“Thank you. I don’t deserve how good you are to me.”
“I’d like to do a lot more for you if you’d let me.”
“Dominic—I never planned to be with you again, but now that you’ve seen Alain, I can’t keep the truth from you. Over sixteen months ago my stepsister had a baby.”
“Your stepsister...”
He groaned as unmitigated joy streamed through him. Her stepsister had been the one in love with this mystery man. Everything was finally starting to make sense.
“Yes. She adored him and named him Alain. But ten days after he was born she died of a staph infection.”
“I’m so sorry that happened to her.” He studied her profile. “How hard that had to have been for you and your family.”
“You have no idea.”
“I’m sure I don’t.” He leaned closer. “You’ve been such a good listener I want to hear whatever you’re willing to tell me.”
Nathalie smoothed a strand of hair behind her ear. “She was an elementary school teacher. One evening she and some other teachers from her school went to the Guinguet, a place I’d never heard of. I was working in Nice at the time and learned all this from her best friend, Claire, who lived across the street from us.”
At the mention of the Guinguet, Dominic’s heart began pounding like a jackhammer.
“Apparently it was love at first sight for her, but she kept him a complete secret from our family. According to Claire, her affair lasted a month, then he suddenly stopped meeting her. Two months later she went to the doctor and found out she was pregnant. I remember that she was in a terrible depression throughout her pregnancy and refused to talk about the man she’d loved.”
“Incroyable,” Dominic murmured.
“She refused to give our family any information about the man and insisted we never talk about him again. She begged us to leave the whole subject of Alain alone.”
“But you couldn’t do that.” How he loved this woman!
Nathalie looked at him with tear-filled eyes. “I honored her wishes until the beginning of this summer after I broke it off with Guy. When I told him I was going to adopt Alain, it changed our relationship. He didn’t want to bring her son into our marriage. For that and other reasons, I said goodbye to him.”
Grâce à Dieu.
“Oh, Dominic, Alain is so adorable and it seemed so terrible he didn’t have a mother or a father, I couldn’t bear it. So I thought that before I started adoption proceedings, I’d at least try to find my stepsister’s lover, as he has a right to his child.
“That’s when I called Claire to gather any information she could give me. All she said was that he was a Provencal, had worked on your family’s vineyard and Antoinette met him at Le Guinguet. At that point I started wondering about the man she’d loved. Knowing her, he had to have been someone exceptional. Maybe something serious had happened to him and he couldn’t let her know why he’d stopped seeing her. He left before she learned she was pregnant so he never knew he was a father.”
All the time she was talking, Dominic was fitting two and two together so fast, his thoughts were running away with him.
“I’m pretty sure she’d met a married man who’d wanted an affair and forced her to keep quiet about it. Since none of us knew the truth and never would, she asked our family to put the questions away and simply love Alain. I know now it was wise advice. I’m through looking.”
“Nathalie—” He was trying to control his emotions. “Now that I know the truth, then there’s no reason we can’t go on seeing each other.”
She averted her eyes. “I couldn’t. Please don’t ask. If you wouldn’t mind driving me back home now, I promised my mother I wouldn’t be long.”
Beyond frustrated, he started the car and they left for her house. “Is it because of the man you’d planned to marry, your feelings for him prevent you from wanting to be with me?”
“You know I don’t have feelings for him any longer or I wouldn’t be this involved with you, but I’d rather not talk about it.” He could feel her separating herself emotionally from him.
In a minute he turned the corner and pulled up in front. “What will it take for you to agree for us to be together? I didn’t make up what happened when you melted in my arms on the sand. I need an answer I can understand.”
“I’m...frightened to tell you.”
What?
“Am I some kind of monster to you?”
“Of course not!” she cried.
“Nathalie—” He’d reached his limit.
She turned a pained face to him. “How would you feel if I told you I thought my stepsister had either had an affair with you, or Etienne.”
“Say that again?” Surely he hadn’t heard her correctly.
“My nephew looks so much like all of you, it’s uncanny.”
“Do you have a picture of him?”
She nodded and pulled one out of her wallet. His heart almost failed him when he examined the black-haired cherub up close. She’d spoken the truth. “I can’t believe it,” he murmured. “Alain is a double for some of the baby pictures of me and Etienne. Talk about look-alikes.” He handed it back to her. “It’s remarkable.”
“I couldn’t believe I’d met two men in one family who could possibly be his father. Then came another shock when I met your cousin in your office. He shares the same looks with you and your brother. I never saw anything like it. After you told me his marital history, I—I’ve wondered if Raoul could be the one,” she stammered.
This was unbelievable! “You’re right. Your stepsister’s son has a remarkably strong resemblance to all three of us.”
Her eyes beseeched him for answers. “Who would have thought?”
He swallowed hard, trying to digest everything. “I only saw Alain from a distance earlier.”
“He has that same lustrous black Fontesquieu hair. You should see his piercing dark eyes in person. All three of you could claim him. When I first met you, you fit the description my stepsister had given Claire. You worked on the vineyard and I couldn’t help but think you could have been with her.”
