It was because of her weakness for him that he’d flown to London. By confiding in her, he thought that was all it would take before she went running back into his arms again while he waited for his wife to recover.
Why not? Rachel had offered herself up as a feast for his delectation. He was a man after all.
And she was a woman who’d done something all stupid women had done since time immemorial.
But she only had to learn a painful lesson once before making the necessary changes.
Coming face to face with Luc this evening had put the seal on an idea that had been lurking since she’d given Max her notice.
“We’re here, miss,” the taxi driver called to her.
“So we are.” Her mind had been so far away, she hadn’t noticed the car had stopped.
She got out, paid the driver and rushed inside the mansion.
As she hurried up the stairs it struck her that one day soon she wouldn’t find her grandfather here. All that would remain would be his four-story Georgian home full of memories.
More pain assailed her. It was too much on top of seeing Luc again. She was still trembling from their unexpected encounter.
When Rachel let herself inside her grandfather’s room, the nurse was helping him drink water from a straw. Her slightly balding Uncle John stood on the other side of the bed encouraging his father to take his time between coughs.
The effort made her grandfather’s lips tremble. She could tell he was weaker tonight.
Oh, Grandfather.
She fought tears before approaching the hospital bed that had been brought in.
“Look who’s here, Father.”
“Rachel,” the old man’s voice croaked.
John’s blue-gray eyes welcomed her. “You’re early tonight,” he whispered.
“I couldn’t stay away.” In truth she couldn’t run from Luc fast enough.
“Ivy came this afternoon and said he wasn’t doing well. I decided not to go over to the restaurant.”
Rachel was glad John’s wife had been spending time with her grandfather. He enjoyed her.
“Rachel?” he muttered.
“You stay with him,” John said in an aside. “Ivy’s got dinner waiting for me downstairs.”
Rachel nodded. After her uncle left the room with the nurse, she pulled the armchair next to the bed.
“I’m right here.”
He opened his eyes to look at her. “Any word from your Frenchman?”
Her grandfather always got right down to the heart of the matter.
“H-he came to see me tonight at the restaurant.”
“That doesn’t surprise me. But it means you’ve sent him away. Otherwise you wouldn’t be here.”
“You’re my only priority.”
After a coughing spell he said, “Now you’re telling me a lie.”
Tears stung her eyelids. “Let’s not talk about him.” Never again. “How are you really feeling?”
“My solicitor asked me the same thing this morning. I told him I felt lousy.”
She moaned inwardly. “You’ve done business today?”
“I told him to come by early when neither of my sons would be around. I added a codicil to my will.”
“Grandfather—” A sob escaped before she rested her head on his arm.
“After I’m gone, I’ve instructed that this house be put up for sale. The proceeds will go equally to the three restaurants. What do you think?”
“It’s the perfect solution to an insoluble problem.”
He patted her head. Then she heard a deep sigh. “Now I have to work on a solution for your happiness,” his voice trailed. He sounded exhausted.
Alarmed, she raised her head. “I’m fine. All you have to do is get better. Now go to sleep.”
“I’m afraid to. It isn’t time yet.”
His admission killed her. By now the tears were streaming down her face.
A noise at the door brought her head around. In the aperture she saw the silhouette of her sister. A lighter brunette, more curvy than Rachel and almost as tall.
She advanced quietly into the room. The strong resemblance to their stunning mother shook Rachel.
Their eyes met for a soul-searching moment.
Rachel was too happy to talk. All she could do was hold out her hand.
Rebecca hurried forward and grasped it across their grandfather’s chest.
As their fingers clung Rachel had the sudden feeling a miracle was happening.
Their grandfather’s eyes opened. When he saw who it was, his countenance brightened in a way Rachel hadn’t seen since before Lucia had become ill and died.
“Rebecca.” There was a world of love in his voice. “God heard my prayers. My two beauties together at last.”
“Hold on a moment, Mr Chartier.”
Luc’s hand tightened on his cell phone. He’d called The Times in London every day for ten days, waiting for news of an obituary.
“Yes. I have it here. William Valentine, ninety, passed away at home on June thirtieth, from a fatal embolism.”
That was two days ago. Rachel would be inconsolable right now.
“Does it say where the funeral is going to be held?”
“Let me look. Yes. The family home at eleven a.m. on Friday the eighth of July.”
“May I have the address please.”
When she’d given it to him, he thanked her and hung up.
The eighth was still days away. Undoubtedly they’d been forced to wait until all the family members could be in attendance.
Luc wouldn’t be among the mourners, but there was something he could do. For that he needed Giles.
When he reached Thann, he found him in one of the cellars of the convent taking inventory.
“Salut, mon vieux.”
Giles turned his head. “Luc—I didn’t know you were coming today.”
“Something has happened you should know about. I wanted to talk to you in person.”
The old man straightened. “Any more signs that Paulette is waking up?”
“No. The doctor has done every test. Despite her eyes opening, she’s still in a vegetative state.” After a pause, “The Brouets are still hopeful.”
