A Christmas Family Miracle

But it would require Raoul’s cooperation, too. Since he’d insisted that he’d always be there for her and Philippe, she would put him to the test. He would have to help her convince Philippe that he’d be very busy until Easter and wouldn’t have the time to spend with his nephew. They would have to make him see that Christmas had been different because Jules had been ill and everyone in the family had taken time off.

Crystal got ready for bed, but she spent a restless night tossing and turning. In the morning she awakened early in order to greet Philippe when he came home to get dressed for school. At seven-thirty he arrived with Raoul.

“Mommy?”

“In the kitchen.” A totally happy boy came running and hugged her.

“Did you have a fun sleepover?” The question was unnecessary, but she asked it anyway.

“Yes! Can I do it again tonight with Albert?”

“If it’s all right with your uncle, but right now you need to change. Your clothes are laid out on your bed.”

“Okay. I’ll be right back.”

Once again she was alone with Raoul, who’d dressed in one of the company’s dark green parkas with its alpine logo. Every color suited him. “Would you like some coffee? I made it fresh.”

“I’d like it if Philippe and I hadn’t just finished breakfast.” His dark blue gaze slowly appraised her in her jeans and knit top. “You’re really all right about him staying at my house again tonight?”

She darted him a glance. “It’s where he wants to be.”

“Thank you, Crystal. Philippe’s being here has made a huge change in Papa, in everyone.” His eyes darkened with emotion. “Last year I didn’t bother with a tree.” She heard a bleak tone in his voice that was so disturbing she couldn’t bear it.

Avoiding his eyes she whispered, “Last year was a painful time for everyone.”

“Would it surprise you to know Crystal Broussard has made my Christmas by being here?”

His words started a tremor inside her.

“Bonjour, tout le monde.” Crystal lifted her head in time to see Arlette walk in the kitchen with Philippe.

Raoul kissed his mother. “I’ll be by for you at eleven-thirty and we’ll bring Papa home.”

“Hooray! Tell Grand-père I’ll see him after school.”

“Of course I will. He’s living for it.” Arlette gave Philippe a big hug, then helped him on with his parka and ski hat. “Have a wonderful day.”

“I will. ‘Bye, Mommy.”

“See you later, honey.”

Crystal was shaken as she watched them leave. “What can I do to help you?” she asked Arlette after they were alone. She needed physical activity to deal with the excess energy Raoul had created with that last comment.

“I thought we’d go to the marché and get some things Jules loves.”

“Excellent idea. When we get back I’ll make him some Hello Dollies. He and Philippe both love those cookies.”

Arlette squeezed her arm. “Vivige was over last evening and commented that a week ago she was sick with worry and feared things were going to get worse. But the opposite has happened. Your being here has turned everything around and injected the happiness that’s been missing.”

“I know what you’re saying. My little boy is behaving like his old self, too.” That was Raoul’s doing.

“Forgive me for wishing you lived here all the time?”

Her comment was too much of a reminder of what she’d be giving up by refusing to accept Raoul’s fantastic offer. But she couldn’t live in his sphere.

She clutched the nearest chair back. “There’s nothing to forgive.” Needing to get past this moment she said, “I’ll just run upstairs for my coat and purse. I want to buy some flowers for Jules, too. If we get to market early enough, we’ll have our pick of the ones we want.”

Later in the day Jules remarked on the bouquets as Raoul had helped him in the house. Arlette insisted he go straight to his bed, where he could rest until the family congregated for dinner. While Raoul visited with his father, Crystal and Vivige stayed busy in the kitchen to help get everything ready, then Crystal picked up the children.

Jules was all choked up when they gathered around him in the salon after they’d eaten. He gave Philippe back the little Père Noël ornament.

“I knew he’d make you better, Grand-père.”

Crystal’s heart melted on the spot. While they were all engrossed, she slipped out to the kitchen with Vivige to do the dishes. In time, Bernard was the one who finally broke things up because everyone needed to get to bed, including Jules.

When Raoul was ready to drive the boys to his house, Philippe hurried over to Crystal to hug her good-night. This time she’d packed clothes for him to wear to school in the morning. “Guess what? Tomorrow we’re going to get our angel costumes to try on.”

