Chapter 41

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"Warm socks?"

"Yes, mom."

"Boots? Hat? Gloves? Scarf?"

"Yes, to all!" I was starting to feel exasperated. "It's not the North Pole!"

"Honey, we'll be in the middle of nowhere, no shops around, no drugstore to buy shampoo within miles, no neighbors to borrow things from. We can't forget anything at home. I'm practical."

"You're nervous about spending two weeks with Thierry in his house." I smiled.

"No, I'm not! Not really. Okay, I am." Louise folded her favorite cashmere sweater to put it on top of the pile of her clothes on the bed. "Are daughters even supposed to read their mothers this well?"

"Maybe not all." I laughed, sticking my watercolor brushes in their case to take them with me. I still needed to create one painting, and it had to happen over the holidays.

"We've never shared a house, and that's where the problems start. What if we are not domestically compatible?" Louise fiddled with the zipper of her makeup bag.

"You get along well, why would you be so insecure now? I'm sure you are more than compatible. Just don't let Thierry see your collection of girly stuff." I referred to dozens of small cream jars and bottles lined up on Louise's bathroom shelves.

"I'm not taking all of those with me, lady!" She feigned being offended. "Maybe some. You know what the cold does to my skin."

I chuckled. "Whatever, mom."

I selected some underwear to put it in my suitcase. Thinking for a minute, I discarded the basic items replacing them with the lacy ones I owned but didn't wear often. Some still had price tags attached to them.

"Do we have to talk about protection now?" Louise nodded at the bundle of lace I was holding.

"Mom!" I covered my face, dropping the things to the bed.

"Honey, mothers can also read daughters well, you know? Quit the blushing. Do you need to know anything?"

"Mom, we haven't done it, and a house full of people won't be the place. I'm just taking those for the dresses I'll wear; it's holidays anyway."

"Well, in the hypothetical case it happens, remember protection is important, and you shouldn't be shy to remind him of it."

"In a very hypothetical and unlikely case, I won't forget." I stuffed the garments and the rest of my things in the already full suitcase before zipping it up and going downstairs for breakfast before school.

When Aiden came to pick me up, he helped me load my luggage into the trunk of his car. We barely made it in time for class.

By the time our meeting with Miss Johnson started, I was equally nervous about my grades and excited about the upcoming trip.

Aiden and I opened our reports almost at the same time.

"No way," he said incredulously, staring at the piece of paper in his hands.

"What is it?" I leaned in closer to see. "Wow, all As and only a few Bs. For a guy who claimed not to be smart, that's pretty impressive."

"That's because you said I was brainy. I had to live up to that. What about you?" Aiden nodded at my report.

"I managed to outsmart you in a couple of subjects," I bragged. "All As."

"Didn't expect less." Aiden kissed me momentarily forgetting our tutor was a few feet away.

After a short meeting with Miss Johnson, we were dismissed and headed straight to Thierry's, where everybody must've been already waiting for us to leave for the mountains. The flow of cars was unusually dense for so early in the day.

"Guess everyone wants to get out of here," Aiden mumbled, trying to maneuver the car to change lanes. Hoots filled the air. There must've been something ahead of us, which made the traffic slow down. The rain didn't help, either. I watched the droplets grow bigger and hit the windshield harder as we sat stuck in the traffic jam.

Aiden drummed his fingers on the wheel.

"Impatient?" I smiled.

"Yeah. Do you think your uncle will let you ride with me in my car?"

"He will, my suitcase is in your trunk anyway, besides—"

My phone vibrated on my lap. Louise.

"Honey, you must be at Thierry's already. I have an emergency here at the office, we've just received some witness statements to add to the case, and it has to be done now. I'll try to be there soon. In case I'm late, go with your uncle, and I'll drive with Thierry."

"Do you think it'll take that long?"