Giles eyed him shrewdly. “But you aren’t.”
“I don’t know. To be frank, I dread my visits now. When her eyes were closed, I could still imagine them alive and flashing.”
He rubbed the back of his neck. “That vacant stare chills my blood.”
“That’s because her spirit’s gone.”
Silence filled the cellar.
“You think I’ve been a fool?”
“What I think doesn’t matter. You’re the one who hasn’t been able to forgive yourself for her accident.”
The older man sighed. “You know something, Luc? If everyone went around taking on guilt for something they didn’t do, we would all qualify as idiots.”
That was what Rachel’s grandfather had told her over the impasse with her sister. It was so easy to see how to solve the problem when it was someone else’s.
“One more thing, Luc.”
Apparently Giles wasn’t finished. “If you continue to avoid Rachel out of guilt, then I don’t mind calling you an imbécile to your face.”
Giles was nothing if not brutally honest.
“If I’m avoiding her, it’s for a very good reason. Her grandfather just died.”
The old man shook his head sadly. “She loved her grand-père.”
“I know. He made up for her father’s inadequacies.” Without him, she was going to feel lost.
“The funeral’s on Friday. Let’s send a spray of pink roses from you, Solange and the company. Will you do the honors?”
He handed him the paper with the address of the Valentine home. Giles nodded and slipped it in his pocket. “I’ll take care of it.”
“Merci. I can always count on you. If you need me, I’m on my way to Mulhouse.”
“What’s in Mulhouse?”
It was the same question he’d asked Rachel.
“Let’s just say I’m looking for a peace offering.”
“For your maman?”
Giles knew everything that went on in the Chartier household.
“No. Not for her.”
Luc had a penchant for Greek history. When they wanted to conquer Troy, they presented them a gift at the gates.
On Thursday morning Rachel awakened with a sick, basal skull headache. The kind that always heralded the onset of her period.
When she counted back, she realized her last period had ended around the twenty-eighth of May, over a week before she’d left for France.
With her life in painful chaos, she hadn’t realized until now how late it was.
Once years ago, after moving to the UK following her college graduation, she hadn’t had a period for ten months.
It had frightened her that she might have developed endometriosis like her poor sister, who’d been plagued with female problems. But the doctor had told her it was because she’d gone to a different climate.
Sometimes relocation or emotional upheaval affected the menstrual cycle. He’d given her a shot to bring on her period. Since then she’d never been late.
Needing some painkillers and a shower in that order, Rachel climbed out of bed and staggered to the bathroom, realizing her experience with Luc and the death of her grandfather had turned her inside out and thrown her off schedule.
But she received a real jolt when she checked and discovered there was no sign of her period.
Nothing but the headache.
If she called her doctor, the first thing he would ask after offering his condolences was, “Have you been sexually active?”
For the first time in her life she would have to say yes.
One night out of all the nights of her life.
“Did you take precautions?”
Rachel gripped the sink for support.
No. No precautions. What had happened had been unplanned on both their parts. Their needs had taken over so completely, rational thought had ceased to exist.
Rachel looked at herself in the mirror. Was it possible? Or was her pain responsible for her body being out of whack?
When her cell phone rang, she jumped. It was probably Emma. They were planning to meet at the mansion and start making food. After the funeral and interment tomorrow, the family would be coming back to the house to eat.
She hurried into the bedroom and checked the caller ID. It was her father, always in crisis.
“Dad?”
“I need you at the restaurant as soon as you can get here.”
“But we’re not going to be open until next Monday.”
In honor of her grandfather, John had made the decision that the restaurants would be closed from Wednesday through Sunday.
“Somebody has to keep Bella Lucia running behind the scenes.”
She shook her head. No one bought his martyr act, least of all Rachel.
“The shipment of Chartier wines has arrived.”
A groan sounded in her throat.
Just hearing Luc’s name made her heart beat so fast, it was unhealthy.
The shipment couldn’t have come at a worse emotional time for Rachel, yet her father was oblivious to her pain.
“I’ve called in the stock boys and want you to oversee their work while they take it off the truck. Since you’re the one who ordered it, you’d better make certain Chartier et Fils hasn’t short-changed us.”
Luc would never do that. But her father’s mood was so volatile since her grandfather had died, everyone was giving him wide berth.
“As soon as I get dressed, I’ll be over.”
This close to the funeral she didn’t dare cross him for fear she’d push him over the edge.
Besides, something else much more serious than placating her father was eating her alive.
What if the impossible had happened? What if she was one of those women whose fertile time was different from the average female?
Heaven knew she suffered for Rebecca who’d always had female problems. Rachel was her twin.
What if…?
She covered her mouth, traumatized by the implication.
An ad she’d seen on TV popped into her mind. A new product that could detect pregnancy earlier than ever.
On her way to the restaurant, she would stop at the pharmacy and buy a kit.
