A Christmas Family Miracle

Though he would never have wished for this scenario, his father’s illness had given Raoul the first legitimate excuse he’d been aching for. Ironically, now that Crystal had come, she and Philippe were still untouchable living in his parents’ home, and he’d never felt more alone in his life.

Walking faster, he approached the Après-ski Mont Blanc that featured a live band that brought in the crowds. Raoul went inside the lounge and made his way past partying tourists to find an empty table.

Before he could find himself a spot to sit, he felt someone pull on his arm. He turned around. It was a sister of one of the new guides he’d hired. She’d come around the office several times dropping unsubtle hints that said she wished he would ask her out. Hell.

“Bonsoir, Monique. You’re looking lovely tonight. How are you?”

The brunette smiled. “I’m better now that I’ve seen you. I had no idea someone like you mixed with a crowd like this. Are you alone?”

He’d thought he’d wanted a drink, but one look in her eyes and he knew he’d been a fool to come in here where he knew he’d be recognized.

“Actually, I was looking for a client wanting to arrange a climb, but don’t see him. I guess I kept him waiting too long, so I’ll have to catch up with him at the hotel. It’s nice to see you again.”

“You don’t have time for one little dance?”

“I’m sorry, but business has to come first.”

She pouted. “That’s what Gerard always says.”

“Your brother’s right. À bientôt, Monique.”

Raoul had no choice but to leave her standing there. Once out in the cold air, he took a long walk before returning to his house and closing up for the night.

He’d just come out of the shower before going to bed when he heard his phone ring. It could be several people on the other end. Maybe the hospital. He prayed there wasn’t an emergency and reached for it. The caller ID indicated it was Des. He clicked on.

“Salut, mon vieux,” he said with utter relief.

“Qué tal, Raoul. From what you didn’t tell me in your message, I figured you didn’t care how late I returned your call.”

“You figured right, as usual. How much time have you got?”

“You know better than to ask me a question like that.”

He threw on his robe and sank down on the side of the bed. “This goes way back.”

“After the hours I’ve leaned on you over the years when things got tough, I’m more than ready to listen to you.”

For the next half hour he unloaded to his good friend. It was therapeutic to finally let out all his anguish and suffering to someone he trusted.

A long silence followed. “Des?” he prompted at last.

“I’ve been thinking, mi gran amigo, and this is what you have to do.” For the next few minutes he laid out what Raoul’s instincts had already been telling him to do. He’d just needed corroboration from the man who was like a second brother to him.

“Jules!” Crystal met him in the hall the next afternoon walking with Vivige, who had her arm hooked through his.

“Isn’t it fantastique?” her sister-in-law cried.

“It certainly is.” Crystal hurried toward them and gave him a hug. “What does the doctor say now?”

“I can go home tomorrow provided everything’s normal.”

“That’s the best news I ever heard.” They walked back into his hospital room. Crystal helped him get settled in the bed.

Vivige kissed her father. “Now that Crystal’s here, I’m going to leave and get some shopping done. I’ll see you home tomorrow.”

“Wonderful. Now you run along and take care of your family while the two of us have a nice visit.”

Once she was out the door, Crystal pulled a chair up to the side of the bed where he was propped. “I like you in that robe.”

“Merci for buying it for me. I appreciated the flowers your parents sent, too.”

“Everyone wants you well, and now you look so much better, I hardly recognize you.”

He reached for her hand and squeezed it. “I wish I could say the same about you.” She gulped. “Don’t take offense, ma fille. You know I’m not talking about your looks. I’m talking about what’s inside here.” He patted his chest. “Tell me about your plans for the future.”

“To take care of Philippe.”

His eyes glinted with unshed tears. “He needs a lot of taking care of like any little boy.”

Crystal nodded. “You’re so right. You ought to know, having raised two yourself.”

He gave her a frank stare. “What else?”

Like Raoul, Jules had a direct way of speaking. Since they weren’t ones to beat around the bush, she wasn’t about to lie to him. “I’m working on some ideas for myself.” Raoul had done so much for her confidence, she could never repay him. “But right now I have a lot of angst over Philippe. He’s had a rough year.”

