A Winter Affair

by Minna Howard

Vera said, ‘Those men in there look quite harmless and you know many are very lonely and all they want is someone to talk to, keep them company.’ She laughed hoarsely, ‘I do not judge these girls, and that Gaby doesn’t look kept down, there are worse things than having sex with someone who is kind. You do what you do to get what you need.’

  ‘I suppose so.’ Eloise felt humbled with Vera’s explanation. In many ways she’d been lucky. She may have lost the love of her life when Harvey had left her but she’d had a safe, comfortable life. She hoped she’d be able to have a heart-to-heart with Gaby, make sure she was happy and was not being used, though if Vera was right, Gaby could be the one who was using that morose young man to pay her university fees, though she hoped things were not that desperate for her.

  When the guests had gone up to their rooms to unpack, Theo and Lawrence – with Bert, who’d escaped from his den downstairs, jumping around barking with excitement – hauled the tree into the living room, took it out of the netting and set it up on its stand in the corner of the room. It was a beautiful tree, the fresh scent of the pine filling the room, its branches stretching out, begging, Eloise thought fancifully, to be decorated, and she fetched the box she’d found in the wardrobe and showed the decorations to Lawrence and Theo.

  ‘I remember these when I stayed here once for Christmas, when I was about ten. They are so pretty. Have we time to put them on now?’ She unwrapped a delicate angel and then a shining ball with a coloured pattern sunk into the centre of it, and a stunning egg covered in glowing beads like something by Fabergé. ‘I remember these, Maddy made them, she blew the eggs and painted and decorated them.’ Eloise recalled Maddy telling her how she made them. She hung it carefully.

  Theo exclaimed in delight, ‘They’re fab, perhaps there are some more.’ He dug his hands into the box.as if he was doing a lucky dip. ‘Look at this glittery tiger and this elephant, can’t think what they have to do with Christmas, but hey… what’s it matter?’ He hung them both on the tree, his face flushed with delight like a small boy, enchanted, before delving into the box again to find more decorations and picking out another egg, which he hung reverently on a branch. Lawrence watched them in silence.

  ‘Don’t you like them?’ She turned to him, smiling, ‘Or are you worried about the dinner? It’s all fine, I’ll go back to it in a few minutes.’

  ‘No… it’s not that… it’s just…’ He turned to Theo who was excitedly unwrapping more decorations from the box, exclaiming at each new treasure he found.

  ‘Mum bought this one, I remember that.’ Theo took out a large opaque ball with a glittering snow scene inside. ‘Great to see it again, a little bit of her for Christmas.’ He hung it carefully on the tree.

  His mother? Eloise wondered where she was, who she was, but Theo seemed more happy than sad to be reminded of her and she felt glad he’d found a small memento of her for Christmas.

  Lawrence said, ‘You were very young then, I’m surprised you remember it at all. But you know Aurelia does the decorations, Theo. She came to do it earlier but the tree hadn’t arrived – she’s coming to do it tomorrow.’

  Eloise dropped the golden bell she was unwrapping back into the box. Of course, it would be Aurelia. She seemed to have far more than a foothold in Jacaranda. A whole leg, a shapely hip, her whole self. Aurelia was well on her way to getting her hands on Jacaranda and so too Lawrence. What could Eloise do? She was only here until after Christmas and then would go home and Aurelia could saunter in unchecked.

  ‘She needn’t do it this year. I want to use these beautiful ones Maddy made and the one Mum bought. They are much nicer than that pink and gold theme Aurelia did last year,’ Theo said firmly, digging deeper into the box with pleasure. ‘I want these, so does Eloise,’ he smiled at her, ‘so that’s two against one, Dad, bad luck.’

  Lawrence sighed. ‘OK,’ he said, ‘I’ll tell her. I expect she’ll be glad to have some extra time for all the other things she has to do.’ He did not sound convinced and left the room, going downstairs to his office to ring her, leaving Eloise feeling surprisingly jubilant.

  *

  The first supper went well, or at least it didn’t go badly, as no one complained, not to Eloise at any rate, though Debra asked Lawrence rather pointedly if the dog was allowed in the kitchen, Lawrence assured her he was not.

  ‘I’m relieved to hear it. Animals, even domesticated ones, are so dirty, especially dogs, sniffing around everywhere,’ Debra announced with a shiver of disgust.

