A Winter Affair (24 page)

Lawrence turned to her, an expression of incredulity on his face; did he think she had invited him here with some wild idea to turn the place into some millionaires' haven?

Harvey, seeing her, smiled awkwardly, ‘Hello Eloise, sorry to drop in but Aurelia…'

‘You should have rung first,' Eloise said sharply. Aurelia was grinning in a pitying sort of way, and now Debra came out of the living room and said imperiously, ‘Are you here about Jerry? Do you know where he is?'

‘Oh, no,' Aurelia said, not at all interested in Debra's distress. She had taken off one of her boots and was about to bend over to remove the other, she straightened, smiled at Debra and said, ‘I've come to show a friend who's in the travel business this chalet, so he can suggest some ideas to make it appeal to a higher market.'

Debra, who obviously thought she
was
a member of the ‘higher market', suddenly forgot about her own dramas and began, ‘Well you need more bathrooms and…'

‘Thank you,' Lawrence said firmly, ‘now is not a good time, Aurelia, and I suggest you come back later… and please give us warning before you do.'

Harvey, as if he wanted to calm the atmosphere, said, ‘We had some happy times here, didn't we, Eloise?' He threw her a look, and then addressed Lawrence, ‘We stayed here a few times when our children were small.'

Eloise wanted to cry, remembering now those times when all seemed calm and loving, when she and Harvey were together and the twins were too young to leave home alone, be off in the wide world somewhere, open to untold dangers, but she pulled herself together, her dislike of Aurelia and her love of Jacaranda giving her strength.

‘It's a wonderful chalet, and people who really enjoy the mountains and nature and the true atmosphere of the place are happy here. Wouldn't you agree, Harvey? Don't you remember you used to ridicule those ponced-up places, as you called them, pandering to people with money but no imagination, no feeling for the natural beauty all around. Remember,' she threw him a stern look, ‘your descriptions of some of the holiday places you visited in your job? The ones that didn't have the charm and beauty of Jacaranda.'

‘I don't you know what you mean?' Aurelia looked offended.

To his credit Harvey looked ashamed, which was rare for him. Eloise suspected that dropping in here unannounced had been entirely Aurelia's idea. Having found out what Harvey did for a living had she thought she could get him on her side and persuade Lawrence to make changes to Jacaranda to suit
her
?

Lawrence said, ‘I think it's best if you go now, Aurelia, we'll talk on the phone later.'

Debra addressed Harvey, ‘Are you involved with the chalets in the new development? Can you put in a word for us to rent one next time
if
we should come to Verbier again?'

Harvey had the grace to say, ‘No… I… that's not my line of work, I deal mostly with summer resorts.'

‘But he's got very good ideas about skiing ones, and Verbier attracts more and more summer visitors,' Aurelia tried again.

Theo looked worried, he said, ‘We love Jacaranda as it is, are we changing it, Dad… Lawrence?'

‘It needs more bathrooms and perhaps a hot tub,' Debra reiterated.

Lawrence's face darkened. ‘I'm sorry,' he said to Harvey, ‘you've been brought here under false pretences. I'd be grateful if you'd leave, make an appointment to come back if you have to… unless…' he glanced at Eloise, but she shook her head and turned away. It still hurt to see her ex-husband, imagining him making love to other women… to Aurelia? The last thing she wanted was for Harvey to come back to the chalet. Perhaps Lawrence thought they were like some of those celeb couples that divorced yet referred to each other as their ‘best friends'.

‘Go now, Harvey,' she said firmly, ‘it's not a convenient time. In fact there is no convenient time for you to come to Jacaranda.'

‘But Eloise…'

‘No buts,' she said, ‘we haven't been here for at least ten years and things are different now. Please leave and don't come back.'

Aurelia said sarcastically, ‘Well if it's not convenient… but Lawrence, I'd say you're missing out on a great opportunity by not at least listening to Harvey's ideas to turn Jacaranda into a huge money-spinner.'

‘That's not what I want,' Lawrence said, and then Bert, who'd managed to escape from his place downstairs, came flying down the passage barking excitedly.

‘Oh, that dog.' Debra backed away as if he were a raging lion.

‘Theo, control him will you,' Lawrence said, trying not to laugh.

Bert started to sniff at Aurelia and Harvey, but before he could decide if he liked them or not, Theo scooped him up.

‘I'll take you out soon,' he said, going back towards the kitchen, making Debra remark that she hoped he was well out of the way of the food as animals were so unhygienic.

