His eyes narrowed on her mouth. “A few.”
“I have to admit I’m surprised you’re not married.”
“So’s my mother.” He expelled a breath.
“I have one of those, too.”
“Our daughter appears to adore her. I must admit I’m looking forward to meeting her.”
“For Natalie’s sake mom always wanted you to know the truth. I did, too. But the thought of you being married with children and having to tell them…” Her voice trailed.
“I came close to marriage twice in my late twenties,” he volunteered. “Before that the doctors warned me that if I were to play hockey again and receive another blow to my head, I probably wouldn’t wake up. Deprived of enjoying my favorite sport, I’m afraid I spent my college years a very angry man. I dated some, but marriage was the last thing on my mind.”
“I can understand that. You had such a passion for it, Tris. It doesn’t surprise me it took you time to figure out where to channel all that competitive energy.”
He nodded. “Papa liked my ideas for expansion and gave me free rein with that side of the business. I found the work challenging. Over time I had relationships with several women.
“In the one case, the attraction started out strong. But when I was away from her, I didn’t miss her to the degree that she was my whole life. I eventually ended it.
“Later on I met another woman who appealed to me initially. But as time unfolded, I discovered she had a hard edge. When I thought of us having children, I couldn’t see her being the best mother, so I broke it off.”
“I can relate,” Rachel murmured. “It’s one thing to meet someone you’re drawn to, but quite another to watch them interact with your child. Or not… Because of Natalie, I’m afraid I’ve been very critical of the men I’ve dated.”
“Except for Steve.”
She swallowed hard. “Yes. He’s—”
“A wonderful man,” Tris finished the thought. “So you’ve told me. Natalie seems to like him, too.”
“She does.” Rachel started to squirm. “What about your receptionist?”
“Suzanne?”
“If that’s her name, then yes.” The words came out jerkily. “When do you intend for Natalie to meet her?”
Tris changed positions so he could stretch out with his head propped. His rock-hard legs brushed the side of her hip and remained there. The rain continued to pour down, enclosing them in an intimacy that made her tremble.
“One of these days I’ll take her to the office and introduce her to everyone.”
Rachel tried to move to the side so she couldn’t feel any physical contact with him. But she only made more room for him to sprawl against her.
“Does Suzanne know you have a daughter?”
“Bien sur. After I told my parents, I called my office staff together and explained the situation.”
“What a shock that must have been to everyone.”
“Let’s put it this way. The revelation caused a minor earthquake at the Monbrisson Corporation.”
“I knew it!” Rachel whispered.
“What do you think you know?” he demanded quietly.
“When Natalie’s team won their championship, I almost called your office to tell you about her. The other fathers were there to congratulate their girls. But at the last second I lost my nerve because I didn’t know what your reaction would be. The last thing I wanted to do was embarrass you.”
He jackknifed into a sitting position, bringing him too close to her. “Embarrass me? Mon Dieu, don’t you realize that knowing I have a daughter has brought me unspeakable joy?” His voice throbbed with emotion. “Guy still hasn’t gotten over the fact that he played a part in getting us together.”
“What about Suzanne?”
“What about her? My news put an end to any fantasies she might have entertained about us being a couple.”
“I don’t understand.” By this time Rachel got to her knees to break the contact. “I thought—I mean you said something about Alain being threatened by her. I took it to assume you’d been dating her.”
She couldn’t read the expression in his dark eyes. “Suzanne has been my employee for four years. I’m afraid it’s my mother who has nursed the hope I might see her in a more personal light. Unfortunately Maman made it known to Alain. When he questioned me about it, I put him straight.”
The news that he wasn’t involved with anyone shouldn’t have excited Rachel so much.
“Did you notice the rain has stopped?” She jumped to her feet in order to get away from him. “Now we can look for him.”
Crouching a little, she stepped past Tris’s well honed male physique and emerged from the tent, gulping in the cool moist air.
“Wear this,” Tris said a minute later. He was wearing a sweater, and handed her one of his hooded pullovers from the backpack.
“Thank you.” Rachel put it on, aware of his eyes watching her. Though it drowned her, the dry warmth felt good.
She looked up at the sky. The rain might have let up, but there was no break in the clouds.
“It’ll probably rain again before long.” Tris read her mind. “Before that happens and it gets too dark, let’s see if we can find him.”
They worked their way through the wet ground cover bordering the stream. Rachel took turns with him calling out Alain’s name. About a half mile from camp they met a group of German hikers. Tris switched to schweitzer-deutsche to communicate, displaying the same fluency with which he spoke English.
The men shook their heads. They obviously hadn’t come across Alain.
Tris thanked them. When he turned to her, she wasn’t surprised to see his face had darkened with lines. “Those hikers have been following the stream for several hours without seeing anyone else. The only thing for us to do is search below our camp.”
Rachel nodded.
They doubled back, calling out Alain’s name. Rachel could have wept because there was no answering cry. A half mile below the place where they’d set up their tent, she could smell rain in the air again.
