No-o, Philippe.
“You can after I get home from work, but there’s something I’d like you to do for me first.”
“What?”
“Albert is very happy you’re here and he wants you to go to school with him tomorrow.”
“School?” Philippe looked like he’d never heard of it.
“It might be fun to see what it’s like here.”
He blinked. “Do I have to go?”
“No, honey,” Crystal said. “It’s your choice. But if you stay home, you can’t go over to your uncle’s until he’s through with his work.”
The wheels were turning. “Do you think Albert’s teacher is mean?”
Raoul chuckled. “Not that I’ve heard. You could go tomorrow and find out.”
“I’ll go with you, honey. If you’re unhappy, the school will call and I’ll come and get you. But you’ll have to do your part and be good while you sit next to your cousin. Think about it and you can tell me in the morning. Now it’s time for your bath.”
“Okay.” He got off the bed. “Are you going home now, Uncle Raoul?”
“Just as soon as I look in on your grandfather one more time.” Raoul gave him a hug, then flashed her a glance. “If I don’t hear from you in the morning, then I’ll be by at quarter to eight.”
She walked him out to the hallway away from her son, who’d disappeared into the en suite bathroom. “I’m indebted to you for taking such wonderful care of me and Philippe. He needed this trip and it’s obvious your father needs him. I want him to get well and I’ll do whatever I can to help make it happen. But I don’t want Philippe to become a burden to you while we’re here.”
His dark brows knit together. “A burden … Philippe?”
Her pulse sped up. “You know what I mean. You’re his favorite person. He’d spend every moment with you if he could.”
“The feeling’s mutual.”
“But Sylvie—is it?—might not like having to share you with him.”
He stared at her long and hard. “Sounds like Vivige has been doing some talking, but despite her wishful thinking, that relationship never got off the ground.”
To Crystal’s consternation, her first reaction was one of fierce relief. “I’m sorry I said anything. She happened to mention it because—”
“Because the family still worries about me,” he interrupted. “The only person who’s important right now is Philippe. I happen to love that child.” His jaw hardened. “On the way to the hospital the day you went into labor, you both almost lost your lives. That’s not something I’ll forget.”
“Neither will I,” she whispered.
“If you’re about to tell me to keep my distance, it’s too late for that.”
“I didn’t mean—”
“Oh, yes, you did,” he added in a wintry tone. “But I’ve learned through bitter experience that feelings have a life of their own and come to the surface whether we like it or not. Philippe’s too young and innocent to know about that yet. He just does what comes naturally from the sweetness in his nature. Let’s pray he never loses that gift.”
He wheeled around and strode swiftly down the hall toward the stairs. She hadn’t meant to upset him and ran after him. “Please don’t go yet. Please—” she begged.
Her cry caused him to pause at the top step. “We’re both exhausted, Crystal.” His drawn features verified his words. She thought he was about to say something else, then thought the better of it. “Get a good night’s sleep. We’ll talk tomorrow when you’re up to hearing the list of your son’s grievances.”
She gripped the top of the cutwork wooden balcony until her knuckles grew white. “Why didn’t he tell me?”
Raoul had already reached the bottom step. He looked up. “That’s easy. He loves you too much to hurt you. If he were to do that, then his whole world would collapse. Don’t you think it’s time you stopped punishing him for something that’s not his fault?”
Crystal stood there long after he’d disappeared. Raoul’s question had reached down inside her core and had exposed her to herself, forcing her to face an important truth. She’d been feeling so guilty about not loving Eric anymore, she’d become too self-reliant. In the process, she hadn’t realized how it was affecting Philippe, but she knew it now.
With their dark blond hair and Broussard features, Philippe and Albert could almost pass for brothers and were close to the same height. They looked so cute sitting in Albert’s class at the same table with two classmates.
Being a year younger than the others, Philippe had his pride to consider. Crystal felt that would be the reason he made it through the day, if he could last that long.
She stood next to Raoul in the open doorway to the school room as if they were his parents. It should have been Eric standing there with her, but life wasn’t fair and it hadn’t turned out that way, depriving Philippe of a father.
Her eyes smarted as she watched the teacher welcome Albert’s cousin to class. When the introductions were over, Philippe looked back at them with a little smile and gave them a wave.
Another smile. She’d seen more of them since his uncle had turned up than she’d seen in a whole year.
“We’d better go before I burst into tears.” She started down the hall toward the exit. “I feel like this is his first day of school.”
“At a French school anyway,” Raoul murmured as he opened the front door for them. “We’ll go back to my house for something to eat while we talk.” He cupped her elbow to help walk her to the car so she wouldn’t slip on the snow. The gesture was automatic to him, but she was acutely aware of his touch no matter how hard she tried not to think about it.
He lived in Les Pecles near his parents’ home in a smaller, more modern chalet with exposed beams. She’d been welcomed into his house many times as his sister-in-law, but today she was plagued by fear to be alone with him.
Never in his life had he done anything to make her feel uncomfortable. It was an old primitive fear all on her part that had come on a month before Eric’s death. She could still remember the moment when Philippe had been waiting for his daddy to come home so they could play together. But her husband had forgotten his promise in a long string of unkept promises.
While her son was in tears out in front pulling his little red wagon around, Raoul happened to pull up to the condo and had caught both of them in a vulnerable moment. When he’d put an arm around them to give comfort, a feeling had crept through her that was so far from being sisterly, she’d come close to fainting.
The revelation filled her with such tremendous guilt and shame, it made her ill. She’d suffered a headache for days afterward.
From then on she was so horrified by her attraction to Raoul, she’d begged Eric to reconsider moving.
If not Breckenridge, then somewhere else in Europe where he could train for part of the year. She’d used all her powers of reasoning and persuasion, but he wouldn’t budge on the subject and told her to leave it alone.
After his death, she’d wanted to leave for Colorado immediately, but the whole family insisted she stay. They needed her and Philippe, and she needed them. It was true, except that she could see Philippe clinging to his uncle all the time. With the paparazzi