A silent cry rose in her throat because Tris’s presence had blinded her to anyone else in the room.
“Steve—” She tried to act excited he’d come. “I—I see you and Natalie’s father have met.”
“That’s right.” He walked toward her with a smile, but it didn’t reach his eyes. “You look beautiful,” he whispered, giving her a kiss on the cheek. He’d worn a tan suit. With his dark blond hair, he’d never looked better himself.
“Thank you,” she whispered back in an unsteady voice.
“I didn’t realize he was in town.”
Everyone was watching the two of them. “N-neither did I. Have you met Alain?”
“Not yet.”
“Steve Clarkson? This is Alain Monbrisson, Natalie’s cousin.” She took the needed steps to reach him. Whether Alain liked it or not, she put an arm around his shoulders. She couldn’t help it. She loved Tris’s nephew.
“How do you do,” Alain said politely and shook Steve’s hand.
“Are you the one who caught all those fish?”
Bless you, Steve.
“Yes.”
“I don’t know how you do it. I’m impressed.”
“You have to have the right flies.” His blue eyes swerved to Rachel as if to ask if it was still their secret. She simply smiled back.
Steve chuckled. “I’ll remember that when I take Rachel fishing.”
“Mom?”
Trembling under Tris’s unrelenting scrutiny, Rachel turned to her daughter. “Yes, honey?”
“Dad decided to spend the rest of his vacation here in Concord. He’s rented the townhouse two doors down.”
What?
“Can Kendra and I go over there instead of Nana’s? They’re going to order pizza. Alain’s never had American pizza before.”
Tris put his hands on Natalie’s shoulders. “If you two are going to be out late, why not let the girls stay over with us. I had the place furnished so there are plenty of beds.”
How could he have accomplished everything so fast?
But Rachel already knew the answer to that question before she’d asked it. He was the head of the Monbrisson empire, a man able to move mountains without even thinking about it.
“Could we, Mom?”
“We’ll probably go to a movie after we eat,” Tris explained. “If Kendra’s parents are in agreement, I’ll run her home some time tomorrow.”
“It’ll be fine with them,” Kendra assured him. She looked as mesmerized by Tris as Natalie.
The announcement that he’d actually carried through with his intention of renting the other townhouse had robbed Rachel of the ability to think coherently.
“Natalie? You’ll have to call Nana and tell her you’re not coming.”
“I will.”
“Y-you have a hockey game at ten.”
“I know. We’ll take our stuff to Dad’s.”
Steve reached out to tousle Natalie’s hair. “I’m planning to be there, kiddo.”
“That settles it,” Tris spoke up in his deep voice. “We’ll all go to support the Cavalry. Come on, everybody. I don’t know about you, but I’m starving.”
The kids were equally exuberant and hurried out the door ahead of Tris with their gear. He paused in the opening. “Have a good evening you two.”
After flashing her a dark unreadable glance, he closed the door behind him, leaving a quivering Rachel to face Steve in the aftermath.
He stood there with his arms folded, staring at her through wounded eyes.
“I swear I didn’t know he’d come to Concord, Steve.”
“I believe you. Would you rather we called off dinner?”
“No. Of course not.”
“I think it would be best.”
“It’s okay, really—”
He frowned. “When we started to date, I knew I had a formidable opponent, otherwise you would have been married a long time ago. But I’d hoped that in time your memories of him would fade enough for you to let me in.
“Now that I’ve met Natalie’s father and have felt the tension between you two, I can see that you’ll never get over him.”
Rachel turned to him, fighting tears. “I’m so sorry, Steve. I never meant to hurt you.”
“I know that, but some things are beyond our control. He’s one of them. It isn’t as if he did something that turned off your love. The accident only put your relationship on hold. Now he’s back in your life again. I can’t fight that.”
“You mean Natalie’s life,” she corrected him.
“You’re an integral part of hers. Seeing all of you together has clarified things for me.” She could hear it coming. “I’m going to bow out while I still can.”
“Steve…”
“There’s never been an end to your story. Until there is, no man has a chance with you. You’re one terrific woman. I wish I’d met you first.” After pressing a hard kiss to her cheek, he left the house.
She heard his car start up and drive away.
A hot tear trickled down her cheek. There was no finer man than Steve. But heaven help her, he wasn’t Tris!
She dashed upstairs and collapsed on the bed, utterly convulsed. Her whole life seemed to play before her. She should never have gone to Europe the first time. Or if she had, not by water.
What forces had conspired to place her and Tris on the same ship, in the same class, at the same table?
As terrible as it was that Natalie hadn’t known her father before now, it didn’t compare to the tragedy that had befallen Alain. It wasn’t fair he had to compete for Tris’s love.
She could have told Steve that Tris wasn’t in love with her. Right now Tris was trying desperately to keep his nephew from falling into a depression he might not be able to shake. Though Alain hadn’t come off acting morose tonight, deep down he was suffering.
Tris made a big mistake in coming here for a vacation. Alain was so jealous of Natalie’s place in his life, Rachel didn’t want to think about the hockey game in the morning. Taking Alain to that match would be like pouring acid on an open wound.