“We’ll have to resume our search in the morning,” Tris muttered. “Come on. I’ll race you to the tent.”
She did her best to keep up with him, realizing the concern over Alain’s disappearance was making them both a little frantic.
Not two minutes after their return, rain pelted the tent. While she discarded the damp pullover, Tris flicked on the flashlight to check his cell phone messages.
“Anything?” she asked.
He grimaced before saying no. The news caused her spirits to plummet. She could only imagine his state of mind.
Wanting to comfort him, she reached for the thermos and poured him the last bit of coffee. “Here. You need it.”
Their gazes collided. “What about you?”
“None for me. Not at this time of night.”
He took her at her word before drinking thirstily.
“There’s more food.”
“Maybe later.” After putting the lid back on the thermos, he picked up the sleeping bag and unzipped it. “You’re cold. If you’ll find the space blanket I packed, we’ll lie on it and put the sleeping bag over us.”
Rachel tried hard to act normal as she did his bidding. They were two adults who’d formed a search party for Alain, nothing more.
What an ironic twist. At eighteen she’d displayed none of the signs of an hysterical virgin. She and Tris had loved each other, wanted each other. It had been so easy then, so natural. So wrong.
It was wrong now because she wanted him more than ever. They still weren’t married.
Nervously she removed her sneakers and put them away in the corner. Tris waited for her to lie down, then stretched out next to her and covered them with the bag. Out went the light.
She was alarmed to realize the rain had turned into a steady drizzle. Now he would be able to hear her heart thudding. She turned on her side away from him. He lay on his back with his hands beneath his head.
By the quiet on his part, she knew he was in agony over Alain. In truth, so was she. They needed to talk about it or go crazy.
“Tris?”
“Yes?” His voice sounded like it had come from a dark cavern.
“How did you break the news you had a daughter to Alain?”
She felt him change positions. He must have turned on his side toward her because she could feel new warmth.
“As soon as I arrived back from Concord, we hiked up here and camped out for a few days. It was in this tent I reminded him of the conversation we’d had before I went on military maneuvers. You wouldn’t know, but he almost fell apart when I had to do my army stint.
“Anyway, after finding your letter and reading it to me, he asked me about Suzanne. I realized he was worried about her importance in my life. To put his mind at rest I told him not give it another thought because the right woman hadn’t come along yet.
“His answer to that was, ‘Maybe this Rachel was the right one, and that’s why you’ve never been able to love anyone else, even though you don’t remember her.’”
Rachel’s eyes smarted. Darling Alain.
“After I turned off the flashlight and we’d settled down, I told him his theory had been right. It seemed I had fallen in love with you, and out of that love you gave birth to our baby daughter.”
Hearing Tris tell it caused her to sob. She felt his hand slide up her arm and gently caress her shoulder. It was a gesture meant to comfort. When she could get hold of her emotions she said, “How did he take the news?”
“By reminding me of the lecture I’d given him.”
“What lecture?”
Tris made a strange sound in his throat. “Something about hormones getting you into trouble and making you a father before you were ready.”
“You’re kidding—” She half laughed, half cried.
“I thought he handled the news extremely well. He asked dozens of questions about Natalie and seemed quite delighted to think he had a cousin.”
“You mean as long as she remained in America,” Rachel interjected.
His hand tightened on her upper arm. “The minute I told him you weren’t married, and that I’d invited you and Natalie to live with us for a year, that’s when things started to go wrong. He didn’t want to camp anymore. After we got back to the house he announced he was going to go live with the grandparents.”
Rachel moaned. “He was shattered.”
“I’m afraid he wasn’t the only one.”
“Did he move out?”
“Yes. It took me a week to talk him into coming back home. The situation was so fragile, I sent the plane for you and Natalie. Much as I wanted to come for you myself, I didn’t dare. He refused to drive to the airport with me to pick you up.”
Forgetting their proximity, she sat up to face him. “He’s in crisis, Tris. I’m really frightened for him.”
He turned onto his back once more. “As soon as we find him, I’m taking him for professional counseling. He’s been through so much, I thought I could help him alone.”
“While you get him the help he needs, Natalie and I are going back to Concord. Please listen—” she cried when he started to protest. “I don’t mean permanently. Just until you achieve some kind of breakthrough with him.”
“There’s no telling how long that will take.”
“True, but Natalie’s totally secure in your love. Though she’s young, she understands Alain is having such a hard time, he ran away. She’ll be able to handle the separation from you because she’ll know it’s only temporary.
“Why don’t we set up some plan of visitation that isn’t so intrusive? It will give Alain time to accept Natalie as an integral part of your life. I’m aware you want to make up for lost time with her, but Alain can’t handle it yet.”
An emotion-filled silence followed.
“Where in the hell could he be?” Tris finally asked in a tortured voice. It didn’t sound like he’d even listened to her suggestion.
She bowed her head. “He loves you so much, he won’t stay away long wherever he is.”