She didn’t really believe she could be pregnant, but a negative test result would relieve her so she could make it through the funeral without falling apart.
During the next hour she found out there were increasing degrees of torture. The rack couldn’t have been more agonizing than having to examine each case of Riesling and Tokay.
The memories of Luc suffocated her, adding to her grief, which was all part of one dark pit when she considered she might have conceived his child. She couldn’t leave the wine room fast enough.
When she walked in her father’s office to give him a full account, she discovered him opening a package sitting on his desk.
He flashed her a quick glance. “You didn’t tell me you’d sent me a present from Mulhouse.”
She shook her head. “I didn’t.”
“Then what’s this? The note Max left said it was delivered by courier yesterday afternoon.”
He pulled three miniature classic model cars from the pellets.
Her heart started to thud. Luc— He’d done it.
No-o-o.
“I—I forgot about that,” she dissembled.
“I guess you did.” He studied them with pleasure. “How did you know which ones to pick?”
How had Luc known? Why had Luc done this? It couldn’t possibly change anything.
“I—I’m glad you like them.”
She put the bills of lading on his desk. “Every bottle of wine arrived intact.”
“Excellent,” he murmured while he was still admiring the green model.
“Dad? I have to leave. There’s a lot to do before the funeral.”
He stood up. “I’ll drive us back to the mansion. John thinks he’s in charge of the whole damn funeral, but I’ve got news for him. Let’s go.”
She’d put the item she’d purchased inside her purse. During the drive, she gripped it so tightly, her knuckles turned white.
Once they reached the mansion, she dashed upstairs to the bathroom off the ante-room.
After she’d done the test, she went into the bedroom, terrified to look at it.
Knowing Emma was downstairs waiting for her, Rachel finally found the courage to see what was there.
At the first glance, her body broke out in a cold sweat.
“Rachel?”
When she heard the sound of Rebecca’s voice, the plastic apparatus fell from her hand. She scrambled to pick it up, but the motion made her so dizzy, she had to sit down on the bed.
Rebecca rushed over to her. “What’s wrong? You’re as white as a sheet. Sit still. I’ll get it.”
“No—” Rachel cried, but it was too late. Rebecca had already plucked the test from the floor.
Eyes wide with shock, she handed it to Rachel. “Oh…Rachel. I’m sorry to have walked in on you. I wasn’t sure you were even in here, but the door was open. Emma thought you’d come in. I told her I’d find you.”
Rachel was still fighting dizziness.
“Don’t apologize. Please don’t. There’s been so much pain in this family, I couldn’t stand for there to be any more.
“I—I’ve just found out I’m pregnant, and I don’t know what to do.” She broke down sobbing.
Rebecca sat down on the bed and pulled her into her arms. She rocked her like a baby. It seemed the most natural thing in the world even though they’d spent so many years apart.
“Oh, Rebecca—” She hugged her back, needing her sister terribly.
“It’s going to be all right, Rachel. I’m in love, too, but the whole thing’s impossible so I recognize all the signs.”<
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“Mitch Tucker?”
“Yes, but I don’t want to talk about him. Tell me about this man who’s the father of my niece or nephew.”
“I wouldn’t know where to begin.”
“Just start at the beginning. We used to tell each other everything. Remember?”
“As if I could forget.” She finally let go of her. “I’ve missed you more than you’ll ever know. I should never have let Dad’s needs influence me to stay in the UK.
“Forgive me for not being there to help more with Mom at the end. I loved her with all my heart and would have come before she died, but Dad insisted I go on that business trip with him.
“He was afraid for me to fly home in case I decided to stay. He’s impossible to live with if you fight him on anything.”
“I know,” Rebecca whispered. “The trouble was, Mom was so bitter about the divorce, I was torn and felt her pain. Many times I wanted to fly to London to be with you, but I knew it would hurt her, and I didn’t think Dad would approve. He preferred you to me.”
Rachel shook her head. “Only because I felt Dad was more vulnerable than Mom because of his inadequacies, and he capitalized on it.
“The truth is, they were two angry, needy people, Rebecca. We were caught in the middle. After college I admit I wanted to spend time with him, but the price was too high. I saw less and less of Nana and Poppy, whom I adored. But the worst was the rift it caused between you and me.”
She smiled tearfully at her sister. “I’ve always loved you, Rebecca. I just didn’t know how to fix it.”
Rebecca choked down a sob. “Neither did I. In the beginning I felt like you betrayed me and Mom. After Mom died, I felt isolated and alone. I kept hoping Dad would send for me, but he didn’t. It was either wallow in pain, or make the most of my career.”
“Rebecca—Dad is incapable of a healthy relationship with anyone.”
“I agree, but it has taken me years to figure it out. Too long. Oh, Rachel, I’m so glad you called me to come. It gave me this precious time with Grandfather.”
Rachel wiped the tears off her sister’s face. “He loved you so much and died happy because you came. I can tell you he always grieved over the divorce and our father’s inability to understand that you and I should never have been split up.”
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