‘Noted.’ He nodded with a pretend serious look. ‘Miss Saskia Elwood. London-based entrepreneur and expert dessert disher upper. Not a mess. Got it.’
He waited for her low chuckle to die down before raising his eyebrows and turning to face her. ‘It was a broken window, Saskia.’
She groaned and covered her face with a sofa pillow. ‘I know, I know. This is why I feel so totally pathetic at overreacting the way I did. And I really am sorry about blubbing all over you and your sweater. It was most unprofessional behaviour in front of my new wine merchant.’
Rick froze and then slowly turned his gaze to her feet, carried on rubbing her toes and gave a wide-mouthed grin. ‘As my very first buyer, I am prepared to offer you this kind of customer service whenever needed. Good to have you on board. So you can stop groaning. If it makes you feel any better, I would like to think that we were friends before anything else. That works for me.’
She took a long sip of wine and flashed him a shy smile before whispering, ‘Me too.’
‘Excellent,’ he replied with a twisted smile and covered her feet with the blanket. ‘And now that is settled, you can tell me why one broken window is such a big deal and upsets you so badly. Between friends.’
Her head dropped back and the warm glow from the table lamps and the flickering firelight reflected back from the crystal tumbler in her hand before she slowly lowered it onto the coffee table.
Then, just as she was about to answer, Saskia gasped, grabbed onto his sleeve with one hand and pointed towards the window on the other side of the room with her other. ‘Rick, look. It’s snowing!’
* * *
Saskia threw off the blanket, wrapped it around her shoulders, slipped her feet into a pair of Rick’s shoes and stepped out onto a long wooden terrace that ran outside the back of the chalet. And what she saw in front of her took her breath away.
The sunshine and dry crisp weather they had enjoyed at the vineyard had been replaced by heavy clouds in the cool night sky, creating a dark ceiling without moon or stars. And, stretched out along the long valley down below the chalet, was the picture postcard Alpine village that Rick called home.
The smell of wood smoke and pine resin filled her head with their musky, heady scents. Warm golden squares of light shone out from the chalet homes on either side of the river, interspersed with the occasional street light so that it looked like a long winding ribbon of Chinese lanterns which twisted away into the distance and the next valley.
And, falling straight down from the sky like a net curtain, were light flurries of large, fluffy flakes of snow.
It was like something from a movie or a wonderful painting. A moment so special that Saskia knew instinctively that she would never forget it.
And suddenly she understood why Rick had made this place his home. Of course. It was his refuge, just as Elwood House was hers.
She loved London, she always had. Elwood House was in a popular part of the city with a constant stream of traffic and pedestrians no matter what time of day or night. The contrast to where she was standing could not be greater. The village was quiet, tranquil and serene while her life seemed to be in constant turmoil.
She grasped hold of the polished wooden railing and looked out over the garden towards the mountains, her heart soaring, and she felt the anxiety of the phone call with Kate slip away in the exuberant joy of the view.
Up above them was snow and ice, while she felt safe and sheltered on this simple wooden terrace. It was icy-cold, snowing and her feet were turning blue but she did not want to move from the spot. It was truly magical.
It was almost a shock to feel a strong arm wrap her fleecy blanket around her shoulders and tuck it in and she turned sideways to face Rick with a grin and clutched onto the sleeve of his sweater.
‘Have you seen this? It is astonishing. I thought the view from the top of the cable car station was spectacular, but this is wonderful. I love it.’
‘I can see that on your face.’
Then he turned forward and came to stand next to her on the balcony, his left hand just touching the outstretched fingers of her right.
‘You probably don’t realise it, but there are very few people who I would invite to share this chalet. But you are one of them. You have a special gift, Saskia Elwood. I can tell from the way you describe your two friends that you care about those girls and then do something about it. I don’t think that there is a selfish bone in your body. I admire that.’
‘You admire me? What do you mean?’ Saskia asked, taken aback by the tone in his voice. For the first time since they’d met, Rick sounded hesitant and unsure, in total contrast to the man who had been joking with his friends at the wedding.
Rick looked down at Saskia’s fingers and his gaze seemed to lock onto how his fingers could mesh with hers so completely. ‘These past two years have taught me that you don’t know what life is going to throw at you, Saskia. You can’t. I’ve learnt to take the opportunities that come along and enjoy them while I can, even if it does mean being totally single-minded. Selfish even. Always on the move. Filling the day with life and activity. That’s the way I chose to live.’
Saskia looked into his face and remembered to breathe again.
‘And how is that working for you?’ She smiled.
Rick sighed low and long and shook his head briefly from side to side. ‘My parents are still strangers trying to come to terms with losing Tom and I am not exactly helping by spending more time on the road than back at base. Chamonix is a long way from Napa.’
‘That must be so hard, for all of you.’
He turned back and instantly switched on his smiley face.
But it was too late. She had taken a glimpse of who the real man was beneath the mask he wore in public. And the shock was, she liked them both.
‘Oh, there are some benefits,’ he replied, eyebrows high. ‘It means that instead of freezing my important bits off climbing some mountain in Pakistan I am here in France enjoying time out with a lovely lady who might have a different take on life.’