Dominic was dumbfounded. “All this time we’ve been together you’ve thought I could have been her lover...?”
“At first it seemed more than plausible, but I never expected to become involved with you. That first day you took my application, I could see you written all over Alain. He has a birthmark on his leg. I saw the same one on the underside of your forearm and thought you could be the one. It’s the only reason I returned on Monday to see if I’d been hired.”
“You noticed that?”
“Yes. But then on the cruiser you told me about the women in your life you enjoyed, but didn’t marry. I deduced you probably hadn’t been with her. But you can’t imagine my guilt over being attracted to you when I thought she could have been with you and had your baby.”
“I’m still trying to take this in.” He was incredulous.
Nathalie stirred restlessly. “You did admit you’d been to the Guinguet several times.”
“So you thought that’s where it all started with me.”
She nodded. “I lived in hopes of getting closer to you and learning all I could first. But then my world was turned upside down because your brother, Etienne, stopped by the mobile home. You have no idea what meeting him did to me. After you told me your brother had loved another woman before his marriage, but the family thought she wasn’t good enough for him, I thought... Well, you know what I thought. Couple that with my meeting your cousin, and I couldn’t go on with my plan.”
A man could take only so much. “Do you have a picture of her?”
“Yes.”
“May I see it?”
She hesitated before opening her purse. After pulling out her wallet, she handed him a photo.
He took a look at it. “She�
��s very attractive, but I’ve never seen this woman in my life.”
A hand went to her throat. “This whole situation is hopeless.”
Dominic’s heart almost failed him. Exasperated, he said, “Nathalie? Why didn’t you just come out and ask me the first time we were alone?”
She shook her head. “How could I have dared do that when you were a perfect stranger? After Paul told me that you and Etienne were both members of the Fontesquieu family, not mere employees, that made my fear worse. Then I met Raoul. In my own way I did infiltrate, and you knew something was off.”
“True, but you could have handed me this picture. I could have asked them if they’d seen her or knew her without telling them my reasons.”
“You’re right. But to tell you the whole truth would have seemed like an accusation, especially if you and the others were innocent of being with her. You could have lied to protect yourselves. I wouldn’t have blamed you.”
Her reasoning made a bizarre kind of sense.
“I thought... Oh, what does it matter? All this time I’ve been functioning under a premise that’s way off. I’m so sorry.”
“Nathalie—” he said, but she interrupted him because she was beyond listening.
“My mother wanted me to leave everything alone, but I was so certain I was right. You must think I’m a fool.” She opened the car door.
“Wait—”
“It’s no good. We still don’t have answers and I’m not going to ask Etienne or Raoul anything. That’s why I stopped picking grapes. This has to be goodbye, Dominic.”
Before he could credit it, she slid out while he was still holding the photo, and ran toward the house. Dominic didn’t try to stop her. Tonight it was more important he get answers. Whatever the outcome, his whole life and hers were going to change.
He left for Vence and drove straight to his office. Theo had already gone home. Dominic phoned Etienne.
“We need to talk. Can you come to the office now?” Dominic had decided to question his brother first.
“Give me a half hour.”
“You’ve got it.”
They clicked off. If by any chance Etienne had been with the woman in this picture, then his brother needed to know. Dominic had been in Paris and wouldn’t have known if his brother had gotten involved with Nathalie’s stepsister.
While he waited, he took care of some business Theo had left for him. Before long Etienne walked in. “What’s going on? You sounded ultraserious.”
“That’s because it could be. I have something to show you. Maybe you should sit down.”
“That bad?” Etienne remained standing with his hands on his hips.
“Have you ever seen or known this woman?” Dominic handed him the two-by-three colored photo.
Etienne’s dark brows furrowed before he studied it, then shook his head. “She’s a beauty, but I never saw her in my life. Who is she?” He handed the photo back to him.
For his brother’s sake and his own, relief swamped Dominic. “You’re not going to believe what I have to tell you.” For the next little while he related everything Nathalie had said, right down to the birthmarks.
His brother whistled. “Mademoiselle Fournier believes her stepsister got pregnant by a Fontesquieu?”
Dominic nodded. “She swears the boy could belong to any one of the three of us.”
“You’ve seen him?”
“She showed me a picture. It could have been one of us when we were that age.”
They stared at each other. “Well, it isn’t you, and isn’t me. When was this supposed to have happened?”
“According to Nathalie, their affair took place two and a half years ago.”
Etienne’s eyes narrowed. “That’s when Raoul got married. Are you thinking what I’m thinking? People have often said they think we’re all brothers.”
“I know,” Dominic murmured. “As late as yesterday evening I thought it was possible Nathalie had been involved with Raoul because I didn’t know about her stepsister. Naturally, when I introduced them, they didn’t know each other. There’s only one thing to do. Show Raoul this photo.”
“Agreed.”
