Christmas in Chamonix

by Christmas in Chamonix (retail) (epub)

  Lily watched him walk into the lobby, feeling sad. She didn’t think Jamie would be in touch for a while. Their relationship, or rather, their friendship, had shifted. They weren’t going to be as close now, which was gutting, but that was how it had to be.

  Imogen came into the lobby as Lily walked in.

  ‘We’re due in a staff meeting,’ she told Lily. ‘Elodie is on the warpath. Again.’

  ‘Oh crap.’

  Lily’s mood turned darker. A staff meeting with Elodie was the last thing she needed. She followed Imogen into the staff area and dumped her bags in the corner. Luc was present, but apart from a brief glance in her direction, he didn’t acknowledge her. Lily felt even sadder.

  Everyone had been wrong about Luc having feelings about her, that was for sure. Marc and Elodie stood at the front of the room with Celine. They all looked serious.

  ‘First of all, my father is due home soon,’ Marc started. ‘We are all looking forward to welcoming him back.’

  Everyone clapped politely.

  ‘Any news on his skiing?’ Ollie asked.

  Marc nodded. ‘They think he’ll be OK, but he’s going to need a few more operations.’

  ‘Thank God for that,’ Ollie said, voicing what everyone else was thinking.

  ‘I have the schedule for the week here and I will pin it on the noticeboard. Guests, skiing lessons, etc,’ Celine said. ‘We also have the social evening for guests this week, so you will all need to attend.’

  ‘Do we still need to wear stupid costumes?’ Imogen asked, giving Elodie an evil stare.

  Elodie narrowed her eyes at Imogen.

  Celine shook her head. ‘No, we’re not doing that now. We’re just having a little Christmas social for the guests.’

  ‘And that’s the only reason it’s going ahead, by the way,’ Elodie announced snippily. ‘Because it’s for guests.’

  Everyone stared at her, confused. Lily glanced at Luc, but he was resolutely looking ahead.

  ‘More money has gone missing,’ Elodie said, scrutinising them all as if she might be able to pick out the culprit by glaring. ‘We thought it had all stopped, but it hasn’t. So as of now, apart from the social evening, all Christmas events are cancelled. Including the lunch at the 3842.’

  There was a collective groan.

  ‘Forgive me, but every cloud,’ Lily whispered to Imogen. ‘I was shitting my pants about going up there.’

  Imogen nodded. ‘We can go there anytime,’ she whispered back. ‘She was only doing that to be a bitch to you.’

  ‘Merry bloody Christmas,’ Ollie muttered. ‘She’s such a cow.’

  Elodie was in full vitriolic flow. ‘So for the time being, Christmas is cancelled. There will be no special lunch here, and no trip up to the 3842. Unless the person who is doing this steps forward by the end of today, nothing will go ahead. And that person – whoever you are, whoever is doing this to my family’s company and hotel – you will be responsible for everyone missing out.’

  There was silence in the room. People exchanged glances, but no one said a word.

  Elodie shrugged. ‘So be it. You have until the end of today. Meeting adjourned.’ With that, she swept out and Marc and Celine, both looking extremely upset, followed.

  ‘Wow,’ Imogen said, sitting down heavily on a nearby sofa. ‘Talk about dramatic!’

  ‘Definitely.’

  Lily strained her neck to see where Luc was, but there were too many people milling about. She had to speak to him, though, to see what he’d found out about the casino slips. What if he knew who the culprit was? He’d have to tell the Devereuxs so the staff didn’t miss out on their Christmas lunches and everything else.

  Lily looked up. ‘Hang on. They’re coming back in.’

  ‘What?’ Imogen got up.

  Marc, Elodie, Celine and Luc came back into the room.

  Marc hushed everyone with his hands and the loud gaggle of noise came to an abrupt halt.

  ‘Luc has some information he would like to share with us all,’ he said.

  They all stood to attention. Lily felt sick. Luc must know who was responsible, or maybe he was just going to talk about the casino slips.

  Luc stepped forward. He raked his hand through his dirty blond hair and cleared his throat. ‘Right. I have something to say to you all. And that is… sorry.’

  There was a hushed gasp. What did Luc mean? Lily found that she had that cotton wool in her mouth, the kind she used to get at the top of mountains.

  Luc was talking again. He looked calm. ‘There is nothing I can say to defend myself, but I can’t let everyone else suffer because of my actions.’

