Suddenly Last Summer. Sarah Morgan
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killed him.”
“It wasn’t your fault.” He tore a chunk of bread. “There were no clues before that? No mentions of chest pains?”
“He said nothing to me. Elizabeth said he’d mentioned indigestion a few times, but nothing that rang any alarm bells. He has been helping me with the deck. I feel so guilty about that.”
“Don’t. This place is his passion and the physical demands of keeping it running are part of the reason he has stayed fit for so long.”
“I should have thought of a way of involving him that didn’t include him doing physical work.”
“No one has ever been able to stop Gramps from doing physical work. In all the years I lived here I never saw him take a day off. He worked. We all worked.” Sean finished the bread. “This is good. Sea salt and rosemary gets my vote.”
As he ate, he updated her about his grandfather.
She envied his calm, and was reassured by it. “I am very worried for him. He’s eighty.” Which was why she dared to love him. He was the only man in possession of her heart, apart from Jackson, to whom she owed a debt she could never repay.
“There’s no reason why he shouldn’t make a full recovery.”
Except that life was full of events that weren’t reasonable and made no sense, she knew that.
Élise rubbed her fingers across her forehead, refusing to let her mind linger on that thought. “Did your mother come home with you?”
“Yes, I brought her back. But Grams won’t leave his side. Tyler’s there now and I’ll go back later.”
The O’Neil family stuck together in difficult times. It was one of the many things she loved about them. That was why Sean had driven straight here after a day of operating. No one from this family would ever find themselves alone and struggling. No one would find themselves sitting in a dark Paris room with the door barricaded and no one to turn to.
“You must be exhausted. You can’t go back to the hospital tonight.”
“We can’t leave Grams there by herself and Tyler needs to get some rest. I’ll grab a few hours before I go back.” He lifted his broad shoulders in a dismissive shrug. “One of the advantages of medical training is that you learn to function on little sleep.”
“Walter must have been very relieved to see you.”
“He opened his eyes for long enough to tell me to get the hell back to Boston where I belonged.” He finished his food and pushed the plate away. “That was delicious. Best thing I’ve tasted in months.”
“He said that?” Shocked, Élise stared at him. “He didn’t mean it.”
“Yes, he did. Don’t look so worried. I took it as a sign that at least part of him was functioning normally. If he’d welcomed me with hugs and balloons I would have been sending him for a brain scan.” But Sean’s smile was tired and Élise felt a flash of frustration that human relationships had to be so complicated.
“Is that why you don’t come home more? Because he’s difficult?”
“My home is Boston.” His answer was smooth. “And I come home when my schedule allows.”
Which was hardly ever. She’d assumed he was busy. Occasionally she’d wondered if his absence had something to do with her. Now she wondered if there was more to it. “Don’t you miss Snow Crystal?”
“I like the city. I like having a choice of restaurants within two blocks and access to culture. Don’t you ever miss Paris? I can’t believe you don’t sometimes feel trapped in a place like this.”
Surrounded by lakes, forests, mountains and beauty, working in a job she loved with people who cared about her?
This wasn’t trapped.
Something dark unfurled inside her.
She’d been trapped and it had felt nothing like this.
“I don’t miss Paris.” When she thought of Paris now, she thought not of strolling along the Jardin des Tuileries or of the light playing over the surface of the Seine, she thought of him. She thought of the ugly side of love and relationships. She lifted her hand to her short, styled hair and felt suddenly cold. “I love it here. Even though I wasn’t born at Snow Crystal, I’m sure I love it as much as you do.”
“Well, that’s lucky for my family. You’re an exceptional chef. Before you arrived our taste buds had never really lived. Whatever Jackson did to persuade you to come here, we’re all grateful.”
Jackson hadn’t persuaded her. He’d offered her a lifeline. She’d messed up her life through a series of bad choices and Jackson had given her a way out. Without him—
She didn’t want to think about that. But she was never going to let him regret his decision. She was going to make sure that Snow Crystal was known for its food as well as its other charms. She was determined to do her bit to make the place a success, but she was already failing, wasn’t she? She’d promised the Boathouse Café would be open in time to make the most of the summer tourist traffic and now it wouldn’t be. The delay would harm them, there was no doubt about that.
Frustrated and upset with herself, Élise stared at the glassy surface of the lake, barely visible in the darkness.
This place felt more like home than anywhere she’d ever lived.
Sean leaned back in his chair, watching her. “You look as if someone just killed your pet rabbit. Is this about my grandfather or is it something else?”
“It’s nothing. I’m just tired.”
“Don’t lie to me. I’m a doctor. I spend my entire life talking to anxious patients. Tell me what’s wrong.”
She stared at the water and shrugged. “I am upset because I’m letting him down.”
“Who? Gramps?”
“Jackson. He is working so hard to save Snow Crystal. The Boathouse Café is part of that. The launch wasn’t just an excuse for a party, it was supposed to be a way of showing important people how far we’ve come. How much the place has to offer. I wanted to make it happen for him.”
“So it will happen a bit late. No big deal.”
“It is a big deal! I owe him so much.” Seeing the question in his eyes, she realized she’d said too much. “I mean, I work for him and I love it here. It’s in my interests that this place survives and thrives.”
“Lucky Jackson, having staff as loyal as you.” He was silent for a moment. “How did the two of you meet? I don’t think I’ve ever asked either of you that.”
“We met in Paris.” She phrased her answer carefully. “He ate in the restaurant I once worked in.”
“Chez Laroche? I know you worked for Pascal Laroche. I read that you were the only woman in his kitchen.”
He knew that? Somehow, she kept the smile fixed on her face. “That’s right.”
“Major career achievement. I ate there once. He’s brilliant.”
And controlling, unscrupulous and, as it turned out, violent.
“He taught me a great deal.”
It wasn’t a lie. Pascal had taught her, not just how to make a perfect soufflé but that love was a gift that, once given, left a person exposed and vulnerable. He’d taught her that love could be obsessive, narcissistic and sometimes dangerous. He’d taught her that and more and the lessons had been well learned and never forgotten.
She’d graduated from his school of life with honors.
Pascal hadn’t killed her belief in love. You only had to look at Walter and Alice or Jackson and Kayla to know love