‘Red!’
‘J!’
The old nicknames came naturally again now.
‘What’s happening, dude?’
Jamie sounded like a rapper at times, but it was always tongue in cheek.
‘Are you down with the kids?’
‘No. Not at all. Not. At. All. In fact, all the kids think I’m sad and geeky.’
‘Ha!’ Lily smiled. ‘Not much happening really. I have another skiing lesson this afternoon and I might attempt some parallels.’
‘Woohoo! You go, girlfriend!’ Jamie laughed. ‘No, seriously. Good for you.’
‘I know. Get me. It remains to be seen if I can manage them or not. Luc’s a good teacher though.’
There was a pause. ‘You’re spending a lot of time with this Luc, by the sounds of things. I hope he’s old and ugly. And fat.’
Lily frowned, not sure why Jamie was interested in what Luc looked like. ‘Er… no, actually. He’s pretty… hot.’
There was another pause. ‘Well. Lucky you,’ Jamie said, finally.
‘Yes indeed. Anyway.’ Lily changed the subject slightly. ‘Luc hates Christmas, so I’m going to try and sort out a proper one for him this year. If I can.’
‘So you’re not back for Christmas then?’ Jamie sounded disappointed. ‘I’m definitely visiting then.’
Lily chewed the finger of her glove. ‘Umm. Maybe not. I haven’t properly decided yet.’
And I haven’t even spoken to Mum and Dave about it, Lily thought to herself.
‘Have you spoken to your mum and Dave about it yet?’ Jamie asked, echoing her thoughts.
‘No, but I will,’ Lily said, resolving to call them later.
‘They’ll be gutted. Did you say Luc hates Christmas?’
‘Yes.’
Jamie let out a derisive snort. ‘What sort of wally hates Christmas?’
Lily felt a rush of irritation. ‘The sort of wally whose sister took an overdose a few days before.’
‘Oh.’ Jamie fell silent. ‘Fair dos, Lil. I didn’t know that.’
Lily immediately felt contrite. ‘Of course you didn’t. How could you? Anyhoo. It’s a sad time for him and I’m just trying to cheer him up a bit. Repay him for all the free ski lessons and the absurd amount of patience he’s had to show me.’
‘Well that is because you are a very awesome person,’ Jamie said warmly. ‘And I wouldn’t expect anything less from you. Listen, I have to dash, but I’ll be in touch soon to let you know dates for me to pop over and see you. We can ski together! That is… if you want me to come?’
‘Do bears shit in the woods?’ Lily asked, smiling.
‘Great. Speak soon, Red. And even better, see you soon.’ Jamie signed off.
And not once did he mention Ivy, Lily said to herself.
* * *
‘And how about this one?’ Lily wafted another oil under Celine’s nose.
‘Oh, that one, definitely. I love that.’
‘Me too. It’s my favourite. It’s Indian Moringa oil, with cinnamon, bergamot, myrrh and sweet honey.’
Celine tucked her arms by her side, laying her head down. ‘It sounds wonderful. Whatever you can do to get rid of all these knots in my back and shoulders.’ She lifted an arm to flip her frizzy blond hair out of the way, then relaxed again.
Lily set her music up. No Ibiza cool classic hits for Celine. She was more of a ‘sounds of nature’ type of personality. All her candles were lit and there was a lovely, warm glow in the room. She warmed some oil in a burner she had taken to using, mixing it with some cold oil in her hands. Drizzling it along Celine’s spine, Lily got to work.
‘Mmm, that feels good,’ Celine murmured.
Lily worked on Celine’s shoulders. There were many knots and lumps in Celine’s shoulders and all around her shoulder blades. Lily had to work hard to pummel them out, which she did as gently as possible, but occasionally, she had to be firm. Celine was slender, verging on skinny if Lily was going to be critical about it. ‘Under-nourished’ they had called it at college, but despite her weathered-looking face, she had good skin elsewhere. Youthful and smooth. And Lily suspected that it wasn’t so much that Celine didn’t eat, so much as she was one of life’s worriers.
‘You are very good,’ Celine said, lifting her head as Lily worked on her calves.
‘Thank you. I love my job.’ Lily rolled her thumbs up the back of Celine’s legs.
‘I can tell.’ Celine half-lifted herself from the couch. ‘Lily. I wanted to apologise for the recent incident with Elodie.’