  Lily started to shake her head. No way. Luc wasn’t the thief. He couldn’t be! He didn’t have a gambling problem! This was ridiculous. Lily tried to catch his eye, but he wouldn’t look at her. Lily felt sick. This couldn’t be happening. She felt Imogen take her hand.

  Marc and Elodie looked shocked to the core. All staff members looked poleaxed.

  ‘So it is with regret that I tender my resignation,’ Luc said finally.

  Lily felt like crying. Was anyone who she thought they were? Jamie had turned out to be someone she hadn’t really known and now Luc was revealing himself as a thief with a gambling problem.

  ‘No.’

  Everyone looked up to see who had said no.

  It was Celine. She stepped forward. ‘No, Luc. I cannot let you do that.’

  ‘Celine,’ Luc said, sounding as though he was warning her.

  ‘It’s OK,’ she told him gently. ‘Everyone. Marc, Elodie. I am so sorry. Luc was trying to do a noble thing, but I cannot let him. I am the thief.’ She hung her head.

  ‘What?’ Elodie looked astonished. ‘Maman, no! If it’s Luc, let him take the blame.’

  Imogen stared at Lily pointedly, as if to say, ‘Is she for effing real?’

  ‘It’s not Luc. He’s being the ultimate gentleman.’ Celine gave him a watery smile. ‘In English, you would call it “falling on his sword”. But I have to be brave and I have to own up to this.’

  Luc gave her a sympathetic smile.

  ‘I’ve had this gambling problem for some time now,’ Celine said, wringing her hands. ‘It has just been my personal hell, but then I got desperate. And I stole from the family business.’

  Marc looked horrified, but he moved forward and put his arm around his mother. Celine almost crumpled, then she bravely lifted her head.

  ‘All I can say is I am very sorry to have put suspicion onto all of you. I feel so ashamed.’

  ‘I think we will leave it there,’ Marc said, holding Celine up. She looked close to collapse. ‘Elodie, get the door please. We need to get maman some water.’

  For a second, Elodie looked like a rabbit caught in the headlights, then she suddenly moved into action and opened the door. Marc helped a stumbling Celine out and Elodie shot out after him.

  ‘Bloody hell!’ Imogen let out a jerky breath. ‘That was hardcore! Fancy Celine having a gambling problem. And stealing from her own business? That’s madness!’

  ‘Luc’s the man, though, isn’t he?’ Ollie said. ‘He was fully prepared to take the blame for Celine. I’m assuming he must have known it was her.’

  Lily thought so too. People had gathered around Luc asking him questions, but she desperately wanted to get to him.

  ‘I’m opening the bar,’ Joe called. ‘If you want – or need – a drink after that, follow me.’

  Imogen nudged Lily. ‘Go and talk to Luc. Go on! You need to talk.’

  Lily squared her shoulders. They did need to talk. He didn’t look as though he wanted to talk to her, but she was going to give it a go anyway.

  ‘Luc?’ She walked up to him.

  ‘Lily.’

  ‘Can we talk?’

  Luc stared at her. ‘OK. Yes, of course.’ He checked his watch. ‘Shall we go for a walk?’

  Lily nodded. She followed him out, giving Imogen a helpless glance as she left. She had no idea how thi
s chat was going to go, but Lily had to know how he felt. Or tell him how she felt. One way or another, they needed to sort things out.

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Luc and Lily headed out of the hotel. Nothing was said for several minutes as they trudged through the snow and into the twinkling lights of central Chamonix.

  ‘How about the fondue restaurant?’ Lily suggested.

  ‘They have a nice bar,’ Luc agreed. They took the side road to the restaurant and went in. It was roasting inside like last time and they immediately took their coats off. Lily enjoyed the gaudy Christmas decorations of the place once more, admiring the statement tree and all the bold baubles.

  Luc ordered some drinks and they got onto high, uncomfortable bar stools. They loved a bar stool in Chamonix.

  ‘Well,’ Lily said.

  ‘Well,’ Luc said. His dark eyes met hers, but they were impenetrable. He was wearing a smart black jumper that showed off his physique, but it didn’t do it justice. Not from what she remembered seeing at the log cabin, anyway. She fanned her face to get rid of that memory.

  ‘Hot in here, isn’t it?’