“If this is the woman Raoul fell in love with, then his life is going to get a thousand times more complicated.”
“When are you going to talk to him?”
CHAPTER NINE
MONDAYS WERE ALWAYS busy at the pharmacy. Nathalie went in at nine and waited on customers with a quick break for lunch. Her mom stayed home to take a breather from work. Nathalie told Denis to go home early and she would close up at seven, her one late night during the week. It was time she did her part.
The last customer left the pharmacy a few minutes after seven. Nathalie locked the door and was walking to the rear of the store when someone knocked on the front door.
She turned and walked back, thinking it was the customer who’d just left. But it was Dominic! Her heart plummeted to her feet.
“Will you let me in for a minute, Nathalie? I have something important to tell you.”
Help. “No, Dominic. I’ve already said goodbye to you.”
“It can’t be goodbye. I’ve found your nephew’s father. We need to talk.”
What?
She knew Dominic was honesty personified. That meant he’d shown Antoinette’s picture to his brother and cousin. Which one had recognized her? Nathalie pressed a hand to her heart, unable to believe this was happening.
“Where can we go now that you’ve closed for the night? I’ll follow you.”
She didn’t dare go anywhere alone with him. Better to stay right here with the lights on. She unlocked the door. “Come in.”
“Thank you.”
There was no one more appealing to Nathalie than Dominic. Tonight he’d dressed in a business suit and tie. No doubt he’d come from some kind of meeting. She looked uninspiring in a white lab coat over a dress, no makeup and her hair pulled back to the nape. But right now that wasn’t important.
“Which one of them recognized her?”
He studied her features. “Raoul.”
“So he was the one?”
Dominic nodded. “I asked him to tell me if he’d seen or knew this woman, then I handed him the photo. He took one look at it and paled before asking me how I came by it. That’s when I told him you’d been looking for the man your stepsister had loved, but I didn’t tell him there was a baby.”
“Oh, Dominic—” She hugged her arms to her waist, hardly able to contain her emotions.
“He remembers her telling him she had a stepsister and can’t believe it’s you! He wants desperately to talk to you anywhere, anytime you say.”
Her eyes met the burning blackness of his. “I want that too,” her voice trembled.
“You have no idea how eager he is and will do whatever you suggest.”
She shook her head. “That’s wonderful!”
“He’s wonderful. You’ve only met Raoul for a moment, but you don’t know him yet. There’s no better man in this world.”
Nathalie had difficulty swallowing. “Obviously my stepsister felt the same way or she would never have gotten involved with him. Where would he prefer to meet?”
“That’s up to you. You could come to my apartment since he’s living there with me.”
She moistened her lips nervously. “When would be a good time?”
“As soon as you can make it. Since I told him, he’s been so anxious to talk to you about your stepsister, he hasn’t been able to settle down.”
“I’ve been in that state since I learned she was pregnant.” She drew in a breath. “Is he free this evening?”
“Yes. I could drive you there and bring you back.”
“That wouldn’t be a good idea. Give me a minute to freshen up, then I’ll follow you to the chateau. After my talk wit
h your cousin, I’ll drive home because I have to help with Alain.”
He nodded. “So be it.”
“I’ll see you out and lock the door, then let myself out the back door.”
Dominic left the pharmacy while she rushed to take off her lab coat and run a brush through her hair. After texting her mother that she wouldn’t be home for a while, she put on lipstick.
Her mom wouldn’t believe it when she heard the news that Alain’s father had been found. Nathalie could hardly believe it either. Finally Nathalie locked up and followed the black Renault to Vence.
It gave her a strange feeling to park outside one of the entrances to the chateau, knowing she would be entering the home of the man she loved with all her heart and soul.
He unlocked the door that led upstairs to his private suite of rooms. The elegance of the sumptuous chateau wasn’t lost on her as they walked down a hall lined with paintings.
When he opened the door at the end, his cousin stood there in the salon waiting for them in a sport shirt and trousers. Raoul was the tall, striking Fontesquieu her stepsister had given her heart to. Naturally, Dominic had alerted his cousin that they were on their way.
Raoul stared at her for a full minute after she walked inside. “You and Toinette might be stepsisters, but you share one similarity. She is a raving beauty too.”
Nathalie was so overwhelmed to have found him, her eyes filled with tears. “You called her Toinette. That was my stepfather’s nickname for her too.”
His handsome features softened. “When I met her, she introduced herself as Antoinette Gilbert. I shortened it.” Raoul held the photo in his hand. “This is the only remembrance I have of her. May I keep it?”
“Of course. We have hundreds at home.”
“If you two will excuse me, I’ll go in the other room.”
Raoul turned to Dominic. “Are you kidding me? Stay! You’re the reason any of this is happening. Please sit down, Nathalie.”
She sank down on one of the leather couches. Nathalie could tell a man had been living here. All the masculine touches proclaimed Dominic’s more modern abode. He sat next to her.
Falling For Her French Tycoon (Escape To Provence Book 1) Page 11