“If I don’t hear something by morning, I’ll call the police to help in the search.”
A strange nuance in his voice caused Rachel to look down at him. It was too dark to see him, but she sensed something was wrong. Maybe it was the way he held his arm across his forehead. Like he was in physical pain.
Oh, no.
“You’re having one of those headaches aren’t you.”
“I’ll be fine.”
“We don’t have any ice, but I know something that might help to get you to sleep. Turn on your side away from me.”
The fact that he obeyed meant he was in too much distress to argue with her.
“Just relax and let me do the work.”
She cupped his neck, then started rotating her thumbs against the base of his skull. It was a trick her father had taught her. It sometimes worked with his patients who suffered from migraines. You had to know the exact spots to press. If done right, it opened up the constricted blood vessels in the head.
Since Tris had come back into her life, she finally had a legitimate reason to be touching him. It was a thrill to do anything for him. She lost track of the time. When she finally removed her hands, she could tell he’d fallen into a deep sleep.
Rachel silently thanked her father, then kissed the back of Tris’s neck before lying down.
Her mind kept replaying that moment at the table when Alain ran out of the kitchen. His sudden departure from the table hadn’t happened until hockey was mentioned.
There’d been another defining moment earlier in the day when Tris had praised Natalie for catching the only fish. The crushed look on Alain’s face still hurt Rachel when she thought about it.
In both cases the focus had been on Natalie’s accomplishments. Clearly Alain hero worshipped Tris and wanted to shine in his uncle’s eyes. But since he wasn’t allowed to play hockey, and had no success fishing, he felt Natalie had usurped his place in his uncle’s affection. No wonder he’d thought his world had come to an end.
She eventually fell into a troubled sleep. The next thing she knew, Tris was nudging her awake.
“Rachel? We have to get going.”
Her eyelids fluttered open to discover him standing over her. He’d opened the tent flap to let in the morning air. She smoothed the hair away from her temples and got to her feet.
“I take it there’s been no word of Alain,” she said, putting on her shoes.
Tris shook his head. “I spoke to my father. He’s already alerted the police.” He tied up the sleeping bag and set it on top of his pack. “One of the officers is going to meet us at the chalet.”
After putting on her pullover, she reached for the small backpack. “I’m ready.” As she turned to leave, Tris unexpectedly caught her to him.
“You had angel fingers last night. It’s the first time since the accident I was out of pain within minutes,” came his husky whisper. His eyes wandered over each feature. “Merci, Rachel.” He kissed her thoroughly on the mouth before exiting the tent.
She touched fingers to her lips. Dazed by the experience, she stepped outside on wobbly legs. Tris was already removing the tent pegs, acting as if nothing important had happened. He could have no idea what his kiss had done to her. She loved him with an ache that would never, ever go away.
Attempting to act nonchalant, she helped him fold the tent. Once he’d attached it to his pack frame, he handed her their water bottle.
“Take a good long swallow.”
She drank her fill, then gave it back. He packed it in one of the pockets. “Let’s get going. It’s all downhill.”
The day was already a beautiful one. Only a few clouds dotted the sky. But without any word of Alain, it was a living nightmare. Tris paced his stride so she could keep up, but he was in no mood for talk. He couldn’t. His pain was too debilitating.
Ten minutes later they came to the firs
t clearing which gave out on a fabulous view. Tris stopped so they could drink. It gave her a minute to look around. In the distance she could see a little village to the right that hadn’t been visible yesterday because of the clouds.
“What town is that?”
He looked in the direction she was pointing. “Les Avants.”
“I didn’t realize. The perspective’s so different from here.” That meant the Gorge Du Chauderon was nearby.
Was is at all possible Alain had camped there in order to catch fish? He’d been so determined the other day, and so disappointed when he’d had no bites.
“Tris, let’s go back through the Gorge!”
His dark head swerved toward hers. “After what happened, why would he go there again?”
“It’s just a guess, but he wanted to be the one who caught fish in front of you. He’s in competition with Natalie. If he could bring home a catch of trout, then he’d get your praise. Don’t you see?”
A light flickered in his gorgeous brown eyes, then went out. “I wish it were that simple.”
“Maybe it is.”
He rubbed the back of his neck anxiously. “If I thought he’d camped there…”
“Let’s find out. Come on.”
One small modicum of hope made a huge difference. They practically raced across the mountain toward the gorge. If Alain could see the look on his uncle’s face right now, he would know how well loved and wanted he was.
Please be there, Alain.
They entered the top of the ravine and worked their way down through the heavy foliage. Rachel held her breath as they neared the area where they’d fished the other day.
When they reached the exact spot, she was devastated to discover no one was about. In agony she called out his name. No response.
Tears filled her eyes. She called to him again, but she was so choked up, very little sound came out.
“Alain! Mon fils! Ou es tu?” Tris’s deep male voice ricocheted off the sides of the gorge. If Alain was in the vicinity, he would have heard it. “Alain!”
The white ring outlining Tris’s taut mouth frightened her.
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