  Luc watched her in amusement. ‘Er… yes, I suppose so.’

  ‘Where shall we start?’ Lily asked, wanting to get the conversation away from her disturbing thoughts. ‘How about Jamie?’

  ‘Jamie?’ Luc frowned, as if Jamie was the last person he wanted to talk about.

  ‘He’s a tool,’ Lily explained, holding on to the stem of her mulled wine glass. ‘The way he left me up the mountain and cutting you up like that.’

  ‘A tool…’ Luc pondered the word.

  ‘A twat. An idiot. A moron.’

  Luc’s brow cleared. ‘Oh right! Yes. Yes, he is a tool. For any number of reasons.’

  ‘I don’t have feelings for him,’ Lily blurted out. She felt her cheeks flush. ‘I just need to say that.’

  Luc contemplated her. ‘But you did?’

  ‘I did.’ Lily winced. ‘For a while. He has been my friend for a long time and he’s fun and I just started to think maybe there was a chance we were something else. But we won’t ever be. I don’t even think we’ll talk much now.’

  Luc almost drained his beer in one go. ‘And that makes you sad?’

  ‘Losing Jamie as a friend?’ Lily nodded. ‘That, yes, but nothing else. I didn’t realise who he was, that’s all.’

  ‘What about your sister?’

  ‘She doesn’t want him either,’ Lily said with a short laugh. ‘But he’ll be fine, I’m sure. He’s not ready for a relationship. He’s… immature.’

  ‘A tool,’ Luc said again, clearly liking the new expression he’d learnt.

  Lily grinned. ‘So, Celine.’

  Luc raised his eyebrows and ordered more drinks. ‘I went to the casino and asked about those slips. They told me it was her. I was shocked and wasn’t sure what to do about it. I was going to speak to her, but before I could, Elodie decided to cancel everything.’

  ‘So you thought you’d take the blame?’ Lily was perplexed.

  ‘For the time being. As a public thing, you know? To get Elodie to lift her ban on everything and so I could speak to Celine privately.’ Luc shrugged expressively. ‘I thought maybe they could reinstate me later on. I don’t know, I just thought I should do it. I didn’t really think further ahead than that.’

  ‘It was a very noble gesture,’ Lily told him. ‘Really sweet.’

  ‘I don’t know about sweet.’ Luc dismissed the compliment. ‘I just did it in the moment, yes?’

  ‘Yes. Poor Celine though. She looked so broken. I don’t think she’s very happy with Pierre.’

  Luc nodded in agreement. ‘I think maybe you are right. She certainly has a few demons.’

  Lily swallowed and took another gulp of mulled wine. She wanted to talk about Elodie, but she wasn’t sure how to broach the subject.

  ‘Can I talk to you about Elodie?’ Luc said.

  ‘Er, yes. Of course.’ Unexpected, but handy. Lily waited.

  ‘She’s a mixed-up kid,’ Luc commented.

  ‘Kid?’ Lily knew she probably looked disbelieving, but Elodie wasn’t a child. Mind you, neither was Jamie, but he had sure acted like one.

  ‘Yes.’ Luc gave her a very direct stare. ‘She is the same age as Anais would have been. In fact, she was her best friend.’

  ‘Right.’ Lily didn’t want to let on that she already knew. She wanted Luc to talk and Imogen had always taught her that if you want a guy to talk, don’t ask questions. Just listen and wait. It worked.

  ‘Yes. She was distraught when Anais died. Absolutely inconsolable. She and Anais were very close. Elodie dabbled – is that what you say? Dabbled in drugs as well, but not like Anais, who became terribly addicted. Since Anais died, Elodie hasn’t touched drugs. Not once.’

  ‘That’s good. I guess having a close friend die like that must shock a person into changing. If anything happened to Imogen…’ Lily shuddered. ‘No, I can’t even think about it.’

  Luc nodded. ‘Elodie almost became my little sister, you know? Not replacing Anais, because no one could, but Elodie is very… young at heart, if you know what I mean? She thinks she’s sophisticated and grown up, but she’s young and vulnerable. Like Anais.’

  ‘Kind of.’ Did this mean that Luc’s feelings for Elodie were purely platonic? Lily vehemently hoped so.

  ‘There is nothing between us,’ Luc said suddenly. He put his hand near hers on the bar. ‘Elodie and I are just friends. Like you and Jamie.’