  Eloise, who had just brought in the pudding, was glad that Theo had not heard this remark, for he would have surely jumped to Bert’s defence and upset Debra. She sneaked a look at Lawrence who was explaining that Bert lived in the basement, but never, ever in any circumstances was he allowed in the kitchen. Eloise wondered if he were crossing his fingers as he said this.

  The arrival of these guests had put Lawrence in an odd mood; Eloise had caught him looking at her once or twice in a sort of pensive way as though he was trying to assess her. She understood his concerns and realized there was far more at stake than just a chalet full of grumpy guests put off by her cooking – Jacaranda’s future was on the line. And she was sure Aurelia was standing by to be a part of it. She wondered how Aurelia had taken the news that she would not be decorating the tree this year. No doubt Lawrence had gone to see her after dinner to console her, as she heard him telling Vera he was going out to meet someone.

  The kitchen was tidy thanks to Vera, but apart from her bedroom Eloise had nowhere else to sit if there were guests. Lawrence hadn’t said anything, but she sensed that a mere cook like herself was not supposed to loll about in the living room fraternizing with these particular guests, and though it was past ten and she’d heard some of them go upstairs to their rooms, she felt she better not go into the living room to read. She decided to sit in the window seat in the kitchen with her book – a complicated historical saga. The room felt cold and clinical and she stared out of the window at the blackness of the night lit with pinpricks of stars, and the occasional sliver of light from the chalets scattered below them. She wondered if Harvey were still here. He might be staying in one of the chalets nearby, but with luck, he had gone home.

  She tried to get back to her book instead of thinking of him, but it was a story that needed time and concentration and she found it difficult this evening, feeling unsettled now with thoughts of Harvey.

  She heard someone coming down the passage to the kitchen and tensed, wondering if it were one of the house party – Debra seemed to be the one most likely to come and ask for something, or worse to complain, but to her relief it was Gaby.

  ‘So glad it’s just you in here,’ she exclaimed, coming and sitting down on the window seat beside her. ‘It’s so good to see you, Mrs B…’

  ‘Eloise, please.’

  ‘Eloise. I thought it was going to be a nightmare here with all of them, but with you here it might be fun.’

  ‘I doubt it; I’m working, doing the cooking.’ Eloise was cheered by Gaby’s enthusiasm nonetheless. ‘Anyway aren’t you here with your fiancé?’ She felt maternal towards her, so young and almost naïve.

  Gaby blushed but regarded her defiantly. ‘You’ll be horrified, I know, but I’m only wearing his ring so his family aren’t shocked. He says he’s in love with me – he’s mega rich and is paying my uni fees.’

  ‘Oh Gaby. Does your mother know?’ She immediately wished she hadn’t asked. She remembered Gaby’s mother, Annie, and her panic when her husband, Garth, had died suddenly and she discovered he hadn’t paid the mortgage for ages and there was little money left.

  ‘Not really. She doesn’t know the truth about our relationship, thinks he’s just a boyfriend. She quite likes him and he’s very generous to her, helping out with things. It’s one of the reasons I stay with him. He hasn’t got much of a family of his own.’

  ‘But what about the others here, aren’t they his family?’ Eloise asked.

  ‘Well the dreaded D
ebra…’ Gaby raised her eyebrows, ‘she’s married to Ken, mother of Radley, mother-in-law to Pippa, Jerry is her nephew. But they’ve only really been in contact since Debra’s sister, Jerry’s mother, died a couple of years ago, and she’s got him into the family business. It’s not like a normal family, they work together, but they don’t seem to have much fun together.’

  ‘I guessed that, but who is the other man?’

  ‘Travis, he’s always been around, apparently. He’s their Mr Fixit, arranges travel and things, a sort of business partner to Ken.’

  ‘How is your mother and brothers?’ Eloise was more interested in them than the party here. ‘I’d love to see them again.’

  ‘Oh, Mum’s got a new man; I know I should be happy for her, but I don’t like him very much. She and the boys are staying with him and his bratty children in Cornwall for Christmas, so I chose to come here with Jerry and get in some skiing.’

  ‘And how long have you been with Jerry?’ Eloise asked.

  ‘Six months… and what about Kit and Lizzie?’ Gaby rushed on as if fearful Eloise would delve deeper into her situation. ‘Pity they’re not here for Christmas.’

