The unexpected bride, p.7
The Unexpected Bride, page 7
He had really enjoyed spending time with Emma this evening. He dreaded losing her more than ever. But she seemed content with her role of friend and carer, and he was relieved that they’d been able to smooth things over after that incident in the kitchen that night. He could understand now why she’d been so upset by it. The abusive fiancé, and that bastard, Sir Giles Toffee-Nose. Laurent knew that if he ever was in England, he’d seek the lord out and teach him a lesson he’d never forget. Emma was such a lovely, sweet girl and she needed protecting; she clearly had no idea of the effect that she had on men.
He took a swig of his drink and his mood became reflective. She had no idea of the effect she had on him, either. It was going to be hard. Her pretty, elfin features…that curvy, compact body…her luxurious platinum-blond hair that he longed to run his fingers through…her peaches-and-cream soft skin…and that way she had of making you feel as though you were the center of her universe. He pulled his thoughts up short. All of her was so damn tempting, and he wanted her, badly. If truth be told, he’d find it a struggle to control his physical reaction to her. But he had to, for where could it lead? He had no intention of becoming emotionally involved with anybody for a very long time. And she had said very openly that neither did she…
His mind turned back to the previous spring, when he’d had that ill-fated fling with Eloise Dexter. With hindsight, Eloise hadn’t been the right woman for him, or for a potential life at Copper Creek. She’d been very attractive, an attorney from Bozeman who’d known Ren since law school. Her groomed poise and coolness had seemed beguiling to him then, offering an escape from the aftermath of Brooke’s death and the chaos of his family life, he supposed. But Eloise liked fine dining, beautiful clothes and everything in its place. She wouldn’t have lasted five minutes at Copper Creek, with the kids and the dog on the rampage. As it was, she’d grown tired of his turning up late because there had been some domestic crisis, or River Bend Interiors had demanded that he work late. She hadn’t appreciated his battered sheepskin jacket, dirty fingernails or his truck, where there was often sawdust and wood shavings on the seats and the floor. Emma didn’t seemed to notice any of it, and was frequently to be seen with her hair mussed and her clothes wet through with mud or snow, because she’d had Evie, Jerome and Bobo outside running around and playing, her turquoise eyes sparkling with fun and fresh air. She was sunshine on even the cloudiest day.
Yes, it was going to be hard. But no matter how much he wanted to bed her, Emma deserved better than a lonely guy who just wanted to forget by burying himself in her body, then pulling away. And his kids deserved to have a constant female figure in their life who loved them. They couldn’t afford to lose her now. It would be hard, but he could turn away. It was the right thing to do…
Chapter Five
As Emma was discovering, spring in Montana was a time of miraculous and grand reawakening: the winter snows slowly melted away from every place but the highest mountain peaks into the fast-flowing rivers, the sap rose in the trees and the first flowers began peeping their colorful heads above the hard, frost-bitten ground; everything was coming alive.
She inhaled the crystal-clear air. She felt very much settled in and part of the little community at Copper Creek now, and any thoughts of leaving had disappeared. The trouble and strife of her last months in England also seemed further away, memories of Tom and Sir Giles only pricking at her every now and then, which was a huge relief. In fact, she was a little amazed how quickly she was feeling able to put Tom behind. Had he meant as much to her as she’d thought? Being here in Paradise Valley, with the children and Laurent was coming to mean far more.
As she stood with Evie and Jerome, staring up at the misty blue peak of Copper Mountain from the green pasturelands below, Bobo galloping them around like a mad mountain hare, an image of Laurent filled her mind. He continued to keep his emotions closely guarded and was still prone to disappearing into his workshop until the early hours, endlessly carving, chiselling and sanding his reclaimed timber into beautiful objects. Occasionally she caught him brooding and staring sightlessly into the distance, and she sensed that Brooke was never very far from his thoughts. But he was no longer the troubled man she’d been confronted by on her arrival. She and he now had a friendly, supportive relationship that centered on the children, which she really valued. The kids had made huge leaps forward: Evie was still the lively, talkative, precocious child she’s always been, but no longer quite so wilful and wild; Jerome was starting to talk in sentences and had conquered the bathroom, and there was definitely more of the rapport and understanding that he needed from his dad. There was still a little way to go there, though, so she was going to have to keep plugging away with Laurent. But the great improvement overall gave her courage. She was making a difference.