He lifted one of Saskia’s hands and kissed the back of the knuckles. ‘I have even found the time to enjoy a vineyard wedding and a parapent jump on the same day. Imagine that.’
‘Yes. Imagine. I was terrified this morning just watching you jump off that cliff top! I was almost too scared to watch you land. All your scars are testament to the adventures.’
Saskia turned back to the railing and gave a small shoulder shrug. ‘I don’t have that kind of courage, Rick, and I never will have. Yes, I am probably too generous with my time and my energy when it comes to my friends. But just the thought that there is a problem with my house makes me shake in my boots.’
She held both of her arms straight out at him. ‘See. Shaking. But it’s all I have and I can’t risk anything happening to it. That’s why I totally panicked when I heard that it was damaged in the storm.’
‘Why? Oh it’s a lovely house and I was mega-impressed. But there are plenty of people who would have sold the place and used the cash to do what they wanted. Like go to university and study things that they are passionate about, or travel and find out firsthand what the world has to offer. Crazy things like that.’
Then he smiled. ‘Don’t give me that look. You have a good brain behind those pretty eyes and look hot in everything you wear. You could go anywhere you want. Do anything you want. So what made you decide to stay and rent out dining rooms in your house? What’s keeping you in London?’
Saskia sniffed and dropped her head. ‘Thank you but I think you already know the answer to that question, Rick. Let me give you a hint. Does the infamous Hugo Mortimer investment scam ring any bells?’
‘Your dad made some really bad decisions and stole a lot of money from a lot of people. But they were adults and nobody forced them to put their money into bricks and cement. You were a child.’
‘Nice idea in theory.’ She cleared her throat. ‘Shame it doesn’t work like that. He was impul
sive and arrogant and delusional and the rest of his family were simply supposed to go along with everything he wanted without question.’
She slapped her hand down hard on the wooden rail in anger and frustration. ‘Do you know the worst part? I still have nightmares about the day he was arrested. The police came to our huge expensive house in three cars, lights flashing and sirens blaring like some TV cop show, and literally dragged my dad out of my mother’s arms. I was about fourteen at the time and had no clue what was going on or why they threw him to the floor and were putting handcuffs on him...and I was screaming for them to stop. To leave my dad alone...’
Words became impossible because of the stinging in her throat and the blinding tears which blocked out her vision.
All she could feel was Rick’s strong arms, which wrapped around her and held her tight against his chest with her head nestling into his shoulder.
He didn’t say a word but she could feel his strength seep out from below his fine sweater and reach into her heart and quell her pain until she could suck in deep breaths between her sobs. She tried to slip her arms out but his grip only tightened in response.
‘Hey, you can stay right where you are,’ he whispered into her hair and snuggled in closer, his hands splayed out on her back. ‘Take five minutes. Hell. Take as long as you like. No scars? You have plenty of scars, gorgeous.’
He slid one arm up her side and pressed two fingers flat onto her chest so they rested above her heart and she could feel the warm pressure of his fingertips through the wool throw. ‘But they are not on the surface like mine are. They are all in here. And they hurt just as bad. Because I think other people pushed you beyond the limit of what you were ready to handle. But here is the thing. From what I’ve seen, the only perfect and constant objects in this world of ours are the sky, the oceans and the mountains. Everything else needs work and is likely to change at a moment’s notice. And that goes for every single one of us.’
‘Then how do we cope with all of that chaos?’ Saskia blinked. ‘My dad took everything my mother and I had, and more besides. We lost everything. Savings. Home. Everything that could be sold was sold. Don’t you see? That’s why I am struggling to make the leap into taking a risk on your new business. All I have left is my credibility and reputation. If I lose that by serving my guests anything but the best then I lose everything I have worked so hard to build up. I am alone, Rick, and I have to take the decisions alone. It is a huge gamble for me and I have learned the hard way that taking risks is a fool’s game.’
‘How do we cope?’ he asked, his lips pressed against her temple. ‘We do what our heart yearns to do or go to our graves full of regret and pain and loss for all of the things we didn’t get to do and the words we did not say.’
‘I’m not sure that I am capable of doing that.’
He responded by slipping back just far enough so that he could tip up her chin and tap her on the end of her nose.
‘I’ve been watching you, Saskia Elwood. You are going to be astounded at what you are capable of. And if you don’t succeed you learn from your mistakes and do what you have to do to get back up and try again until you can prove to yourself that you can do it. And then you keep on doing that over and over again.’
‘No matter how many times you fall down and hurt yourself?’
‘You’ve got it. Your Aunt Margot would be proud if she could see you now.’
Saskia turned her face and rested her cheek on his chest and looked out towards the horizon, suddenly needing to get some distance, some air between them. What he was describing was so hard, so difficult and so familiar. He could never know how many times she had forced herself to smile after someone let her down, or walked away without even thanking her after she had worked so very hard to please them.
Saskia blinked back tears and shrugged deeper into the fleece blanket while she fought to gain control of her voice. ‘Some of us lesser mortals have been knocked down so many times that it is hard to bounce back up again, Rick. Very hard.’