"It might change the outcome for my client. I'll try to sort it out as soon as I can, I promise. Maybe if you go together with uncle Steve, you'll finally resolve the issue the two of you have," offered Louise, her voice filled with hope. "It'd be the best Christmas present the two of you could give me."

"Okay. Don't be late, mom. I'd love for everything to be normal again as well, but it takes two." I hung up.

The traffic cleared abruptly as we'd passed the point where the accident had happened. Aiden sped up, and we were outside Thierry's in what seemed like a couple of minutes.

"Hi there. Everything ready?" Thierry greeted us, closing the trunk of his car.

"Yes, we've already eaten at school, too. Louise—" I was going to tell him Louise would be late, but right then the door of the bistro burst open and uncle Steve rushed out, talking on the phone again.

"Are you sure, Hutches? I don't want to get my hopes up. Has the team arrived yet? I will be there soon." He cut the call and looked at us absent-mindedly, barely acknowledging our presence.

"Mister Donovan," Thierry said, "we're leaving once Louise arrives, it's a long drive, and there are groceries in the trunk. Will you take long to come back?"

"Dammit!" He seemed to finally realize someone was speaking to him. "It can't wait. I have an emergency. I'll call Louise, and we'll go together. She'll be late anyway, still stuck at the office. Go with the two of them." He nodded in our direction. "Lou and I will reach you."

He left briskly, the unspoken goodbye hanging in the air.

"Well, Lou can't drive alone, I guess we'll go there first." Thierry seemed disappointed.

"I don't know what kind of emergency would make him leave like that. I didn't even know he was working," I muttered.

Aiden pressed me to his side under the big umbrella he was holding over our heads.

"Okay, kids, let's go inside for a moment, Marco will be left alone, and I have to check everything is in order."

I was happy to feel the warm air of the bistro on my skin. The rain made me chilly.

The happiness didn't last long, as Marco ran out of the doors in the back of the restaurant, worry on his face.

"Thierry, we have a problem. The roof leaks. We're fully booked tomorrow and on Christmas. What do we do? We have to fix this today; nobody will come here on Saturday."

Thierry let out a pair of expletives in French. "Okay, we'll call the insurance. John is a friend, so he'll speed it up. Damage?"

"Not much yet, but there's water in the storage area, kitchen, and one of the banquette halls."

"God damn, why today?"

"Can we help?" Aiden asked.

Thierry's eyes darted to us. "You'll have to wait here until we can leave. Damn, the food. Guess I'll have to unload everything again."

"We can drive there, take the food, and wait for you at your house. If you trust us, of course," Aiden said.

"You'd do that? I know it's too much to ask, but I need to solve this here. How good of a driver are you?"

"The best." I smiled at Aiden, who kissed my cheek tenderly.

"It's a mountain road, and there might be snow. Did you put the chains as I told you?"

Aiden nodded. "I will be going slowly, especially knowing Ellie is with me. Promise."

"Okay, it's still early, so if you go now, you'll arrive in five to six hours. Type this into the navigator." Thierry scribbled something on a notepad and handed Aiden the page. "This number here is the access code to open the gate. Once you are there, run the heating, all the controls are in the basement. Here, take this set of keys. There are lots of bedrooms. The master bedroom is upstairs. That's Louise's and mine. Other than that, take any for you. Call me if you need anything."

"Do you want us to do anything else? Cleaning or—"

"There are boxes with Christmas stuff downstairs. If you are in the mood for decorating, feel free. You're in charge, drive carefully and let me know once you've arrived. I hope by the time you get to the house, we're halfway there."

"Thanks for trusting me," Aiden said.

Thierry rolled his eyes. "Don't be silly."

We loaded the food, which turned out to be a lot, in Aiden's car, leaving some things that wouldn't get spoiled, and started the journey.

The rain pounded against the windshield mercilessly, making it hard to see what was ahead.

"Hope it stops raining soon. Poor Thierry and the restaurant," I said an hour later as we drove along the coast listening to the radio.