‘Oh?’ Lily didn’t realise Celine even knew about it.
‘I think it was a case of crossed wires,’ Celine said apologetically. ‘Elodie… sometimes gets things wrong.’
Lily inclined her head. It must have taken a lot for Celine to apologise and openly say that she thought Elodie was in the wrong.
‘Thank you. It’s fine. We don’t need to mention it again.’
Lily still felt mortified each time she thought about Elodie embarrassing her in front of everyone like that, but there was no point in worrying about it now. Everyone had jumped to her defence, apart from Luc, who had trotted after Elodie like a little lap dog, which Lily still couldn’t understand. But still. Everyone else had leapt to her defence and that had been enough for Lily to feel vindicated. Even if the Luc thing still stung when she thought about it.
‘You are very gracious,’ Celine said.
‘It’s fine.’ Lily paused. ‘I just… Elodie doesn’t seem to like me very much, I’m afraid.’
Celine let out a sound that was rather like a snort. ‘Elodie doesn’t like anyone much, Lily! Not girls, anyway.’
Lily quite agreed, but she still thought there was more to it as far as she was personally concerned. She hadn’t seen Elodie show the same level of animosity towards Imogen or any of the other girls there.
‘Does it have something to do with Luc?’ Lily blurted out suddenly. She immediately regretted speaking up. How unprofessional. She focused on her massage, hoping Celine would ignore her comment.
She didn’t, but she seemed unfazed by it. ‘Luc? No, I wouldn’t think so. They are very close, of course.’
Lily bit her lip. Could she follow that comment up? Was it appropriate? ‘Erm… yes, they are very close, aren’t they? But I guess they would be.’ She left the comment hanging.
Celine relaxed more deeply into the couch. ‘Why?’
Lily pulled an agonised face. God, what had she started? And why was Celine acting this way? If Luc and Elodie were an item, surely she would know. ‘Oh, I don’t know. Just their… chemistry…’ she finished lamely.
‘Chemistry?’ Celine sounded vague. She didn’t comment further.
Lily sighed. Whatever digging she did about Luc and Elodie, she wasn’t ever able to come up with anything concrete. She couldn’t understand it.
Abruptly, Celine sat up properly and wrapped the towel from the couch around her body. She burst into tears.
‘Oh no, are you OK? Hang on…’ Lily grabbed her box of tissues and thrust them into Celine’s hands.
‘Merci.’ Celine tugged several tissues out and wept into them.
Nonplussed, Lily watched and waited, occasionally patting Celine’s towel-clad knee. What on earth was wrong? Celine must be worried about Pierre, Lily decided. Of course, that’s what it was. Unless it was her comments about Elodie and Luc for some reason…?
‘I am so sorry.’ Celine sniffed. Then she started shredding the tissues in her hands, as though she wasn’t aware she was doing it.
‘It’s OK.’ Lily shook her head. ‘Please don’t worry. It must be very stressful for you with Pierre being in hospital.’
‘Pierre?’ Celine lifted her head. ‘Oh, yes. I suppose so. I am worried he will not be able to ski again. Pierre lives to ski.’ She let out a laugh that sounded suspiciously bitter.
‘Doesn’t everyone here?’ Lily asked blithely. ‘I was taken aback when I first arrived here with the f
ocus on skiing, the obsession. The constant chat about skiing, skiing, skiing.’
Celine gave her a watery smile. ‘I love skiing as much as the next person. I adore it, in fact. I feel so alive when I ski.’
Lily nodded, wiping her hands on a towel. ‘I do understand that.’
Celine dabbed the shredded tissues to her eyes. ‘I’m glad you’re enjoying it after your difficult start.’
‘Is there anything I can do to help?’ Lily asked, not sure if she was overstepping the mark. Celine was her boss, after all.
Celine shook her head, looking desolate. ‘You are a very sweet girl. No, I’m afraid not. It’s me and my marriage. I feel so neglected and so…’ She stopped abruptly. ‘I am talking too much. Ignore me. It’s just the stress of… Pierre.’
Lily put the towel she’d been using into a linen basket. Celine wasn’t stressed about Pierre. She might be unhappy with him and Lily could well believe that she felt sidelined by Pierre’s obsession with skiing and with work, but Celine had something else on her mind, something that was troubling her deeply.
