‘I hope it is OK that I am here,’ Elodie started. ‘Lily asked if I could help mark today in some way. For Anais.’
Violetta looked overcome and she reached for Raymond’s hand. ‘How lovely of you, Lily. And Elodie. Thank you.’
Raymond nodded without saying a word.
Luc took Elodie’s coat and she stood awkwardly in the middle of the room. ‘I wasn’t sure how to mark today,’ she said haltingly. ‘But when Luc told me that your family was coming, Lily, I thought of Anais’s favourite Christmas song. It’s an English song. A very popular one, I think. It always makes me think of her. I brought it with me on a CD.’
Bernadette got her CD player working and put the song on. It was ‘Last Christmas’ by Wham. Lily broke into a smile. She loved this song. Violetta smiled and met Raymond’s eyes. He clutched her hand and they held onto one another as they remembered Anais. Luc squeezed Elodie’s arm as silent tears rolled down her cheeks. Lily stood up, not sure what to do, but Luc reached for her and she ended up in a clumsy three-way hug with him and Elodie. Oddly, it felt right, even though Elodie had been vile to Lily and Lily hadn’t known Anais.
‘Oh, what a lovely way to remember her,’ Sue murmured, leaning into Dave.
Dave, thoroughly affected by the weight of the moment, was only able to nod his head as he listened to George Michael’s smooth tones.
As the song faded away, Luc cleared his throat and raised his glass. ‘To Anais,’ he said, his voice thick with emotion.
‘To Anais,’ they all chorused, raising their glasses.
‘I will leave you to it now,’ Elodie said, slipping her coat back on. ‘I am due back at my family dinner, but it was lovely to see you all.’ She hugged Violetta and Raymond tightly and said goodbye to everyone else. She gave Lily a fleeting nod that felt like a seal of approval before she left.
‘And now, let’s have some dessert,’ Bernadette suggested gently. ‘And some more champagne.’
‘I’ll help you,’ Dave said, getting to his feet, wiping his eyes on the sleeve of his jumper.
‘Let’s all help,’ Sue said, joining in.
Soon, everyone was involved in tidying up and clearing the table and the sombre mood lifted again. Lily found herself alone with Luc.
‘Your mum and Dave are good people,’ he commented. ‘They are kind and genuine. I can tell that my parents adore them.’
Lily smiled. ‘I think it’s mutual,’ she said, watching Dave and Raymond communicating in a bizarre Franglaise, but somehow understanding one another. ‘Are you OK?’ she said, searching his face. ‘That was a lovely moment. Who would have thought it? Wham.’
‘Anais did love that song. And it was great to remember her. This has been so special, seeing my parents enjoying Christmas for the first time in years. Your family being here. You…’ He took her hand. ‘Listen. I don’t think we’ll get to be alone tonight.’
Lily’s face fell. She wanted that so badly.
‘Because tonight is about family,’ Luc told her firmly. ‘But tomorrow, I have something special planned for us. Will you meet me in the morning?’
Lily nodded, trying to control the thrill of anticipation about meeting Luc on Christmas Day.
‘Shall we open some presents?’ Ivy suggested, looking like an excitable child as she eyed the shiny gifts under Bernadette’s tree.
They started exchanging gifts, Dave yelping loudly with delight as he always did when he opened presents. Ivy loved her silk shirt, and she and Lily laughed as Lily opened an almost identical gift from Ivy. It was a silk shirt the same colour as Lily’s emerald green dress.
Lily decided to give Luc his present, regardless of whether he had bought her a gift or not. Watching his face as he unwrapped it, she grinned when he broke into a smile.
‘It’s a—’
‘Caquelon,’ Luc finished. ‘A fondue pot. I love it! We can make our own fondue.’
Lily felt absurdly happy about the ‘we’ part of that sentence. ‘It’s just a silly thing.’
‘Not at all. Here.’ Luc took a small present wrapped in silver paper with a bow from under the tree. ‘This is for you.’
Lily opened it, all fingers and thumbs. It was a rose gold drinks flask shaped like a bracelet.
‘It’s just a silly thing.’ Luc grinned.
‘I love it!’ Lily exclaimed, slipping it onto her wrist. ‘I can put mulled wine in it in case I get caught in another whiteout. Then I’ll stop and have a quick sip whilst looking awesome in my jewellery on the slopes.’
‘Exactly.’
More champagne was drunk, and more of Bernadette’s rich chocolate bûche de Noël was consumed. They all staggered out into the snow late at night, enjoying the Christmas lights and the crunch of snow underfoot. Luc gave Lily a brief head-spinning kiss then headed toward home with his parents as his flat was nearby. Lily led her family back to the Boutique Hotel Devereux, where they enjoyed a nightcap with Imogen and Ollie and the rest of the staff before crashing out in bed.
A perfect Christmas Eve, Lily thought to herself seconds before her head hit the pillow and she fell into a deep, contented sleep.
* * *
The following morning, Lily was up early. She got dressed and tiptoed out of the room, leaving Imogen and Ollie wrapped round one another in festive onesies. She headed down to the boot room and strapped her boots on, pulled on her helmet and made sure she had her gloves. She was the only person in the boot room, which felt weird, and she grabbed her skis and poles because Luc had said she would need them. She stepped outside, her breath white and ragged in the chilly air.