“That means a doubly rough one for you. I’m sorry.” He patted her hand before letting it go. “If I were to tell you time heals all wounds, I’d be a liar. But over the years I’ve learned time does add perspective, and that makes it possible to pick up again and find joy.”

Crystal was thankful she’d had a certain conversation with Raoul yesterday, or she couldn’t have handled this one. Suddenly Arlette walked in the room. The timing couldn’t have been better.

“The nurse just told me you’re going home in the morning.” She looked at Crystal. “It’s because you came and brought our grandson.”

“That and a lot of prayers.”

“Raoul insisted on flying to Colorado for you. I’m so grateful he followed his instincts.”

Raoul, Raoul.

“I should have come sooner. I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be.” Arlette touched Crystal’s cheek. “You weren’t ready to deal with anything until now. We understand.”

Except that they didn’t understand this new agony. How could they? Crystal needed to be alone.

“You’re the most marvelous in-laws anyone could have. Philippe and I are the lucky ones.” Crystal kissed both of them. “I’m going to let you two have this time together while I get more shopping done without a little body knowing what I’m doing.”

Both of them smiled. “Will you be home for dinner?”

“Not this evening, Arlette. After school, Philippe’s going to help his uncle buy a Christmas tree and decorate it.” Since Philippe would blab the news to everyone anyway, there were no secrets. “I’m going to provide the food.”

“That sounds delightful.”

“Are you going to cook?” Jules asked.

“No. We’re having chicken nuggets.”

At their horrified expressions, she laughed, but all amusement faded after she left the hospital room.

CHAPTER FIVE

“I BET THAT’S MOMMY!”

Raoul’s back was against the picture window, where he was hanging the last strand of white lights on the tree. He’d put on a CD of Christmas music both he and Philippe were enjoying. The two songs he had to learn for school were on it. Before the evening was out, he’d have the words memorized.

“Go ahead and open the door for her.”

“Okay.”

He heard Philippe’s excited voice before the two of them came into the living room. His nephew put the food she’d bought on the coffee table.

“Hello,” Raoul called out as if they were in the woods.

She glanced across the room and pretended to look for him. “Oh … there you are. Hello-o,” she called back the same way, making Philippe laugh. As she took off her parka and hat, his heart skipped a beat. The firelight gleamed in the lighter streaks of her blond hair attractively mussed about her face and shoulders. Crystal was a natural beauty.

“For a second I thought you were Père Noël hiding behind the pine boughs.”

“He’s not Père Noël, Mommy. You’re funny.”

“Well, I wasn’t sure, not with that deep voice.”

“Some day I’ll have a deep voice just like his, huh.”

“Yes, honey.” She moved closer to the fire. “This feels good. It’s cold outside.”

“It is that,” Raoul murmured. Last year she and Philippe had left before Christmas. At that point in time he couldn’t have imagined this day.

“Do you like our tree? Uncle Raoul let me pick it out.”

“I love it!”

“Can I put on the decorations I made now, Uncle Raoul?”

“Let’s do it!”

“Where are they?” she asked.

“On the kitchen table. I’ll get them.”

“Do you want us to eat in the kitchen, Raoul?”

“No. I think it’s more fun by the fire.”

“So do I!” Philippe quickly opened one the sacks. “What’s this?”

“Grape juice. They didn’t have apple.”

“Oh.” He took a drink. “Mmm. It’s good.” Then he grabbed a chicken nugget and hurried out of the living room munching on it.

Raoul couldn’t help but smile. He’d brought a box out of storage and moved it in front of the tree. “The old ornaments are in here.”

Out of the corner of his eye he watched her reach for some and begin hanging them as high up the tree as she could. Her figure did wonders for the stunning outfit she was wearing, a beige sweater toned with cream-colored wool pants.

Philippe came running back in with some drawings he’d cut into diamond shapes. Raoul had given him a few ornament hangers so he could pierce a hole in the paper.

“Guess what this one is?” Philippe held it up to his mother.