“How exciting!” She helped him on with his parka.

“Do you know how much I’m going to miss you? This will be two nights in a row you’ve slept away from me.”

Suddenly Philippe whispered in her ear. “Can you sleep with us?” That was the third time he’d tried to get her to be with him and Raoul.

“I think I’d better stay here with your grand-père just barely home.”

“Okay.”

Over his shoulder she sensed a pair of dark piercing blue eyes staring at the two of them. Their intensity left her reeling. “Be good for Madame Fillou tomorrow.”

“I’m always good.”

She kissed his cheek and let him run to the man who’d become Philippe’s raison d’être.

Soon the house had emptied. Crystal said good-night to her in-laws and went up to bed, but she was haunted by her son’s eagerness to get her and Raoul together. He was too young to have an agenda, so it meant that in his pure, simple way, he wanted the three of them to be together.

That spelled agony for Crystal, who couldn’t find any peace. Maybe a long soak in the tub would help. Hoping to get her mind on something else if only for a little while, she started reading. But as absorbing as the mystery was, she kept remembering the way Raoul had stared at her earlier. She soon found herself reliving every moment with him and realized she’d get no reading done tonight and shut the book.

After getting out of the water, she got ready for bed and climbed under the covers. She could only hope sleep wouldn’t elude her, as it had last night, but her mind had become a torture chamber of emotions she couldn’t shut off.

When her phone rang, she assumed it was her mom and was glad for the distraction. But her senses whirled when she reached for her cell on the bedside table and saw Raoul’s name. Uh-oh. Maybe he was having a problem with Philippe. She couldn’t comprehend it, but no one knew all the things going on inside her son. She clicked on. “Raoul?”

“Sorry to bother you, Crystal, but I’ve been called out on an emergency and have to go. The boys are asleep. Could you come over now?”

“I’ll be there as soon as I can.” She shot out of bed and started getting dressed. “What’s happened?”

“One of the guides took out a small party this morning for a day climb, but never returned. There’s been no word from him. We know where he was headed. I’m going out with a search party, but it’s anyone’s guess how long I’ll have to be gone.”

Her hand almost crushed the cell phone she was holding. If anything happened to Raoul … “I’m heading out of the house now. See you in a minute.” She hung up and got in the car.

On the short drive over she had to remind herself Raoul had been going out on emergencies for years. He was the most sought-after mountaineer in the Alps. But he wasn’t infallible. Eric’s horrible death during the downhill had taught her that a champion of champions was still susceptible to the dangers other mortals faced.

By the time she’d pulled up in the drive, he appeared at the side of the car and opened the door for her. Dressed in all his gear for a night climb, her heart did its own version of a tremor.

“Thanks for getting here so fast.” His voice sounded an octave lower than usual. “The guest bedroom is waiting for you.”

She nodded. “Please be careful.”

“I’m always careful, ma belle.”

“Don’t joke, Raoul. Not about this.”

“Are you telling me you’d miss me?”

Her heart was in her throat. “You know very well how we’d all feel if you—” She couldn’t say it and said instead, “If you got into trouble. It could happen.”

“I’m not talking about how everyone else would feel,” he growled. “I’m talking about you.”

Heat swept into her cheeks. “Of course I’d miss you.”

“That’s all I wanted to hear. Keep thinking about my offer and we’ll talk about it when I’m back.”

She’d already thought about it. It was more out of the question than ever.

“I don’t want to be in the program if Uncle Raoul isn’t going to be there.”

The school Christmas performance was about to begin. Philippe had no idea the kind of agony Crystal was in right now dealing with two crises, both of them of earthshaking proportions. The thing she’d hoped would never happen, had happened.

No one had seen or heard from Raoul since Thursday night. Though it didn’t alarm the family because dealing with emergencies was a part of his life, her son didn’t understand that. As for Crystal, she was in turmoil fearing that something awful had happened to him.

It was now Saturday afternoon. She’d had a struggle getting Philippe in the car so she could drive him to school to get ready. “You have to carry on, honey. Your teacher has been so nice to let you go to class with Albert. If you were to let her down, that wouldn’t be fair to her.”