The only fly in her ointment was the quiet but ever-nagging ache in her heart, as she kept her feelings for Laurent at bay. Most of the time she succeeded. But, at odd moments, she found her longing for him overwhelmed her. And it wasn’t just physical attraction anymore; she really, really was coming to like him as a person—his sense of fun, his support of her, his love for his children, his focus and creativity…He was so easy, so great to be around, and she just wanted to drink it in.
She tried to look on the bright side: it meant she was healing after the damaging experience of Tom.
“Bear’s house.” Jerome halted her musings by tugging at her hand.
“Yes, sweetie, that’s the bear’s lair up there,” she confirmed. “C’mon, we’d better head home ourselves. It’s time for lunch. Wave bye-bye to the bear.”
“Bye, bear,” Jerome called out, and Evie blew a kiss to the mountain. They started walking back down to Copper Creek, Emma promising that later, after lunch and naps, they would all settle down to watch a DVD of Jungle Book and get to meet Mowgli and his bear best friend, Baloo.
“Ton oeuf. C’est magnifique!” Pascale clapped her hands with delight at the egg Evie had painted with a pattern of brightly-colored stripes, wiggles and dots.
Easter was only just over a couple of weeks away, and Emma had enlisted Pascale to help her show Evie and Jerome how to take hens’ eggs, make tiny holes in the top and bottom of their shells, blow out the yolks and whites, and decorate them. Pascale had been delighted to join in and lend her incredible creativity to the process.
“Mamere!” Jerome proudly displayed his egg to his grandmother, which Emma had worked with him to cover with shiny star stickers.
“Ooh la la. C’est beau!” Pascale hugged her little grandson.
“When are we going for hot chocolate? Will it be soon?” Evie bugged Emma with this question for about the hundredth time. It had been agreed that the children’s reward for behaving at table would be an outing to Copper Mountain Chocolates, where they could order hot chocolate and also pick out an Easter egg each. Emma and Laurent had decided that Rocco’s was probably a step too far right now, though a meal there would follow at some point.
“We’re going tomorrow afternoon; there’s not long to wait now,” Emma reassured her. Evie still struggled with the concept of time and tended to want everything to happen immediately. Also, it had been unfortunate that they had been supposed to go to Sage’s last week, but Laurent had had to cancel because of a last-minute custom-build commission.
“Good,” Evie pronounced. “I’m going to have hot chocolate and buy an Easter egg,” she told Pascale self-importantly. “I won lots of marbles.”
The children were behaving beautifully, Emma thought proudly, as they sat with her and Laurent in Copper Mountain Chocolates. They’d been so excited when she, they and Laurent had piled into the truck to drive to Marietta, and everyone had had a great time singing songs on the journey in. Since coming to Sage’s, Jerome had managed to smear chocolate on his face, but that was all.
Laurent caught her eye over the tops of their heads. “I’m amazed,” he whispered. “Truly amazed. Three months ago I wouldn’t have thought it possible. Who knew that an English nanny and a jar of marbles could work such wonders?”
Emma laughed. “They’ve been as good as gold, haven’t they?”
“You’re too modest, Emma Peabody.” Laurent’s eyes crinkled at their corners with approval. “You are a miracle-worker.”
“Why, thank you, kind sir,” she said with mock graciousness. “But you need to give yourself a pat on the back too. You’ve been great with them, too.”
Laurent was clearly enjoying their trip. He’d thrown himself into the car concert with enthusiasm, singing at the top of his rather good voice, and it warmed Emma’s heart to see him now sitting with his kids, chatting and joking with them like the great dad that he was. He was a lovely, lovely man.
“Can we get the Easter eggs?” Evie demanded. “I want an Easter egg.”
“Sure,” Laurent agreed, ruffling up her hair.