Trudging through an extremely quiet and utterly magical Chamonix, on Christmas Day no less, Lily caught sight of Luc waiting for her by the lift. She was amazed it was working on Christmas Day, but she guessed it was necessary for all the ski enthusiasts.
‘Happy Christmas,’ Luc said, drawing her in for a kiss. ‘This will sound silly, but I missed you last night.’
‘That doesn’t sound silly at all,’ Lily said, feeling her stomach flip over again. God, he was gorgeous. And kind and funny and… Lily stopped herself. She sounded like an idiot, but as people always said: when you knew, you knew.
‘Where are we going?’ she asked.
‘To the log cabin,’ Luc told her.
Lily broke into a wide smile. The log cabin. Of course. Where else?
‘This time, without a whiteout,’ Luc said. ‘Wait until you see the view.’
They went up in the lift and snapped into their skis at the top of the slope. Lily followed Luc down, feeling thrilled whenever she managed to perfect a parallel here and there. They were the only two people on the mountain and it felt amazing. It was still and quiet and the mountain views were magnificent. It was incredible to be able to see in front of her this time, and Lily could finally see what Luc was talking about with the views. She caught sight of the log cabin on the right and started to steer herself in that direction as Luc swooped towards it.
They pulled up together, Lily coming to a clumsier stop than Luc.
‘I need to work on that!’ she puffed, pulling her goggles up.
‘Think how far you have come,’ Luc reminded her. ‘You couldn’t even stop without falling over on day one.’
‘Don’t.’ Lily cringed as she remembered the way she had slipped and slid all over the nursery slope.
‘Let’s go in,’ Luc said, unlocking the door.
Lily stepped inside and gasped. Luc had gone to the log cabin and had put fairy lights up everywhere and put unlit candles all around. There was also a Christmas tree and food laid out on the table with bottles of champagne. Luc quickly went around lighting all the candles, then he lit the fire before turning to Lily.
‘Alone at last,’ he murmured, pulling her closer.
‘Alone at last,’ she echoed, feeling another bolt of lust. And something far deeper and more meaningful.
‘I want to devour you,’ he said, taking her face in his hands. ‘And…’ He told
her the rest in her ear as Lily blushed and squirmed and loved every second of it. ‘But most importantly, I just want to be with you today. And all the other days. And get to know and find out everything about you.’
‘What – what you just said,’ Lily managed. ‘I’ll give you a proper massage and we’ll… cuddle on that rug and we’ll…’
‘Sounds perfect.’ Luc kissed her thoroughly and Lily felt herself melt into his arms. She had never been kissed like this in her life, as though the world might end.
Luc smoothed her hair out of her eyes. ‘Even though my heart aches because of Anais, I have fallen in love with Christmas again, Lily. Because of you.’
‘I wasn’t sure it was possible after Anais.’ Lily felt knocked sideways that she had managed to make Luc feel that way.
‘Me neither.’ Luc bit his lip. ‘And it’s not just Christmas, Lily. I’ve fallen in love with you as well.’
Lily swallowed. She wanted to say so much, but what came out was: ‘Yes. That. What – what you just said.’
She faltered. No, that was a cop out. She couldn’t keep saying stuff like that – she sounded like Sam in the movie Ghost saying ‘Ditto’ because he couldn’t tell Molly he loved her properly. Lily took a deep breath. She could do this. If she could ski down a blue run without falling over, she could do this.
‘I’ve fallen in love with you too,’ Lily managed finally. She felt his warm, safe arms around her and felt her entire body respond to his touch.
‘Is it time to… cuddle on that rug?’ Luc suggested, throwing it a mischievous glance.
‘I think it probably is,’ Lily agreed gravely. ‘That is a rug that is crying out for cuddles.’
‘Happy Christmas,’ Luc said, unzipping Lily’s ski jacket.
‘Happy Christmas,’ Lily sighed.
They laid on the rug together in front of the roaring fire as snow started to fall heavily outside, with Mont Blanc framed in the window of the log cabin.
Christmas in Chamonix with Luc, Lily thought to herself happily. What could be more perfect than that?
Acknowledgements
Thanks to Darren and Alex Blackburn, Carla and John Hopwood, Nikki and Taff, Louise and Johnny, Mark and Mel and all the skiing gang for the inspiration for this novel and for all the skiing fun and technical info. To Phoebe and Daisy, as always, for being my world and for filling my heart every day. To my amazing Mum and to my absent, much missed Dad… for everything. To Claire, Kate, Jane and Jo (Up North) for all the lovely friendship, the support and the sanity.
First published in the United Kingdom in 2019 by Canelo
Canelo Digital Publishing Limited
Third Floor, 20 Mortimer Street
London W1T 3JW
United Kingdom
Copyright © Sasha Wagstaff, 2019
The moral right of Sasha Wagstaff to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording, or any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.
A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
ISBN 9781788633208
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, organizations, places and events are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or locales is entirely coincidental.
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