There was no response. “Your grandfather is coming just to see you.” Still no reaction. “Do you think it would make your uncle happy to know you quit at the last minute?” Maybe that argument would help since nothing else had worked.

She was looking at him through the rearview mirror. He put his head down. “No.”

“Uncle Bernard’s going to be taking movies. That means your uncle Raoul will be able to watch them after he gets home.”

“What if he died like Daddy?” Out of the mouth of a child. Philippe had just voiced the fear lurking in her heart ever since Raoul had phoned about the emergency. With two deaths already in the family, it wasn’t hard to make the leap to a place too awful to contemplate.

“That’s not going to happen,” she said matter-of-factly. Fate wouldn’t be so cruel. “It’s his job to help people. He’ll be back as soon as he can, so cheer up. Today’s a happy day. I can’t wait to see you in the Christmas program. Just think. Now that you and Albert will be out of school, you can play together all the time.”

She pulled into the parking lot. With all the visitors arriving, it was filling up fast. Crystal turned off the motor. “Look—there’s your grandmother’s car and Uncle Bernard’s! That means everyone is here. Come on. Let’s hurry inside so you can get into your costume.”

“I don’t see Uncle Raoul’s car.”

“Tell you what. When we get inside your room to put on your costume, I’ll phone him and see if he answers.” Finally she’d said something to strike a chord because he undid his seat belt and got out of the car.

Together they walked inside the building and headed for his class. The boys’ teacher had put the costumes out on the tables. Their angel outfits were white with gold trim and a gold halo. He and Albert looked adorable in them, but a certain six-year-old wasn’t acting that way.

“Did you call him again?”

“Yes, but he’s not answering. He will when he can.”

Vivige knew what was happening and flashed her a commiserating glance as she fastened up the backs of their costumes.

“Attention. It’s time for the parents to go to the auditorium.”

At the sound of the teacher’s voice, Philippe’s face started to crumble. “I don’t want to sing.”

Crystal couldn’t force him. Her son’s heart was breaking for fear something had happened to Raoul. Those feelings ran deep in his psyche.

She got down on her haunches and smoothed the tears from his cheeks. “All right, honey. You don’t have to be in the program. Will you at least come with me so we can watch it together?”

“Yes,” he croaked.

“That’s good because Fleur and Lise are going to be singing with their classes, too.”

She stood up and caught Madame Fillou’s eye. The teacher could see something was wrong and nodded.

Clasping his hand, Crystal started walking them behind Vivige. When her sister-in-law opened the door into the hall, Philippe’s cry rang throughout the room. “Hey—you’re back!” He let go of Crystal’s hand and literally flew into Raoul’s arms.

One of the mothers smiled at Crystal. “Your son is certainly crazy about his good-looking father. I never saw anything like it. Lucky you.” She winked.

Crystal smiled back, but her emotions were in chaos. She’d never seen anything like it, either, as she watched the two of them hug. It wasn’t the normal hug a nephew gave an uncle coming and going. This was her son who’d been suffering trauma since discovering his uncle had gone on a rescue mission—the uncle Philippe had known from birth and had turned to whenever Eric hadn’t been there.

Through the years a bond had been forged and another truth had to be faced. All the time Eric had been a part-time father, Raoul had done the heavy-duty round-the-clock parenting. Somewhere along the way he’d become the daddy.

If Suzanne had lived and they’d had children, things would have been different. But, the reality was, Philippe had drawn close to Raoul and her little boy thrived on the love he gave him.

“Philippe, honey—your teacher wants you to get in line.”

“Okay.” His uncle’s appearance had turned him back into a sweet angel.

Raoul put him down. “We’ll be out in front watching you.”

Crystal blew him a kiss, then hurried to join Vivige.

They made their way into the auditorium where the rest of the family were saving seats. Crystal sat next to Jules with Vivige on her other side. Bernard had the camera ready.

Out of the corner of her eye Crystal saw Raoul sit next to his mother. Jules wore a permanent smile. For the next hour they were treated to a wonderful Christmas program. All the cousins performed beautifully, and it was as if Philippe had been in the school all year.

