knelt at the side of the couch to look at her. His gaze took in the changes to her body. Her eyes closed when she felt his mouth kiss her belly. Then it fell on hers. They both moaned in ecstasy as he carried her to the bed.
They made love on and off throughout the night. Each time was like the first. Their passion for each other was too overwhelming for talk. There were so many things waiting to be said, but this night was a time out of time. Their sensual needs had overpowered them. The words would come later.
Kellie opened her eyes when a spoke of sunlight made its appearance across the bed, warming her hand that lay on top of the covers. Her husband’s right leg held her left one trapped.
It felt so good to wake up that way, she turned her head toward him, longing to know his possession once more.
“Philippe?”
“Mmm?”
“Are you awake?”
“Do you want me to be?” His deep voice told her he was still asleep.
Disappointed, she bit her lip. “I want what you want.”
He chuckled and pulled her into his arms. “My insatiable wife. Pregnancy has made you more exciting than ever.”
She kissed his compelling mouth. “I hope you’re still saying that when I’m ready to deliver.”
He opened his eyes. This morning they were more brown than black between his dark lashes. His expression grew serious.
“When you left for Washington, I found out how much I truly loved you. The pain of loss was so acute, it turned me into someone I’m ashamed of. I never want to experience that agony again. It’s a miracle you came back to me, let alone that I have any friends left.”
She shuddered. “It was all my fault for hurting you, darling. Forgive me.”
He heaved a tortured sigh. “I’m the one who needs to ask your forgiveness. Kellie—I’m anything but the noble, honorable man you seem to think I am.”
“Oh, yes, you are. I was in court with you yesterday, remember? What you did for Jean-Luc’s father won everyone’s admiration.”
“That’s what I’m talking about, mon amour. I’ve lied and manipulated so many situations, it’s time I confessed.”
The Baby Dilemma Page 14
