Left behind, she dried her hands on the towel and hurried out into the dimly lit hall, only to feel a firm hand on her arm. It was Tris who’d emerged from the shadows.
“After dinner we’re going to take a drive alone. Since Natalie and Alain will want to join us, I expect your cooperation to make sure they remain with the grandparents. Tu compris?”
Rachel understood all right. The time for the dreaded talk wasn’t far off now.
Long after they’d joined the family and had enjoyed a delicious veal dinner, she still felt his grasp in every last molecule of her body.
CHAPTER FIVE
THE pear tart dessert was quickly demolished by Natalie. Rachel could tell it pleased her grandmother no end.
“That was one of the best meals I’ve ever tasted,” Rachel complimented her, too. “Thank you for going to so much trouble for us.”
Louise beamed. “Finding out we have a granddaughter is one of the most wonderful things that’s ever happened to this family.”
Marcel nodded in agreement before finishing off his wine. Then he lowered his glass to the table. His body language indicated he had something serious on his mind. He eyed Rachel frankly. She got a fluttery sensation in her stomach.
“We’re all anxious to know what happened when you first met Tris.”
Up until now they’d plied Natalie with dozens of questions. Now it was Rachel’s turn to reconstruct Tris’s past to their satisfaction. She wiped her mouth with the napkin and put it down next to her dessert plate.
“My parents drove me to New York to see me off at the pier. The ship was so huge I got lost trying to find my way out on deck to wave goodbye to them.
“By the time I did, we were already sailing past the Statue of Liberty. Though it had been my idea to study abroad, it was the most lonely feeling in the world to realize the ship was headed out to sea and there was no turning back.” Her voice wobbled with unexpected emotion.
Tris’s piercing gaze never left hers.
She cleared her throat. “There were several students on board also traveling to Europe. I didn’t know it until the steward informed me I would be eating all my meals with them at the same table. When I found it, I was late of course. Everyone was already enjoying lunch, including Tris. I have a picture.”
Rachel reached in her purse for it. “I kept this photo which Natalie has seen so she would know what her father looked like. At our first meal the ship photographer went around to every table snapping pictures. You can see the people in our group including Tris and me.”
She handed it to Marcel who studied it. After wiping his eyes, he passed it on to Louise.
“You’re so young and happy!” she cried out. “Look, Tris. You both wore your hair longer then.”
The second he took the picture from her hands, Rachel’s heartbeat picked up speed. Without any show of emotion, he examined it for a long time before giving it to Alain.
Clearing her throat Rachel continued to tell them what they hungered to hear. “Tris welcomed me to the table and we started talking. After our meal, he asked me to take a walk on deck with him. It was windy, but we both loved it. While we leaned against the railing and watched the ocean, we talked about our lives, our families.
“I realized right away he loved all of you so much, and worshipped Bernard who’d become a brand-new father. He was anxious for me to meet little Alain.
“I was an only child who’d just graduated from high school, eager to study French and German in Geneva. Tris told me his family was in the hotel business which required he speak several languages fluently. He told me about his university studies in Lausanne and of course about his ice hockey.
“Growing up I did some ice skating and tennis, but I was no athlete. My father enjoyed an occasional football or basketball game on TV when he wasn’t at the hospital. You can imagine I found Tris’s expertise in hockey fascinating.
“During the week we were on the ship, I made him tell me all about it so I could understand the game. He was an excellent teacher. It was a good thing since I intended to go to as many of his matches as I could.
“Needless to say we spent every minute together watching films, playing quoits. At night we danced to the orchestra. Halfway across the Atlantic we ran into the outskirts of a hurricane which played havoc with the indoor swimming pool. Tris and I had more fun because the movement of the ship caused the water to move like the surf of the ocean at high tide.
“When the storm got worse, Tris stayed with me in my cabin. We weren’t allowed to go up on deck. So many people were sick those last few days, but he plied me with cola and crackers to ward off seasickness. It worked.
“Because of the hurricane, we were two days late getting into Southampton. The night before we docked, he asked me to marry him. He gave me his hockey ring to wear until he could buy me an engagement ring. We planned to get married the next summer after we’d both finished another year of college.
“The next morning while we stood in line getting ready to debark, I slipped the letter inside his backpack, the one Alain found. I hoped Tris would read it later and be surprised. We took a train to the airport and flew to Geneva. Tris showed me around the city and we had a cheese fondue dinner before he said goodnight to me at the school.
“We—” Rachel’s voice caught with emotion, remembering that night. She thought she would die because he had to leave her. “We made plans to meet after he’d finished his training camp in Interlaken. His intention was to take me to Montreux where we would pick out a ring and I could meet all of his family. He also wanted to show me around his hometown.
“He…promised to call me every night, and I told him I would come to his next game, wherever it was. It was the last time I saw or heard from him again,” she said in a tortured whisper.
Marcel’s face grew shadowed. “He called us from New York before boarding the ship. The plan was that he would phone us after he’d reached Interlaken to start his training camp.”