  ‘I wish, but they’re on their gap year in Tibet and finishing up in New Zealand with my parents. Harvey and I are divorced now and I’m here,’ she went on quickly, pre-empting any questions about her marriage and getting the topic over and done with, ‘because my godfather, Lawrence’s father, thinks that because I once did a Cordon Bleu Foundation Course, I’m a trained chef. The last chef he had ran off with one of the rich clients staying here.’

  Gaby laughed, ‘So I’m not the only one living off ill-gotten gains.’

  Eloise ignored her remark, though if there were a choice, she’d far rather cook than have to share a bed with that morose man Gaby was involved with. She wondered how she’d met him.

  As if she could read her thoughts, Gaby said, ‘I suppose. I’d better tell you all about Jerry and me, but don’t tell Mum, she thinks we met at a party. In actual fact I met him on a dating site, Sugar Dads. It’s full of rich men willing to pay uni fees in exchange for a bit of time with them. It’s not just sex, you know, they just want someone to be with, sad really, but lucky for girls like me.’

  Fifteen

  Apart from Gaby, the rest of the house party kept closely together. There were copious phone calls and time spent on the Internet, causing Eloise to wonder why they had bothered to leave their own homes at all. True it was very cold and there was a whiteout on one side of the mountain range, so only a few intrepid skiers were out there, but Savoleyres was clear, but only Theo and Bert tumbled out of bed and set off to ski. Even if it had been clear and sunny, Eloise doubted if many of their guests would have bothered to venture far. Perhaps they didn’t trust their businesses and investment brokers to go on making money for them without staying in constant contact. Instead of their wealth giving them freedom, it seemed to her to imprison them.

  Eloise felt trapped too by them being inside all day. They wanted lunch, which meant extra work, but more importantly she wanted to escape Aurelia’s visits.

  Despite no longer being needed to decorate the tree, undeterred Aurelia had appeared the following morning at breakfast time, clutching one of her pink boxes containing some mini croissants and chocolate breads which she’d offered to the guests ‘for their opinion’.

  ‘I have my own little catering business,’ she said coyly, smiling at Travis, who went all pink and squirmy under her scrutiny. ‘I know you have a wonderful cook here.’ If her glance aimed at Eloise had claws, she’d have needed major facial surgery. ‘But this air makes you so hungry, and breakfast is not often enough to sustain you all morning, so if you feel like a teeny snack you’ll find me just off the Place Centrale, beside the photo shop.’ She handed round her box as the rest of the party wandered into the room for breakfast.

  The tree stood in all its glory in the corner by the window, its branches twinkling with ornaments. Maddy’s jewelled eggs had attracted many compliments but Aurelia shuddered as she passed it as though some vulgar person with atrocious dress sense had gatecrashed the party.

  Lawrence had long since had his breakfast and was downstairs in his office on the telephone. Vera had let Aurelia into the chalet and Eloise had just come into the room with a dish of eggs and bacon. Apart from her cutting glance, Aurelia ignored her and began on her selling spiel, trying to seduce the guests with her pastries with their sweet, vanilla and chocolate aroma.

  Debra said she didn’t touch white sugar or fat but just this once she’d take a tiny bite out of one, they smelt so good.

  Vera began to offer coffee and tea, dodging round Aurelia as if she were an annoying piece of furniture. Eloise knew from her set expression that Vera wanted her gone and was not at all taken in by her box of delights.

  Eloise escaped to the kitchen and heard Lawrence come up the stairs and go into the living room. She heard the buzz of his voice as he greeted the guests, but she couldn’t hear what he was saying, though to her relief Aurelia left soon after.

  She hoped that would be the end of Aurelia’s visits, but she had reappeared that evening with yet more boxes – this time canapés, which she handed round, making a beeline for Ken now, who she assumed was the person paying for this holiday. Minutes before, Eloise had brought in the ones she had prepared, raw vegetables with a freshly made blue cheese dip, almonds roasted in oil with herbs and tiny asparagus tarts.

  ‘Forgive me for bringing my small offerings for you to try,’ Aurelia simpered, ‘but I knew at once you are very discerning people and I would welcome your opinion on whether these are good enough to serve to those who expect the best. I have orders, you see…’ she paused, lowering her eyes in pretence of modesty, ‘well, you may have read in the papers that some of the royals come here to ski and…’

  Ken perked up, ‘Do you cater for them?’