“Don’t do that, Daddy!” She pushed his hand away, and palmed her hair back down with her own. “We need to buy an egg for the bear.”
Laurent turned to his daughter. “Why does the bear need an egg, cupcake?”
“Because he’s lonely,” Evie replied without missing a beat. “He hasn’t got a wife.”
“But the bear’s got all his friends, Evie. You know that. The beaver, the eagle—“
“The bear’s like you, Daddy,” Evie insisted. “He hasn’t got a wife and he’s lonely.” She stopped and considered a moment, screwing up her face. “I know. You could marry Emma, Daddy! Then you won’t be lonely anymore,” she finished triumphantly.
There was a silence, then Laurent broke it. “I don’t think Emma wants to marry me.” Though he looked at Emma over the top of Evie’s head with an expression that said, Help! Feeling flustered, she searched for something to say.
However, Evie was on a roll. “But Emma loves you, and she loves me and Jerome.”
Emma tensed and she felt the heat rising in her face. Hurriedly she scrambled for a suitable reply for the child. “I do love you all, very much…and it’s a lovely idea. But Daddy and I are fine as we are. We’re…we’re friends!”
Evie thought about this and seem pacified. “Okay. Can we buy the bear an egg?”
“Sure, pumpkin,” Laurent said. “We’ll get that old grizzly an egg.” He looked at Emma and rolled his eyes, and she managed a glimmer of a smile. But, as they got up and the children rushed towards the glass-fronted counter which displayed a mouth-watering array of chocolate eggs, feelings of discomfort and embarrassment washed over her. Don’t be ridiculous! she urged herself. It meant nothing. Evie just wanted her father to be happy and, with childish logic, had paired her with Laurent.
She felt Laurent’s warm breath on her neck as he leant down and muttered in her ear, “Any more bear talk, and I will personally get a gun and go shoot the damn creature!”
Emma turned to look at him with horror. “Oh, please don’t do that! Evie and Jerome would be inconsolable.” Suddenly, she was very conscious of their close proximity.
“I was just venting my frustration. I don’t suppose there’s any way we can get the subject changed?”
“I think we just have to let them run with it until they get bored.”
“I’m not sure I can—ahem—bear any more bear. And where the hell is this lonely bear, lonely daddy stuff coming from?”
Emma gave him a rueful smile. How could she tell him that his daughter had picked up on his emotional isolation and was trying to make things right? “I guess she’s just working through the loss of her mum and figuring out the effect it’s having on other people. But she has only her three-year-old’s frame of reference to try and make sense of it.”
She hoped she had been diplomatic, and had got her point across without making him feel bad, that maybe he needed to put the emotional needs of his little girl first, rather than focus on his own discomfort. But she saw he looked stricken.
“Brooke’s death has had more of an effect on her than we thought. Oh, God, Emma, this is all my fault. What am I supposed to do? I can’t wave a magic wand and bring her mommy back.”
Emma placed a hand on his arm. “Hey, it’s okay. Your daughter remembers her mother and it’s natural that she looks for a solution for replacing her,” she responded, trying to keep her voice reassuring and steady.
Laurent caught hold of her hand, and Emma felt the strength of his grip. “You’re saying that I need to find a solution…”
She looked into his eyes and saw a tempest of emotions. She wanted so much to hold him, to soothe him and tell him that it would be all right.
“Want this one!” Jerome’s excited cry from the other side of the shop cut through the moment.
Both adults turned to where the children were. Almost without thinking, Emma freed herself from Laurent’s grasp and went over to the counter to admire the children’s choices of eggs. Laurent followed and, without saying anything, paid for their purchases.
Emma could feel Sage Carrigan’s shrewd eyes upon her. The chocolate shop proprietor gave her a small smile, as though she understood the turmoil Emma was feeling. She also glanced at Laurent, who stood nearby, a thoughtful look on his face.
“Those eggs look yummy. Come on, guys,” Emma chivvied. “Time to go home.”