As each ornament was hung carefully on the tree, Crystal and Raoul guessed all the characters he’d drawn from his favorite cartoon show, much to Philippe’s delight. As Raoul reached over to take a decoration out of Philippe’s hand, he brushed against Crystal’s arm accidentally. The contact seared him, and he quickly focused his attention back on Philippe.

“You’re a good artist, do you know that?”

“I know. Madame Fillou told me.”

“Philippe, you’re supposed to say thank you.”

“Oh, yeah. Thanks.”

Raoul grinned. “You’re welcome.” In a few minutes they finished decorating the tree. He moved over to the CD player and turned it off. “While your mother and I eat, why don’t you impress her and sing the songs you’ve been learning.”

Crystal sat on the couch by him and they began eating. Philippe only needed help here and there. When he’d finished, she clapped her hands. “I’m very proud of you to learn those words so fast.”

“So am I,” Raoul murmured.

“Thanks.” The purple grape juice had stained Philippe’s upper lip. Raoul would always retain this picture of him. “Can we sleep here tonight?”

“That’s up to your mother.”

“Please, Mommy? Uncle Raoul has a pullout bed in the loft where we can play spy.”

He felt her body tense. “But we don’t have pajamas, and you don’t have a change of clothes for school tomorrow.”

“Uncle Raoul bought me and Albert some Bigfoot Monster pajamas and our own toothbrushes for when we sleep over.”

“They’re a pre-Christmas present,” Raoul explained. “Even if you can’t stay, I’ll run him by the house in the morning to change before I drive him to school.”

Crystal nodded her agreement. “Well, aren’t you a lucky boy.”

Philippe smiled.

Pleased how things were progressing, Raoul got to his feet. “In that case you need to get ready for bed now.” He had plans for Crystal once his nephew fell asleep.

“Goody!”

“Give me a kiss good-night, honey.”

After hugging his mother, he was off like a shot. Raoul turned to her. “I’ll be back down soon.”

Raoul must have started a fire early. It was still throwing out heat when Crystal had entered his living room. She never failed to marvel when she walked over to the huge picture window and took in the sight of Mont Blanc. He probably had one of the better views in the whole valley.

Suzanne had made a lovely home for them. Comfy off-white chairs and upholstered sofas were accented by various shades of blue and gray in the slate floors and window seat cushions.

The vaulted ceiling, all in honey wood, crisscrossed with rafters and a wooden cutwork balcony on the second floor, made for a stunning interior. As far as she could tell, Raoul hadn’t changed anything.

It was the kind of house that— No. Don’t go there, Crystal.

“I’m going to make some coffee. Would you like some?”

Lost in her musings, she hadn’t realized Raoul had come back downstairs.

“That sounds good. Thank you. Do you think Philippe’s asleep?”

“Yes. I just read him a story. He was out like a light before I could finish it.”

“That’s because he’s happy. Raoul, if you don’t mind, I’d like to talk to you about something important before I leave.”

“I was going to tell you the same thing. I’ll be right back with the coffee.”

The first part of Raoul’s plan to get her alone had just been put in motion. He carried two mugs out to the living room, where he found Crystal studying the pictures on the far wall next to the bookcase. Some were of family, others of his adventures with friends, with Des.

He reached around to hand the coffee to her and felt her body quicken though they weren’t touching. She’d reacted that same way once before. It was about a month before Eric died running the piste, but he remembered the moment as clearly as if it had been yesterday.

He’d happened to be in the ski shop with his father while Eric was there talking to Jean-Luc. They were discussing the possibility of his trying out a new boot.

When the secretary buzzed through that there was a call from Eric’s wife, he told the secretary he couldn’t take it and would call her back later.

The casual way he’d blown her off was a pattern Raoul had noticed for the last year. Though it was none of his business and shouldn’t have angered him, it did. Deciding there were too many people in the room, he left work and got in his car. Remembering another call she’d made that had turned out to be an emergency when she’d gone into early labor, he found himself driving over to their condo in a hurry.

Relief swept over him to discover Crystal out in front trying to appease Philippe, who was in tears. He looked so unhappy holding the handle to his little red wagon. Raoul could only assume he’d been waiting for his father. Eric hadn’t had a legitimate reason for being away from home that day. He could have at least taken the call.