Tears pricked her eyes and she swallowed down the pain to get the words out. ‘I loved working in my aunt’s wine shop after school and at weekends when my mother was away with her rich pals. But after my dad was arrested I couldn’t...’ She took a few short breaths before going on. ‘I couldn’t work there a minute longer. They knew it was nothing to do with me, and I was family, but...I just couldn’t embarrass them like that. Do you understand?’
Rick replied by wrapping his long arms around her body in a warm embrace so tender that Saskia surrendered to a moment of joy and pressed her head against his chest, inhaling his delicious scent as her body shared his warmth.
His hands made lazy circles on her back in silence for a few minutes until he spoke, the words reverberating inside his chest into her head. ‘Better than you can imagine. What did you do then?’
Saskia raised her head, laughed in a choked voice and then pressed both hands against his chest as she replied with a broken smile. ‘I went to school every day and kept my head down and stayed in the background with my pals and made a life for myself with my Aunt Margot in Elwood House. What else could I do? My mother had run away to kind friends in Los Angeles to escape the press scrum and my aunt was the only one holding us all together. And I never left.’
‘That was a long time ago, Saskia. What’s holding you back now? Today? This minute?’
He tilted his head sideways to look at Saskia as she moistened her lips, her mouth a straight line.
‘Isn’t it obvious?’ she whispered after several long seconds. ‘Losing Aunt Margot hit me hard and I still haven’t recovered from the shock. I’m scared.’
‘Scared of what? Failure? Hell, girl, I’ve made so many mistakes these past two years I must have been the laughing stock of the wine business. Good thing I am able to laugh at myself and enjoy the journey.’
‘How did you do that? How did you pick yourself up after losing your brother? Your parents must be so proud of what you have achieved.’
‘Oh, girl. If only that were true. My mum and dad have never understood this compulsion I have to push my body and my mind through challenges which need high mountains and ridiculous adventures. I don’t blame them for that. Far from it. Tom was always the academically gifted crown prince. The quiet, hard-working golden boy who could do no wrong. But me?’
A long shuddering sigh echoed out from deep in his chest and Saskia felt the wave of sad regret wash over her. ‘I was a mystery to them as a teenager and I am still a mystery to them now. They know that I still resent being called back into the family business. Once a black sheep, always a black sheep. The problem is, I am the only black sheep they have left so they have to give me a chance and put up with me doing things my way.’
Saskia gasped. ‘But you have worked so hard.’
‘I am slowly persuading them that there is more than one way to get the job done.’ Rick smiled, his face suddenly energised, the laughter lines hard in the warm light flooding out from the living room. ‘And that includes trusting my gut reaction to choose who I work with.’
Then he shrugged and tilted his head slightly to one side. ‘Here is an outrageous idea. I have already committed to moving my London office into Elwood House. Let me take that further. You need financial backing with someone you can trust. I need someone who can help promote the wine store. Why don’t we combine the two? Let me invest in your business the same way that you are taking a risk and investing in mine.’
Rick pointed two fingers at her chest, folded his thumb into his palm and fired off a single shot. ‘I choose you, Saskia Elwood. You are the woman I want to work with in London and nobody else will do.’
TEN
Must-Do list
Damn, but Rick is a good salesman and apparently does know a few things about his customers after all. The wine I tried today would be perfect for Amber’s new wedding menu. Buy some before it is all snapped up by other customers.
Last night in Chamonix and in the cha
let. Perhaps take the rest of the night off. Need to be fresh and alert for journey back north tomorrow. Shame. I will miss this chalet.
Rick stood in silence, his gaze locked onto Saskia’s shocked pale blue eyes as she took in a few breaths of the cool night air.
What had he just done? So much for playing it cool.
Rick inhaled very slowly and watched Saskia struggle with her thoughts, her dilemma played out in the tension on her face.
She was as proud as anyone he had ever met. Including himself. This was quite something.
And just like that, the connection he had sensed between them from the moment he had laid eyes on her standing outside Elwood House kicked up a couple of notches. And the longer he watched her, the stronger that connection became until he almost felt that it was a practical thing. A wire. Pulling them closer together.
And every warning bell in his body starting screaming Danger so loudly that in the end he could not ignore it any longer. And this time he was the one who snapped the wire binding them together and stepped back, away from her.
She shivered in the cool air, fracturing the moment, and he stepped back and opened the patio doors and guided her back into the luxurious warmth of the log fire and the living room.
‘Say that again,’ Saskia stuttered. ‘I thought that you simply wanted me to buy your wine?’
‘I do. This is extra.’
Saskia sucked in air, her shoulders heaving as her brain struggled to catch up. Then she flung her head back and glared at him though narrowed eyes.
‘Extra? Wait a minute. When did you come up with this brainwave? Because the last thing I want is your pity just because I told my sad little tale. No, Rick. I am independent for a reason. I make my own decisions. Remember?’
His reply was to wrap both arms around her back and pull her to him in a warm hug before sliding his arms out and smiling into her face.
‘I don’t do pity. We have just been talking about taking risks and going for business opportunities when we see them. And I see one in you. It is as simple as that. I want to invest in you.’
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