  Before Aurelia could answer, Lawrence, who was going round with the drinks, said, ‘I expect they bring their own staff. Thank you, Aurelia, so kind of you to drop in when I know how busy you are.’ He put his arm out to steer her towards the door, smiling, but Eloise saw a determined expression on his face as if he disapproved of this charade. Whatever his relationship with her, it obviously did not include letting her gatecrash with her wares, and for that she was grateful to him. Vera, who’d been hovering outside, came into the room with her coat, holding it open for Aurelia, who laughed rather sharply.

  ‘Well I must fly,’ she said to the guests, as if she were an important actor leaving the stage. ‘I hope to see you all again soon.’ And she swept from the room, snatching her coat from Vera as she went.

  Lawrence opened the front door for her.

  ‘I’m only trying to help you keep Jacaranda, Lawrence,’ she said. ‘I’m used to these sorts of people and they expect extremely sophisticated catering and style, you know.’

  ‘Thanks, safe trip home,’ Lawrence said, going out to see her to her car.

  Eloise, feeling crushed by Aurelia’s sales spiel, scurried back to the kitchen to put the last touches to the dinner. She felt worse when Lawrence, having seen Aurelia out, came in to sort the wine, his shoulders sagged, and he did not look at her. At first she’d been cheered by his swift dismissal of Aurelia, been about to thank him, but now she felt that she had let him down, so she stayed silent, concentrating on the sauce for the meat. Her insecurity, never far away, kicked in. Was he wishing he had splashed out on Aurelia and her expensive delights, instead of her less exciting ones?

  *

  All this she poured out to Saskia, when they met up the following day. They sat in a corner of the Milk Bar in the main drag, drinking hot chocolate with swirls of whipped cream on top. Harvey had probably gone home by now, but still wherever Eloise went she found herself surreptitiously looking out for him so she could duck out of his way and avoid further heartache.

  The Milk Bar was crowded as the snow conditions this morning were not for the faint-hearted.
Though, thanks to Pascal, her shoulder was much better, Eloise was relieved when Saskia suggested they meet up for a drink today rather than ski.

  ‘I warned you Aurelia has got her eye on Jacaranda and, not surprisingly, Lawrence. He’s very attractive,’ Saskia giggled. ‘Well, you must find him so, living under the same roof.’ She paused as if waiting for Eloise to confess she was in love, or anyway in lust with him.

  ‘I don’t see him that way,’ Eloise said, not meeting Saskia’s eye. There were times when she’d caught him looking at her, or their eyes had met and she’d felt a sort of frisson of desire, but what good would that do her as she was going home in a couple of weeks or so, and, she suspected, she would not be coming back again. Besides, she thought it best to take a sabbatical from love, she’d been hurt enough by Harvey. ‘Lawrence is my boss,’ she went on firmly, ‘and I’ve got enough on my plate trying not to mess up. He’s been very quiet since these guests have arrived. He gave me a pep talk about how important they are for Jacaranda’s future, the place needs mammoth work on it apparently, and these guests are the key to bringing in enough money to pay for it.’

  ‘Yes, he was telling Quinn about it. Because Jacaranda’s so old it costs more to rewire without spoiling it. Aurelia has different ideas, she wants to build more chalets there and extend Jacaranda, so it won’t matter if the old walls have to come down,’ Saskia said.

  ‘How do you know this?’ Eloise’s stomach cramped with despair.

  ‘Oh, we all had lunch together at the Relais des Neiges, the other day. I don’t know why she was there, she just sort of appeared,’ Saskia added quickly, seeing Eloise’s expression.

  Eloise bit the bullet. ‘Are she and Lawrence an item? I can’t make it out.’

  ‘I’m not sure. There used to be a man Aurelia was with, Malcolm, though we haven’t seen him lately, so maybe whatever their relationship was is over. I told you she wants Jacaranda. She, and possibly Malcolm, put quite a lot of money into starting her Tempting Delights,’ she emphasized the words, ‘and it’s doing well, but think how much more she’d make if she had a lovely chalet too? She could built sheds or whatever to cook and store it all in the garden, and perhaps have dinners, or keep to the chalet parties in Jacaranda and force-feed the clients with her Tempting Delights,’ she giggled, ‘and having a devilishly sexy man to curl up with. would be the icing on her “Delights”.’