She flung herself over on her back, staring up at the ceiling through blurry eyes. Where was it all going to end? She was dreading tomorrow.
Rachel had no idea which car in the skating rink parking lot was Tris’s rental. After tossing and turning all night debating whether to come, it was her fault she had trouble finding an empty space. She glanced at her watch. Quarter after ten. The first period of the match would already have been played.
When she went inside, they were cleaning the ice before the next period started. The bleachers didn’t hold very many people and there was only one set of them at the side of the rink. Parents and family members were packed together, yet she spotted Tris immediately.
Not because he sat front and center with Alain. Not because of his striking looks and stature. Not because he was wearing a black turtleneck that gave off a male sensuality to every woman in the crowd.
He had an intangible aura, a magnetic appeal. Call it whatever you wanted, Tris possessed it in abundance. She’d felt its pull on the ship years ago. And she still felt it now. Natalie and Alain worshipped at his feet.
That kind of response from male or female, young and old alike, proved he was an exceptional man.
Steve’s words still haunted her. Until there was an end to the story, she was stuck in place, unable to progress. Speaking of place, one of the mothers she knew saw her and patted the spot next to her on the aisle. Rachel hurried up the steps to grab it before someone else did.
“Thanks, Judith.”
“You’re welcome. My husband had to leave.”
“How are the girls doing?”
“No score for either side yet, but I think the Posse is playing more aggressively.”
“Uh-oh. That’s not g—”
“Rachel?”
Her heart jumped at the sound of Tris’s voice. He must have seen her come in.
She turned her head. Their gazes coll
ided. His dark eyes wandered from her hair which she’d tied back at the nape with another scarf, to the cream top and brushed denim jeans she’d chosen to wear.
“Where’s Steve?”
“A problem came up at his work.” It was a lie, but she wasn’t about to tell him the truth in front of everyone.
“Then come and sit with me and Alain. We saved places for both of you.”
So saying, he caught her around the hips and lifted her to the ground in a fluid motion only someone of his size and power could carry off. Their bodies brushed against each other, sending an electric shock through her system.
“Judith?” Rachel’s voice came out shakily. “I’ll see you later.”
Her astonished friend was staring so hard at Tris, she forgot to speak. He nodded to the other woman, then put his hand on the back of Rachel’s waist to guide her to the front.
She recognized that possessive touch. If she closed her eyes, she could imagine herself back on the ship. He hadn’t liked the attention the other guys paid her. She’d secretly loved his proprietorial behavior when he guided her out of the dining room to pursue more intimate pleasures.
To break the tension she said, “I hear Natalie’s team isn’t doing so well.”
“Sometimes it takes until the final period to figure out your opponent.”
“Tris? W-we have to talk.”
“We already did the other night. You were right about not pushing everything all at once. Alain didn’t mind the idea of coming here for a few days visit.”
“Then why did you rent the townhouse? You could so easily have stayed at a hotel.”
“I want him to get used to it in case you end up marrying Steve.”
His comment wounded her in a whole new way. It appeared he’d already concluded her relationship with Steve would culminate in marriage. If ever she needed proof Tris had no romantic interest in her, he’d just given it to her.
“What does one thing have to do with the other?”
“Natalie told me Steve sells insurance. He can’t very well leave all his clientele to move to Switzerland. I, on the other hand, can establish my headquarters anywhere I wish so I can be with our daughter. I’m simply planning ahead, covering every contingency.”
That’s what Tris did better than anyone else. He studied all the options before coming up with a solution no one could override. He’d meant what he’d said about moving here if there was no other way.
But the best solution for him was the worst for Rachel. To live two doors away from him until Natalie had grown up would mean she’d never get over him. The thought absolutely terrified her.
Alain saw them coming. “Hi, Rachel.”
“Hi, yourself.”
Tris pulled her down next to him with Alain on his other side. She leaned forward to look at him. “How was the pizza last night?”
“I think it’s a lot better than the kind we have at home.”
What an irony. Switzerland probably had some of the best food in the world. She was about to ask him how he liked the movie, but the teams had come back out on the ice.
Natalie waved to her. This had to be a special moment for their daughter. Both her parents sitting together to watch her play. Rachel waved back.
The second period got underway. The girls might only be Peewees, but they’d learned a lot since their first season and displayed real improvement.
“Natalie handles herself on the ice with amazing confidence,” Tris murmured.
“I started her ice skating six years ago.”
“It shows.”
“So does her killer instinct. That comes from you.”
She’d thought her comment would please him. Instead she felt a stillness steal over him as he watched Natalie tearing up and down the ice. Rachel couldn’t begin to fathom what was going on in his mind.
At the end of the second period, Tris and Alain went to the concession stand to bring back drinks. She breathed a sigh of relief that Alain appeared not to mind being a spectator. To Rachel’s chagrin she was the one who was having problems. Her heightened awareness of Tris made it pure torture to sit by him and pretend she wasn’t affected.
After a no scoring game so far, the third period started off with a vengeance. The competition had grown fierce.