When they got to the part where they sang “Silent Night,” the carol mocked the turmoil going on inside of Crystal. Even though Raoul had returned, the fear that something had happened to him had upset her so much, it had caused havoc with her stomach. A minute before the program was over, she turned to Vivige.

“I suddenly need a restroom. Will you see to Philippe? I’ll meet you all at the house.”

“You poor thing. Of course.”

She rushed past the crowd and was the first one to leave the auditorium. Because she was so fast, she beat the others exiting the parking lot and raced home. Once upstairs, she thought she’d lose her lunch; but, by that time, the nausea had subsided.

Once she’d freshened up, she planned to go back downstairs and hug her son, but there was a knock on the door. Surprised Philippe didn’t just burst in, she opened it and met a grim-faced Raoul in the entry. He came inside, nudging the door shut behind him with his foot.

“What happened to make you bolt like that after the program?”

“I had a hard time with Philippe before you came to his schoolroom. My stomach cramped up because of delayed stress, but I’m fine now.”

“The hell you are. It’s something else.”

She could never hide anything from him. “No, Raoul. I—I was just so thankful you came when you did,” she said, her voice faltering.

“So thankful it made you sick?”

Crystal struggled for breath. “Before you showed up, Philippe was afraid you’d died.”

A ring of white appeared around his compelling mouth. “Is that what you thought, too?” When she didn’t say anything because she was afraid to admit it, he held her upper arms, shaking her gently. “Tell me the truth.”

“I didn’t want to think it because—because I couldn’t bear the thought.”

“Of what?” he demanded.

“Of you being gone—” She averted her eyes. “The family couldn’t handle another tragedy.”

His sudden intake of breath sounded like a volcanic fissure erupting. “So it wasn’t personal?” He’d brought her body right up against his.

“Raoul—” she cried in torment, but that was the only word to escape her lips before he lowered his dark head and found her mouth. Her body quivered as he closed his mouth over hers in a man’s kiss so hot with desire it began melting her bones.

Crystal had already caught flame and opened up to him, giving in to her terrible hunger for him. She heard his unmistakable moan of longing before he deepened their kiss. The kind of rapture she’d never known sent out voluptuous heat, encasing them in a fire too marvelous to describe.

To be tasting and loving him like this when she’d dreamed about it for so long had her soaring. When he unexpectedly wrenched his mouth from hers, leaving her reeling, she gasped in the aftershock and took a step away from his arms.

What had she done?

“You—you shouldn’t have done that, Raoul,” she said, her voice shaking while she wobbled in place. The feel of him still held her in its grip.

His eyes glittered dangerously. “Hate me all you want, but you’d be lying if you told me you didn’t enjoy that.”

Her cheeks burned as if she had a fever. “Yes, I enjoyed it,” she admitted. “No man has kissed me since Eric. I’d forgotten how pleasurable it could be.”

“Kind of like the same way you forgot how much you loved to ski,” he persisted. “Look what happened when you gave yourself permission to embrace life again.”

Fighting for her life she said, “Yes, and that’s because of the offer you made me. I’ve done nothing but think about it, so I might as well give you my answer now.”

Raoul’s body broke out in a cold sweat. This was it, the answer he’d been waiting for since the other night at his house.

He watched her brace her legs against the end of the bed, as if she needed support. “This won’t take long.” He could hear her rapid breathing.

“Go on,” he said, moving toward her.

“I’ve considered it from every angle. Your offer was so incredibly generous, I’m still overwhelmed by it.”

His lungs froze. If his theory was wrong and she took him up on it, then it meant she didn’t have the feelings for him he had for her.

“I happen to know it’s unprecedented,” she continued, “which makes what I have to tell you sound like I’m the most ungrateful wretch who ever lived. But I’m afraid I’m going to have to turn it down because I’ve decided to make a new life for myself and Philippe in Breckenridge.”

The blood pounded in his ears.

“After we return, I’m going to start a ski school. I’m also going to buy Philippe and I a house of our own and get him enrolled in some activities like karate. At some point I’m also going to rent a piano in the hope he might take to it. Raising a well-rounded child is important to me. Though I didn’t like piano lessons when I was younger, it taught me music and I think it’s important.”