She continued the massage, warming some more oil in her burner. Celine seemed calmer after her tears and Lily made sure the massage was one that would boost her well-being. When she returned at the end of the massage with some iced water, Celine had dressed herself and she was sitting on the couch.
‘I must apologise for my tears earlier.’ She looked uncomfortable.
‘You really mustn’t.’ Lily swiftly changed the subject. ‘I was thinking that the staff could do a little collection for Pierre. Buy him a card and some chocolates, maybe?’ She was winging it and that was the best she could do on the spot.
‘That’s very kind. I am sure Pierre would appreciate that.’ Celine stood up. ‘Thank you again for a wonderful massage. We are lucky to have you here. Have you thought anymore about staying after Christmas?’
Lily chewed her lip. ‘I don’t know yet. I think I’ll be here for Christmas, but I don’t know after that.’
‘I hope you stay,’ Celine said, squeezing Lily’s arm briefly.
I hope I do too, Lily thought to herself. She had a lot of decisions to make.
Chapter Nineteen
‘You might stay there for Christmas?’ Sue’s usually cheery voice sounded flat, but not disappointed.
‘I don’t know yet. Maybe not.’ Lily didn’t know what was the best thing to do. She was sitting on the edge of a wall near the Musée Alpin in her ski wear, waiting for Luc. She hadn’t been sure her mum and Dave would be in as they usually played bowls on a Tuesday, but she had got lucky.
‘Is it OK if I put you on speaker?’ Sue was asking. ‘Dave wants to talk to you too.’
Dave came on. ‘Lily? Are you staying in France for Christmas?’
‘I don’t know,’ Lily repeated. ‘I mean, I want to come home because I miss you so much, but there are things going on here and oh, I feel so awful about it. I LOVE Christmas with you guys.’
‘We love it too, we love it too.’ Dave agreed. ‘But. What a wonderful opportunity for her, Sue. Don’t you agree? Christmas in France… in Chamonix! All that snow and they must have some lovely decorations up, Lily?’
‘Stunning,’ Lily said, loving the way Dave always put a positive spin on everything. They were so lucky to have him in their lives.
‘Oh yes, Dave. An amazing opportunity.’ Sue sounded more upbeat. ‘I do see that. I do.’
‘Could you… come out here?’ Lily suggested, the idea suddenly coming to her. ‘I mean, I know that’s a bit mental because it would be so much easier if I came back to you, because that’s just me travelling and not all of you, but…’
‘What do you think, Sue?’
‘I don’t know, Dave. It’s a bit crazy, isn’t it?’ Sue sounded quite keen. ‘A bit of an adventure for both of us, though, do you think? We’d have to look into it properly…’
‘We would, we would.’
‘I mean, where would we stay? At the Boutique Hotel Devereux?’ Sue asked. ‘Does it stay open at Christmas time? Or would we stay somewhere else? Is there a nice, family-owned type hotel nearby? Or perhaps we could stay in town, Dave. We wouldn’t need to learn to ski, would we, Lily?’
Lily started laughing. ‘No!’
‘We need to get the laptop out, Sue,’ Dave was saying. ‘I’ll get onto it right away. Bye, Lily. Speak soon!’
Dave was obviously off to fire up the laptop and get onto Trivago quick smart.
‘Leave it with us, love,’ Sue trilled. ‘But I’m sure we can find a way to make this happen! Dave, what’s the laptop saying…?’
With that, they both signed off. Lily smiled, then felt a huge pang. She missed them badly. Chamonix was beautiful, but it didn’t feel like home because the people she loved were missing. Thank God Jamie was coming to visit. It was a start, at least. Lily missed Ivy, too, even though they weren’t super close, but she was still used to having Ivy half an hour away if she wanted to chat or have dinner. And Ivy had been distant recently. It was ever since Lily had left for Chamonix, in fact.
‘What’s up?’
Luc was standing over her, grinning. He was wearing his brown puffer jacket rather than his red ski instructor’s coat and he looked good.
‘Aah. I miss my family.’ Lily held her phone up as if that might articulate the depth of her feelings to Luc somehow. ‘I just spoke to them and… I just miss them, you know? My mum is… she’s just a great mum. And my stepdad is so funny. He’s very positive and happy and he makes my mum feel good. He makes us all feel good.’
‘You have a stepdad?’