Natalie showed the Monbrisson aggressiveness that had earned her one of the wing positions on the team. She was going all out for a win to show off for her father. Rachel feared she was taking too many risks.
Tris must have thought so, too. Several times she saw his hands form fists on his hard thighs.
By rights Natalie should have scored, but the opponents’ goalie made some exceptional saves. While the Posse fans cheered, the fans for the Cavalry voiced their disappointment loudly.
When the opposition scored the only point in the last few seconds of the game, Rachel and Tris groaned at the same time. Not because the Cavalry had lost the game, but because their daughter had to face defeat in front of her brilliant father.
Some of the kids skated over to the sidelines. Among them she saw Kendra talking to her parents. Not Natalie. She skated off the ice without once looking in their direction. Rachel felt her dejection.
A concerned looking Tris got to his feet. “If you two don’t mind, I’m going to find Natalie. We’ll meet you at the car.”
She turned to Alain, afraid his feelings would be hurt. “Would you like to ride home with me? That way Tris can bring Natalie when she’s ready.”
He nodded. “Okay.”
His positive response surprised and relieved her.
“We’ll see you in a few minutes, mon gars.” Tris gave his nephew’s shoulder a squeeze. Flicking Rachel a worried father glance, he took off for the locker room.
“Let’s go, shall we?”
On the way out of the rink they dropped their empty cups in the trash can near the entrance.
“How come Steve’s not with you?” Alain asked after they started for home.
“At the last minute there was a problem at his work.”
“Oh.”
“Would you like to stop for ice cream?”
“Yes. Do they have strawberry?”
“They have fifty-one different flavors.”
He cocked his head. “Fifty-one—”
“That’s right. My favorite is chocolate chip cookie dough.”
“What’s that?”
She smiled. “You’re about to find out.”
A half hour later while they were enjoying ice cream back at the townhouse, Rachel heard the front door open.
“Mom?”
Alain glanced at Rachel.
“In the kitchen.” She put her spoon down. Before she could reach the doorway, Natalie and Tris walked in. One look at her daughter’s downcast face and she knew it wasn’t good. She couldn’t decipher Tris’s expression.
“You played a wonderful game, honey.”
“No, I didn’t,” Natalie said, avoiding a hug. “They shouldn’t have been able to make that last shot.”
“Your team’s goalie should have stopped it,” Alain piped up.
“Yeah, but it was my fault for not cutting her off before she could set up that shot.”
“Next time go around her other side where she’s not expecting you to be. Uncle Tris says that’s the way to take them out.”
Rachel watched in shock to see that Natalie was listening to Alain. Her daughter unconsciously helped herself to the ice cream from the fridge. In a minute they were having a big discussion about the game.
Tris unexpectedly put a hand beneath Rachel’s hair. He whispered against her cheek, “Since the two of them seem to be sorting things out on their own, let’s leave them to it.”
She broke away from him and hurried into the living room. He was treating her like a wife. Rachel supposed it was because they were in the unique position of parenting their daughter together. But if he continued to touch her, he was going to get a wife’s response. It would be distasteful to him and mort
ify her.
Feeling nervy and vulnerable, she sat down on the end of the couch, tucking her legs beneath her. He remained standing.
“Tris? How do you feel about Natalie playing hockey?”
He shot her a level gaze. “The truth?”
“Of course.”
“It worries the hell out of me.”
“I wondered if that’s why you were quiet at the game. It’s got me worried, too. Last year it seemed innocent enough, but she’s matured a lot, grown stronger. So have the other girls.
“They play like guys! One of these days someone’s going to get hurt. I can understand why Bernard and Francoise didn’t want Alain to have anything to do with it.” Tears stung her eyes. “When I think of what happened to you—”
“Rachel—” his voice grated.
She buried her face in her hands. “I—I couldn’t stand it if I lost her, too.”
CHAPTER TEN
TOO?
Tris’s heart bounced against the walls of his chest.
Such a little word. But the reason Rachel had said it could mean the difference between heaven and hell for him.
She lifted her head, unaware of his excitement. “I wanted to help Natalie have an identity by telling her about your hockey career.” Her words came out on a half-sob. “Instead I’m afraid I’ve set something in motion I already regret.”
“Hey, Mom? Dad?” Natalie rushed in the living room, interrupting them. “Alain and I are going to go over to the other townhouse and watch the rest of the video we rented.”
Rachel cleared her throat. “That’s fine, honey.”
Tris handed Alain the key. “See you guys later.”
No sooner did Natalie open the door than Tris heard their daughter cry, “Nana!”
“Hello, darling. Who’s this?”
Rachel’s shocked gaze flew to Tris while they listened to the conversation on the porch.
“It’s my cousin, Alain Monbrisson. This is my nana, Vivian Marsden.”
“How do you do, Mrs. Marsden.”
“I’ve been anxious to meet you, Alain. I’m tickled to death you two are related. When I was young, I just loved being with my cousins.”
“It’s fun.” Alain said it like he meant it. Nothing could have pleased Tris more. His comment must have surprised Rachel. She jumped to her feet, brushing at the wetness glistening her cheeks.
Their New-Found Family Page 14