Crystal could talk all she wanted, but Raoul was too elated to listen and didn’t buy a word of it.

“I know you told me to think about it and give you my answer when I was ready. Well the truth is, I wanted to tell you ‘no’ when you first made the offer, but that would have seemed unconscionably rude of me.”

He shifted his weight, struggling to contain emotions that were spilling out in every direction. “You don’t know how to be rude, Crystal. If you don’t feel that establishing a ski school here is for you, then I won’t bring it up again. My concern was to be of help to you and Philippe any way I could.”

“You’ve always been there for us. There’ve been times when I don’t know what I … we would have done without you.”

The betraying choice of words wasn’t wasted on him. “I’ll always be here for you. You know that.”

It was fascinating to watch the way her hands rubbed against womanly hips in an unconscious gesture. The sister-in-law he’d once known had never betrayed her nervousness around him like this. He was seeing a new phenomenon she’d only started to display since he’d flown to Colorado.

“I’ll never forget your offer. Thank you for all you’ve done for Philippe. He’s the most fortunate little boy I know to have you for his uncle.”

“You know how I feel about him. In fact, one of the reasons I came upstairs was to tell you I’ve arranged for a sleigh ride for everyone who wants to go. It’s my treat to the children for putting on such a wonderful performance. See you downstairs? Be sure to dress warmly.”

He purposely held himself back from touching her again because he couldn’t trust himself within ten feet of her right now. After he left the room, he stopped at the stair landing to send Des a text.

She turned me down flat. Joy to the world.

CHAPTER SIX

HATE ME ALL YOU WANT, but you’d be lying if you told me you didn’t enjoy that.

Crystal stood there for a long time, taking in shallow breaths while the ramifications of what he’d done began to set in. With that soul-destroying kiss he’d crossed over the line and broken all the rules. What was it Eric had once told her about his elder brother?

Raoul makes up his own rules as he goes along. That’s why he’s the best of the best at what he does.

He was the best. Seconds ago she’d turned down an offer no other champion skier in her right mind would do. Yet, all the while she’d been giving him her reasons, she’d had the feeling he wasn’t listening because he knew Philippe wasn’t on board with any of it.

She’d kept waiting for him to raise objections. In a way, she’d been anticipating a fight. Not the cat-and-dog kind, naturally. Raoul knew how to put up arguments couched with logic and reason that made it difficult for her to ever come out the winner. But just a little while ago when she’d been frank with him, he’d said nothing to dissuade her. By not bringing any pressure to bear, it had thrown her off balance.

With that kiss, it meant all those growing feelings she’d tried to deny before leaving for Colorado had been visible to Raoul on some sensory level. Otherwise he wouldn’t have done what he did with the kind of mastery he’d shown.

While she wrestled with what she planned to do about it for the rest of the holidays, Philippe came bursting into her room.

“Mommy? Were you sick?”

All her child needed was more worry. She hugged him hard. “I had a little tummy ache, but it’s all better. Do you know you were the best angel in the whole program? I’m so proud of you.”

“Thanks. Uncle Raoul said so, too. Now we’ve got to hurry ‘cause he’s taking us for a long sleigh ride!”

“I know. We need to get our parkas and boots on.”

The last thing she wanted to do was face anyone, but she had to put on a happy front for Philippe. Once they’d gathered their things, they left her bedroom. On the way down she gave herself a talk about getting control of her life. She’d taken charge once before and had left Chamonix. She could do it again. It was time to act like a mother in charge of her son and do what was best for both of them.

From here on out she needed to play her role as the happy aunt to the hilt. No one would be able to see the crack in her defense put there by Raoul himself. Her brother-in-law had become her greatest adversary, but no one else knew it.

Maybe it was better he’d drawn the fragile curtain aside to expose what had been the elephant in the room for so long she couldn’t bear it anymore. Now that she’d reached flash point and had given in to her desires for that brief moment, she had no choice but to set up a counterstrategy to end the conflict for good. You fought fire with fire. That’s what she intended to do.