‘Yes.’ Lily realised Luc didn’t know her back story. Because she hadn’t told him any of it.
‘Would meeting my parents make you feel better?’ Luc asked out of the blue.
Lily met his eyes. ‘Your parents? I’d love to meet them. Where are they?’
‘In that cafe.’ Luc pointed to a quaint little place across the road. ‘I just met them for coffee, but they would have another one if you come back with me.’
‘Sure.’
Lily stood up and started walking with Luc. They left their skis and poles outside and went into the little cafe together. It was called ‘Côtés Macarons’. Lily hadn’t been there before, but the window looked enticing; a multi-coloured macaron pyramid took pride of place in the centre of the window and it was surrounded by macarons of every colour and flavour imaginable: coconut, peach and blackcurrant, vanilla, pistachio, salted caramel, rhubarb. The colours were vibrant, punchy and unapologetic. There was also an array of delectable-looking pastries and cakes on offer. Inside, the salon du thé was like a swanky lounge with wooden tables and hot-pink furnishings.
Luc led the way to a table with a smartly-dressed couple.
‘Tu es de retour!’ The woman said, looking pleased.
‘Yes, I’m back.’ Luc kissed her cheeks. ‘This is Lily. Lily, this is my mother, Violetta.’
Violetta stood up. Wearing her blond hair in a neat chignon, she was rocking a cropped puffer jacket in emerald green with a fur collar that looked suspiciously like real rabbit with black trousers and little ankle boots with fur edges.
‘Aah, Lily.’ Giving Luc a little wink, Violetta stood up and embraced Lily warmly. ‘’ow lovely to meet you. Luc… ’e ’as talked about you.’
Lily blushed. ‘Oh, how nice. I’m very pleased to meet you, Violetta. And what a pretty name.’
Violetta smiled. ‘Thank you. I also like yours. This is Raymond.’ She gestured to her husband.
Raymond was somewhat of a hottie. Tall, blond and with a good physique for a man of his age, he stood up and kissed Lily’s cheeks. He had a moustache and it tickled her cheeks.
‘Enchanté,’ he said with a broad smile. ‘Please, sit. Some tea?’
‘Yes, please.’ Lily sat down at the next table with Luc. Cups of tea soon arrived, accompanied by a plate containing a selection of macarons.
‘So. You enjoy the skiing now?’ Violetta asked.
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‘A little,’ Lily replied. ‘Thanks to Luc, I can actually stay upright now.’
Violetta smiled proudly. ‘My son is a very good instructor.’
‘He is.’
Lily noticed that despite Violetta’s smile reaching her eyes, her eyes were sad. The pain of losing Anais was clearly never too far away. Raymond hid it better, but there was a melancholy droop to his moustache that gave him away.
They chatted about skiing as Lily munched on the delicious macarons. She realized she would have to tell Imogen about this place if she hadn’t been there yet, since Imogen was addicted to macarons. Lily talked about her work, probably talking too much about it as she was so passionate about being a masseuse and about her home life. Violetta and Raymond seemed to listen keenly, even if they might have missed the odd word here and there.
‘And where will you go for Christmas?’ Violetta asked. Even saying the word seemed to cause her a little wince of pain. ‘Will you go ’ome?’
‘I was thinking of going home,’ Lily said slowly. ‘But now I think I might stay here.’
‘Vraiment?’ Luc looked surprised. ‘Really?’
‘Yes. I’m hoping my parents might join us, but I don’t know what’s happening with that yet.’
‘And after Christmas?’ Raymond asked.
Lily held her hands up. ‘I don’t know about that yet either. I have many decisions to make.’
Luc checked his watch and stood up. ‘We should get up on the mountain. It’s getting late.’
‘OK.’ Lily stood up. ‘It was so lovely to meet you both.’
There was much kissing and hugging, and then she and Luc left. They quickly grabbed their skis and headed towards the ski centre.
‘Green?’ Luc enquired, pulling his helmet over his blond hair.
‘Blue,’ Lily said bravely. She had been thinking about this since her last visit to see Bernadette and she thought she was ready.
‘Good girl,’ Luc grinned. ‘Let’s go. Somewhere different, though. Les Grands Montets. There is a blue run there called Marmottons that will be perfect. It’s a good place to practice.’
Christmas in Chamonix Page 18