“But the only call we received was the one from his coach saying he’d been struck on the head the first morning of practice,” Louise explained in a less than steady voice. “We were told he was lying unconscious in the hospital, to come immediately.”
Suddenly Tris pushed himself away from the table and stood up. His mouth looked white around the edges.
“Now that Rachel has supplied the last piece of the puzzle, there’s no need to dwell on my past any longer. If everyone will excuse us, I’m going to give her a little tour of Montreux right now.”
“You two go on,” Louise commented. “Marcel and I will enjoy the rest of the evening with our grandchildren.”
Tris’s father nodded, then began clearing the table. Natalie helped him and seemed fine with the plans. But Alain looked crushed. Not for the first time did it dawn on Rachel how hard this must be for him. He’d had his uncle all to himself since his parents’ death.
“We won’t be long,” she assured him, but he didn’t appear to be listening. She wished Tris would say something to ameliorate the situation, but his mood was no better than his nephew’s.
Once they’d reached the car, Rachel was feeling distinctly worried and uncomfortable.
“Tris—” she said as he backed around and maneuvered the car down the private drive to the main street. “I know we need time alone, but I’m worried about Alain. He’s so attached to you, I’m afraid that finding out Natalie was your daughter must have come as a huge shock.”
“There’s no question he’s been deeply affected.”
She bit her lip. “He was so quiet at dinner, I wouldn’t be surprised if he regretted finding that letter. It’s only natural he feels possessive of your attention. My heart aches for him.”
“You think mine doesn’t?” he bit out before starting the motor. “That’s one of the reasons you and I need to talk tonight.”
They left the city and climbed the steep hillside past fields of wild narcissi to the little village of Caux. With the windows do
wn, Rachel was able to breathe in their glorious scent. The car negotiated the many corkscrew turns and finally entered another private road.
She’d had an idea Tris was taking her to his house. It turned out to be an exquisite brown and white chalet. The dark green shutters and ornately hand-carved window boxes brimming with flowers were a delight.
He parked in front which gave out on a jaw-dropping view of the lake. The beauty of the fantastic panorama drew a moan from her throat. She’d never seen anything so magnificent.
“On the ship you tried to describe this view to me, but there’s no substitute for the real thing. You have to be here to understand.” After a short silence, “Where did Bernard and Francoise live?”
“Near my parents. We’re keeping the house in the family until Alain’s old enough to inherit.”
“I bet he goes over there a lot.”
“Too often.”
She lowered her head. “The poor darling. Both parents gone. I can’t imagine it. Losing my dad to a heart attack was hard enough, and I was already twenty-eight.
“Since meeting Alain, I think it would be best if Natalie and I stayed at a hotel this week. He needs to get used to the idea that he has a cousin he must share with you.”
Tris’s body tautened before his head turned in her direction. “I was watching you through dinner and knew you’d come to that conclusion. But that’s exactly what’s not going to happen.”
She shivered at the finality of those words before he got out of the car and came around her side to help. With his hand cupping her elbow, he walked her across the drive and up the steps to the main floor of the chalet.
Rachel tried not to be affected by his solid body brushing against hers, but it was impossible. Since telling his family how they’d met, she’d been bombarded by memories of the two of them entwined in each other’s arms as they’d walked on deck, unaware other people were around.
She was still incredulous they were together again, albeit under vastly different circumstances.
He unlocked the front door and escorted her inside an interior more modern than his parents’ home. It exuded its own contemporary style and elegance. However the moment she stepped in the spacious living room, it was the sight of the Alps through the picture windows that caught her attention and held her riveted.
Every day he woke up to this corner of paradise.
Yet after being with him tonight while he’d interacted with Natalie, she had no doubts he would relocate to New Hampshire if necessary to be with his daughter.
Rachel felt his presence behind her and spun around, afraid to get too close to him. Though he had no memory of her, she remembered every breathtaking second of their rapture-filled time aboard ship. Her heart was thudding too hard. His nearness confused her, stirring her senses so she couldn’t think clearly.
His hands went to his hips in a wholly male stance. “This is Natalie’s rightful home.” He broke the tense silence. “She should have been living here all along.” His breathing sounded ragged.
“Tell me one thing, Rachel— What in the name of all that’s holy stopped you from calling my parents’ house to find out why you hadn’t heard from me?”
She made the mistake of looking into those fiercely dark depths where once years ago she’d seen desire blazing for her.
Not anymore, she groaned inside. His rage had reached its peak.
“Surely you can understand why.”
“No,” he came back in a withering tone. “After what we shared on the ship, if you’d been the one who hadn’t answered my phone calls or letters, I would have moved heaven and earth to find out why.”
“You say that now because you have a daughter and are speaking from hindsight,” she cried, “but I was there.”
His brows furrowed menacingly. “So was I! That photograph is evidence.”