When Raoul got out of his car, Crystal had looked up at him. The defeated expression in her eyes and body language cut him to the core. Philippe noticed him coming and ran to welcome him. Without conscious thought Raoul picked him up and carried him over to Crystal. He put his arm around her, his only thought to comfort her.

But as he did it, other feelings took hold. He felt the unmistakable rush of desire for his sister-in-law course through him, shocking him to the foundations. She was Eric’s wife, yet he wanted her. It was insane. Wrong.

As he was wishing he could go on holding her and never let her out of his arms again, he felt her body give off something he could only describe as a shock wave. He felt it travel through his system and knew in his gut she was aware of what had just happened to him. But to her credit, she went on treating him the same as usual.

With that defining moment of revelation, he’d made a silent vow to keep his distance and had never broken it. But Eric’s death changed certain dynamics because Philippe had turned to him, and that meant the three of them were thrown closer together than ever.

From then on, whenever he was around her, he felt like a live wire spitting sparks and knew it was dangerous to be anywhere in her vicinity. When she left for Colorado so abruptly, he realized she was uncomfortable around him.

Up until then she’d been able to shroud her feelings all she wanted with the family and use Philippe for a shield. But today, that particular defense mechanism was no longer working for her.

Shaken again by her reaction to him just now because it might mean what he hoped it meant, Raoul sat down in one of the chairs and stretched out his long legs while he sipped his coffee.

“I have a proposition for you, Crystal.” He’d said it to her back. “If you’d sit down, then we could discuss it.”

“Proposition?” She turned around with a puzzled look. “If this is about Philippe—”

“It’s about both of you,” he interrupted before allowing her to finish the sentence.

He noticed shadows beneath her eyes as she sank down on one end of the couch.

She cupped her mug, but didn’t drink. “What about us?”

“For the last year I’ve been hearing the same thing come out of Philippe every time I’ve called. He wants to come home. Now that he’s here, he doesn’t want to leave. It’s a fact you can’t deny.”

She finally swallowed some coffee. “I’m not.”

For her to admit it meant another hurdle had been achieved.

“You’ve already seen that he’s taken to going to school with Albert the way you Americans like to say, ‘a duck takes to water.’ His presence has brought my father back from the brink. I believe he has rejuvenated my parents to the point that I think he’s added another twenty years to their lives at least. The cousins are thrilled he’s home again. So I have a solution. On the strength of the friendship we’ve shared over the years, will you hear me out?”

She jumped up from the couch and put the mug on the end table. “I don’t need to because I have a solution of my own. As I told you before, I’ll bring Philippe to Chamonix several times a year for a visit from now on.”

He eyed her steadily. “Then that’s a solution for you, not Philippe.”

Crystal made a betraying motion with her hand. “He’ll adjust in time. He’ll have to.”

Raoul leaned forward. “Did you know your son thinks you hate it here and that you hate me?” Her color faded a little, letting him know she did. “Is it true?”

Her hands formed fists at her side. “You of all people have to know that nothing could be further from the truth. After yesterday, how can you even ask me such a thing?” Her voice throbbed with feeling, convincing him she’d been as honest as she knew how to be.

They’d got past the second hurdle. Now for the third.

This was the crucial one. If she took the bait, it would tell him he was way off base. That’s what he’d told Des and his friend had agreed.

“Then for all our sakes I’d like to see you prove it by coming to work for the family business.”

Her translucent blue eyes darkened with some unnamed emotion.

“Eric may not be alive, but you are. I’ve already told you you’re a world-class skiing celebrity in your own right with your own legacy to hand down to Philippe. With him in school full-time, you could devote some of your time to your own ski school here.”

“A ski school—”

“Yes. People would flock to classes taught by the one and only famous Crystal Broussard, the Colorado bronze medalist. You could start a brand-new Broussard tradition on your terms and still be a full-time mother to Philippe. It would be the best of both worlds for the two of you.”

“You’re not serious.”