Neither Emma nor Laurent spoke to one another during the journey back to Copper Creek. Jerome fell asleep in his booster seat and Evie filled the silence by happily chattering on about where she was going to leave the egg for the bear. Emma glanced at Laurent from the corner of her eye: he seemed deep in thought. His gaze was fixed firmly on the road ahead, though she could also see how firmly his hands gripped the steering wheel. Now that she had a chance to reflect, she realized that he was a man overwhelmed by the need to do right by his family, because in some way he felt he’d done them wrong. In that moment at the coffee shop, she had become aware of how much responsibility and guilt he felt about his wife’s death. Even if Brooke had died of an unavoidable medical complication…
And she had also to admit that Evie’s innocent attempts at matchmaking had touched a nerve within her too. She did have feelings for Laurent, which she had been trying very hard to hide. Not that she wanted to marry him—that would be taking it too far, wouldn’t it?—but there was no doubt he’d got under her skin and if things were different…She halted that train of thought because there was no point in going there. He’d hired her to do a job. She’d let her feelings run away with her.
She tried to calm herself by thinking about Laurent’s reaction again. She could tell he knew in his heart that he had to start moving on and think of his family’s needs, but right now it was still a little more than he could do, because his feelings about Brooke’s death were staying raw.
With that thought, she decided that this was what she needed to concentrate on. Back in the coffee shop, Laurent had reached out and asked for her help. She just had to work out how she could give it to him and help him realize that losing Brooke hadn’t been his fault.
After dinner, Laurent went to his workshop. It would be Evie’s fourth birthday in May, and he was making her a workstation-come-desk for her bedroom, where she could draw, paint and make models to her heart’s content, and store her materials, as well as place a basic computer. She clearly had the Deslongchamps artistic talent and he wanted to nurture it. Pascale had been helping him design the desk, advising on surfaces and storage areas for brushes, crayons and paints, and even recommending that he should include a small easel-like construction where Evie could pin sketch paper. Pascale and Robert had promised to stock the desk with materials as their gift to their granddaughter, and Ren would be contributing some too.
Around ten-thirty, he sat back from his labors, rolling his shoulders and moving his head from side to side to release his tired muscles. But it wasn’t just working on the desk that had caused the knots in his shoulders. He’d been mulling over this afternoon’s little scene. He was surprised at how uncomfortable Evie’s wedding plans had made him feel, not to mention realizing how irritated he’d been by her running commentary on his resemblance to her imaginary friend, the bear. He wondered why all of it was getting to him so? After all, she was just a little kid, and Emma had been right: she was just trying to find a solution to the problem in her own three-year-old’s way.
A few weeks ago, he’d been at his wits’ end. Then Emma had arrived and changed his children’s world. He had to admit that she’d spread more than a little sunshine into his. If he’d met Emma in a bar, he would have happily indulged in a fling with her…He steered his mind back to the coffee shop, wondering if Emma had been upset by Evie’s wedding plans as well. She’d visibly tensed up when Evie had announced her marriage idea. And yet, he also recalled how quickly Emma had put her own feelings aside, and placed a comforting hand on his arm, trying to help him understand, and he’d seen the caring look in her eyes. She was one helluva woman, and if he was available, well, it would be easy to give his heart to someone like her…
He drummed his fingers on the desk-top and forced himself to return to the issue at hand once more. As today’s events had shown, clearly Evie missed her mother as much as ever and craved a mommy-daddy set-up. That ever-present sensation of guilt sat heavily on his chest. What could he do about it?
That thought pulled him up short. It was a problem, a real problem. At the very least, he couldn’t leave things as they were. He saw now that Evie and Jerome needed something more than he had been able to give them. There was also no doubt that Emma was crucial to their well-being. But what to do to make things better, which would give his kids the mom they wanted and, at the same time, keep Emma at Copper Creek…
His eyes scanned around the workshop and he saw some odds and ends of timber lying in a corner. Aha! Here was a start. Something practical. He would do what he did best and use his skills to make Evie a box for putting out the bear’s Easter egg in the woods, and he’d personally take her—and Jerome—up there on Sunday to place the offering. He only had a couple of days to get it done, but he’d manage it. The kids would be happy, which would make him happy, and he knew Emma would be delighted by that.