She took a step backward, a reaction that only seemed to enflame him more. His mouth had stretched into a thin line.
Rachel shook her head. “But you don’t have any memory of that time period. I-it isn’t as simple as you want to make it out to be,” she faltered. “Our relationship can’t be explained away in such a cut and dried manner. The reality is, we only knew each other for nine days,” her voice trembled.
“Long enough to make a baby,” he thundered.
“Couples get pregnant all the time without the commitment being there.”
“I gave you my ring. We were planning to get married!”
Her breathing grew shallow. “I know. But after waiting weeks without hearing from you—not one word or phone call—I had to believe you’d changed your mind. How could I possibly have known you were lying in a coma, unable to contact me?” she almost shouted.
Worse than the stream of French invective pouring from his lips was the wintry look in his eyes.
“Tris—what else could I think except that once you’d rejoined your hockey friends at training camp, you looked back on our experience as nothing more than a holiday romance?”
He shook his head. “You didn’t have the right to decide that on your own. Not after I’d proposed to you and we’d been intimate.”
“A lot of guys say things they don’t mean in the heat of the moment. We were young, a-and reckless.”
His hand went to the back of his neck in a frustrated gesture. “I’m not the kind of man who goes around proposing to every woman I meet.”
“I know that now, but twelve years ago you were only nineteen. You saw the picture. We were a bunch of students having a lark. It was perfectly understandable that once you left the ship, you would have lost interest in me and decided to end our relationship the way you did.
“Try to look at it from my point of view. During the crossing I was available and we both had time on our hands. The setting was perfect. We thoroughly enjoyed every minute together. But as time went on without my hearing from you, it was clear to me I was only an interlude in your life. Not your raison d’etre,” she said in a tremulous whisper.
Lines marred his handsome features. “Damn you, Rachel.”
“I damned you my whole pregnancy while I waited to hear from you,” she rejoindered, fighting the tears stinging her eyes.
“The agony was so terrible my appetite failed and I started losing weight. Pretty soon I fell behind in my studies. Madame Soulis called my parents. They insisted I come straight home.
“I fought them because I was still hoping you would phone me, or show up at the school, or send me a postcard—any sign to indicate you still wanted me in your life. It never happened!” Her cry reverberated in the room.
“Eventually I flew home. My parents took one look at me and made an appointment for me to see a doctor. When I told him everything, he examined me and discovered I was pregnant.”
A grim look of self-recrimination broke out on Tris’s face. “Was I so besotted with you, I didn’t bother to use protection?”
“No. You were very careful about that. When I told the doctor, he explained that nothing’s completely safe.”
She heard his sharp intake of breath. “Did we make love more than once?”
His question reminded her how completely surreal their situation was that he had to ask her for every piece of information about the most memorable time of her entire life.
“We slept together the last two nights on the ship, and the next night at a hotel in Geneva where we had dinner. After that you took me to school in a taxi. It was purgatory watching you drive away.”
His hooded eyes scrutinized her relentlessly. “Was I your first?”
She looked everywhere except at him. “Yes. I’d dated several guys in high school, but I didn’t know the meaning of passion until I met you.”
After a palpable silence, “Did I take advantage of you?”
Only an honorable man would have asked her that.
“No, Tris. What we felt for each other was entirely mutual. We tried to control ourselves, but gave up after the second day at sea. When we started to
feel the effects of the hurricane, I got frightened and asked you to hold me all night.
“One thing led to another. In all honesty, I was always out of control where you were concerned. I’d fallen in love with you and never wanted to let you go.
“But for the rest of my pregnancy I hated you because you weren’t there to share it with me. Then Natalie was born…
“One look at her precious face and I let my anger go because she was your living image. Our daughter represents the best of both of us. From that day on, I never looked back.”
His features hardened. “When she got old enough, what did you tell her about me?”
“That I was just a girl on a ship with whom you had a good time. Once we said goodbye, you promptly forgot me and wouldn’t welcome learning there were consequences of our time together.”
“She accepted that?”
“Yes! You don’t have to be grown up to understand how humiliating it would be to have to beg for love if it isn’t freely given.”
He paced the floor, then wheeled around. “How did you manage?”
She thought she understood what he was asking.
“My parents helped me. They’re saints. Slowly I got my university degree. After Natalie started first grade, I worked part-time at various jobs, but took summers and holidays off to be with her. Last year I bought the townhouse.”
“Tell me about Steve.”
He leaped topics so fast, she had a hard time keeping up. She hadn’t once thought of Steve since leaving Concord. Guilt engulfed her. “He’s a wonderful man.”
“And?” he prodded.
“We haven’t dated long enough yet, but my feelings for him have been growing,” she defended. “He’s been particularly attentive to Natalie.”
“Unfortunately for him he’s gone after the wrong woman.”
Her heart pounded furiously. “Be careful, Tris. Don’t base what you think you know about me on a nine day experience you’ll never remember.”
Their New-Found Family Page 7