He stood up. “You know I am. You’re a former champion and have too much to give to let it all go. If you joined our staff, you’d be given your own office at headquarters and determine your own schedule. You can consider this an official offer, but take your time to think about it. You’ve got till next year, or didn’t you mean what you told Philippe earlier about not going back to Colorado until then.”

After a pregnant silence, she said, in a dull voice, “I meant it.”

“Then give it some serious thought. You could buy a house here and get your old things out of storage. Several times a year you could fly to Colorado to be with your parents and they could come here. The important thing is that Philippe will have that sense of belonging he’s been missing since you left, and you will capitalize on all your years of training.”

“That’s a very generous offer, Raoul,” she said, sounding far away. “I realize other skiers would kill for such an unprecedented opportunity. Have you spoken of this to anyone else?”

“No.” Except for Des. “If you decide to do this, then I’ll tell Papa, who will be overjoyed, not only from a personal standpoint but a business one. Whatever Philippe intends to do with his life after he’s grown up, such a legacy will ensure his future.”

His proposal appeared to have put her in more turmoil. He hoped it was tearing her apart. If she turned him down, that would be the answer he was praying for.

“Speaking of your son—” He put his hands on his hips. “I told him we’d all be together after school to welcome his Grand-père home. I’ll go with Maman to bring him back from the hospital.”

“I’ll pick up the children so Vivige can go with you.”

“Bon. Later you and I can talk some more. What do you say we make this a memorable Christmas for the whole family? We all need a release from grief.”

He watched the struggle she was having before she lifted her head and gave him a smile that masked whatever she was really thinking. “That’s exactly what we need. With the weight of the whole company on your shoulders right now because of Jules’s illness, it’s a miracle you could take the time to fly to Colorado. You brought Christmas to Philippe. For that I’m very grateful.”

But I didn’t bring it to you. Is that what you’re saying, Crystal? Was Raoul wrong thinking what he’d been thinking? He’d given her a lot to ponder and knew better than to help her on with her parka or ask her to stay longer.

“There’s the whole holiday ahead of us,” he reminded her. “Thankfully, I’m pretty much off until the New Year unless an emergency arises.”

After a slight hesitation she said, “That has to be a great relief for you. I’ll see you at your parents.” In a jerky motion, she reached for her hat and parka. “Now, I’ve got to get home.”

“Bonne nuit, Crystal.”

His good-night followed her out the door. Crystal had prayed he wouldn’t walk her out to the car. To her profound relief she’d gotten her wish. Whenever they were together, wherever they were—be it inside or outside—she had trouble taking a deep breath and walked around with a suffocating feeling in her chest that refused to go away.

The memory of the way he’d looked when he’d walked into the living room a little while ago wouldn’t leave her alone. In the semidark interior, he’d stood near the coffee table with one hand casually resting on the back of a chair. Wearing a white sweater and dark slacks, his virility had been too potent for her.

Taking a job that would keep them in contact with each other on a daily basis was unthinkable. Even though it would mean the world to Philippe, her instinct was to get as far away as possible from Raoul.

During the short drive to her in-laws’ house, she had to admit a part of her was in shock he’d actually offered her the position. He really was trying to get her interested in her career again. Was that all he was interested in?

She pulled up in the drive with a shudder and buried her face in her hands. She really was a walking disaster and couldn’t go on like this much longer. After a few minutes she pulled herself together and let herself in the house. The place was quiet. Arlette must have already gone to bed. Tomorrow was going to be a big day with Jules coming home. It served as a reminder that he was the reason she and Philippe had come back to France in the first place.

Now that he was getting better, it was important that peace reigned in the Broussard household. She hurried up the stairs to the bedroom. Until she took Philippe back to Breckenridge, she wouldn’t fight her son. Hopefully she could get Philippe to go skiing with her. She’d take all the kids. It would be fun.

Once Christmas was over, she’d find a way to convince Philippe that the world hadn’t come to an end because they were going back to Breckenridge. Maybe she’d take him to a travel agency and have the agent make out two round-trip tickets for her and Philippe—to prove that she’d be bringing him back over the Easter break. If he had something tangible in hand like an airline ticket so he could plan for the future, it just might work. It had to.