"It will, you'll see. Is anything bothering you? You've been quiet."

"It's uncle Steve. What can be more important than staying with us? Isn't that why he came here in the first place?" Staying with us wasn't that important for him, seeing how he treated me, I thought, but didn't say it to Aiden.

"Wasn't he working on something?"

"He seems to be, but I don't understand it. His job is different now; I'm sure what he's doing has nothing to do with his current responsibilities. It makes me feel weird. Like something in the pit of my stomach."

"Baby, he is probably helping that Hutches guy with something. Didn't you tell me work was everything to your uncle? Maybe he's unable to sit with his arms crossed. You and your mom are hardly at home; he's probably bored out of his mind."

"Hope you're right. But it sounded as if Hutches was helping him."

"Lighten up that mood. We'll be together for two weeks, sharing the house, the longest we've ever been. Aren't you happy about it?"

"I'm thrilled!" I finally smiled and put my hand on Aiden's knee, rubbing it. "I'm sorry. I don't want to be a buzzkill."

"Buzzkill? Weren't those endearing words reserved for me only?" He smiled. "Don't be sorry. I also thought some things were weird, but I won't let them ruin our vacation. Look, we'll stop for some coffee soon. Do you want to talk about anything else? Or play a game?"

"A game?" My interest was piqued.

"Yep. Have you ever played Never have I ever?"

"No."

"Okay, basically, you just have to finish the sentence, but you have to tell the truth; otherwise, it's no fun. I'll start." Aiden followed the instructions of the GPS navigator and talked only once we drove off the highway onto a different road.

"Never have I ever been to the mountains in winter." He smiled at me.

"Never have I ever seen the snow," I admitted.

"Another first for us, then. Okay, never have I ever watched Christmas movies for five hours straight."

I remembered all our moviethons with Louise over the years. "I've done that with my mom. Never have I ever left the country."

"Me neither. You seem surprised."

"I guess that's because I assumed that as your father travels so much, you traveled abroad as a kid."

"No, I didn't. It doesn't mean I don't want to. I've always wanted to travel more."

"What was it like for you when you were a child?"

"You mean, my family?"

I nodded. My hand was on the gear stick now, my fingers intertwined with Aiden's.

"My grandmother, my mom's mother, died when I was eight. My other grandparents died before I was born. They had my father quite late in life. I didn't have a chance to meet them. My childhood was a normal one, I guess."

"Did your mom spend time with you?"

"She did. I knew she loved me. Used to love me," Aiden corrected himself, "that's why it didn't make sense for her to leave me like that. Look, let's not talk about sad stuff anymore. Deal?"

"Deal." I removed my hand as Aiden stopped at a gas station. There was a coffee shop, as well. The thought about a hot cappuccino made my mouth water.

"Let's go; I need to stretch my legs a bit."

It stopped raining, but the temperature dropped. I shivered in my coat as we took a few steps toward the entrance of the café. Aiden ordered me a cappuccino without me saying anything and a cup of Americano for him.

He leaned against the bar instead of sitting down, the drink in his hands.

"Thank you." I hummed, closing my eyes as I sipped the hot goodness. Aiden pulled me to him cupping my face with his hand still warm from the mug he was holding. "Never have I ever," he whispered, "loved another person the way I love you. I don't care about the family I didn't have. I have you now, and it's the only thing that matters."

Whatever I could say would fall short of his words, so I kissed him instead.

"Jeez," a middle-aged woman behind the bar said, her eyes glued to the news report on a TV screen on the wall.

"Could you turn that up a bit?" a customer asked.

I saw now that all the people who have been having drinks and eating in the warm café started to pay attention to what was being said. Aiden and I turned around as well.

Chills ran down my spine.

A correspondent was giving a disturbing piece of news from the place we both knew well.

Thoughts? Predictions?

As usual, hit that little star and make the girl happy with your comments!

Love,

A.

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