  What?! Lily pulled a face. One of them must have fancied the other one at some point.

  ‘Not like that!’ Luc frowned, guessing what she was thinking. ‘I don’t see Elodie that way. I get that she’s attractive, but she feels like family to me. We almost fell out recently anyway. Over you.’

  ‘Over me?’

  ‘Yes. She’s very protective of me.’

  ‘I’ve noticed,’ Lily said dryly.

  ‘Yes, well. She has her reasons. I fell for a couple of girls here before and they left. It was years ago,’ he added hurriedly. ‘But Elodie dislikes beautiful girls who turn up.’

  Lily flushed at that. Beautiful?

  ‘She thinks I’m going to get hurt again, but it’s not for her to say. She’s my friend, not my mother. I have one of those already.’

  ‘And a very fabulous one too.’

  Luc smiled. ‘I can only agree. Elodie tries to protect me,’ he added softly. ‘She thought you were another girl here to hurt me. Another girl who will stay for a bit, then leave and take a piece of my heart with her.’

  Ouch. That sounded painful. That was the last thing Lily wanted. As for leaving, she still hadn’t decided what to do about that. She missed her family, but she didn’t want to be away from Luc either.

  ‘That’s why she tried to discredit you that day,’ Luc added. ‘To scare you away, I suppose. I told her off. We rowed and it wasn’t pleasant.’

  ‘Oh.’ Lily wasn’t sure what to say to that. She wasn’t pleased they had rowed, but if Luc stuck up for her, she had to feel chuffed about that.

  ‘We’re all right now, but she did take against you.’ Luc eyed her carefully. ‘I think, like me, she could see that you were different.’

  Lily bit her lip. Luc thought she was different?

  ‘Yes, I think you are different.’ Luc smiled at her. ‘I have been upset with you. Over Jamie, maybe. I thought you wanted to be with him and when he turned up, he was a tool.’

  Lily let out a laugh. She wanted to tell Luc what Elodie had said about him, but it didn’t really matter. Now Lily knew what Elodie had been trying to do. It was certainly misguided, but at least it was because Elodie cared so deeply about Luc.

  ‘I really enjoyed our stay in the log cabin,’ she said, not sure how to lead the conversation that way.

  ‘Me too.’ He met her eyes again and, this time, there was deep intent within them.

  Lily shivered slightly. Good God, the man was sexy. He took
her breath away.

  ‘We – we should go back there,’ Lily offered.

  ‘We definitely should,’ Luc agreed. He put his hand on hers and linked his fingers through hers.

  Lily loved the feel of his warm fingers in hers. It felt so intimate. God, she wanted to kiss him. He was so gorgeous. And an amazing person.

  Luc took her chin in his other hand and angled her head to one side. Lily could barely breathe. She closed her eyes and… Luc’s phone rang.

  ‘Merde!’ Luc checked it. ‘It’s Elodie. She’s sent texts saying I am needed back at the hotel. Merde,’ he said again.

  ‘Go,’ Lily said, putting aside her crushing disappointment. ‘It must be about the money thing. Or Pierre.’

  ‘Yes.’ He squeezed her hand again. ‘To be continued?’

  ‘Definitely,’ Lily said, feeling everything in her body react to his touch. She could only imagine what it would be like to put her hands all over that sexy, hard body.

  ‘I will call you later. And maybe we can go skiing tomorrow? Not a lesson. Just for fun.’

  ‘Perfect.’ That was a lovely idea. They always had lessons, so to just ski for the sake of skiing would be amazing.

  Lily watched Luc throw his jacket on and leave. Just as she was relaxing and drinking her mulled wine, he strode back in, took her face in his hands and kissed her. He really kissed her. It was the kind of kiss that had her heart melting, her back arching and all her senses tingling. His hands were in her hair, his body was curved into hers and it felt intimate and incredible and like the best thing she had ever touched or tasted.

  Luc pulled back. ‘I couldn’t wait any longer to do that. Not even for the Devereuxs.’

  Lily was too busy panting to be able to speak.

  Suddenly everyone in the fondue restaurant burst into a noisy round of applause. Lily went bright red while Luc smiled ruefully and held a hand up. This time he left the restaurant and he didn’t come back.

  Lily finished her drink and decided to head over to Bernadette’s. They only had a few days to sort this Christmas Eve dinner and she needed a proper update.