Eloise, in her nervous state, felt an urge to giggle when she thought of Bert and the joint of lamb but curbed it when she caught Lawrence's stern eye, though his mouth was twitching with a smile. She turned to go back to the kitchen.

Lawrence opened the front door and the freezing air drove Debra back into the living room, shutting the door firmly behind her. Left with them in the hall, Aurelia struggling to put on her boot, Eloise heard Lawrence say, ‘You've come at a difficult moment. Two of our guests seem to have done a runner. I've got to sort that out before I do anything else.'

‘What, like your last chef, run off with one of the guests, or run off without paying?' Aurelia asked. Eloise hovered in the passage to hear what Lawrence would say.

‘No, nothing like that,' Lawrence said irritably, ‘it's a family matter, but I need to deal with it in peace.'

Theo, still holding Bert, said as she came down the passage, ‘What's your ex-husband doing here, Eloise? Is he trying to get you back?'

‘No,' she said, ‘it's just a dreadful coincidence. I'd no idea he was even out here, I probably wouldn't have come if I'd known.'

‘I'm jolly glad you didn't know then,' Theo said warmly. ‘I'm sorry if you don't want him here, I don't either if Aurelia's trying to get him to change Jacaranda. We love it as it is.'

Eloise arrived at Quinn's chalet after tea. Saskia telephoned her to beg her to come early to their party so they could gossip before the other guests arrived.

‘Most of the work's done. Quinn doesn't like too much to eat as he says it spoils the enjoyment of the wine,' she said, ‘but I've done a few bits and there's bread and cheese if anyone's hungry.'

Eloise followed Saskia into the main room. There was a small tree in the corner decorated with shiny crimson baubles and gold stars and a swathe of evergreen and gold-painted fir cones and red berries draped over the mantelpiece. The furniture was pulled back to make a space in the centre of the room. The curtains were left open and the view down the valley was a picture of sparkling lights glowing through the darkness.

Quinn was ‘resting' and his family who'd come for Christmas were visiting friends nearby but would be back for the party, so for the moment all was quiet. Saskia poured Eloise a glass of wine and the two of them sat gossiping.

‘So,' Eloise finished, having told Saskia the whole saga of the avalanche, ‘Gaby and Jerry seemed to have disappeared, but they are safe together. She sent me a couple of texts, not saying where she is, just that they are “nearby”. They are going to stay out here for another week. I imagine that Jerry's furious with Debra for sending Gaby home and he persuaded her to stay on out here with him, and as her mother and brothers are with her mother's boyfriend I suspect she was easily persuaded.'

‘Much more fun to ski than go back to winter in the UK, but frightening about the avalanche though,' Saskia shivered. ‘You never know what will happen if there's been a huge snowfall, but they are very good here, they usually close runs if they think they are dangerous, or even close the whole place and stop running the lifts. Good thing you were not caught up in it and could call for help.' She gulped at her wine. ‘I always keep to the main piste if it's been snowing and I'm on my own.'

‘Fortunately this wasn't as bad as it might have been. Theo warned us, said it would be better if we skied one at a time and to wait a little as two snowboarders had just gone, but Jerry laughed and crashed off. Theo was caught in the edge of it and tumbled about and, luckily, because Jerry was wearing a transmitter he was dug out in time.' Eloise went on, ‘But just the word avalanche has sparked panic in Debra, and Lawrence is terrified they'll sue him or at least contact their lawyers so he'll have to bring in his, as if he is responsible for the avalanche.'

Saskia sighed. ‘I doubt you can sue against the weather, but I suppose if someone knowingly goes out when it's dangerous, or goes on a run that's been closed or disregards warning signs, you could make a case,' Saskia said, her words chilling Eloise.

Those warning flags, if Debra found out about them, she would not hesitate in laying the blame firmly at Theo's door.

‘It wasn't closed or anything, was it?' Saskia asked.

‘No… there were other people there.' She would not mention the flags.

‘The richer they are, the harder they push in such cases. Quinn, who's sometimes had to step in if someone sues a restaurant, thinks that some mega-rich people have a sort of complex that poorer people are trying to get at their money and take it as a personal slight if someone has crashed into their car, or given them food poisoning. Poor Lawrence, he's trying so hard to make Jacaranda pay for itself and he seems to be having nothing but bad luck this season, his chef running off and…'

‘Having to employ me,' Eloise said.

‘No! That was his luck that you were free at such short notice,' Saskia said.

‘Harvey's still here,' Eloise said to change the subject and to offload her concerns. ‘Aurelia brought him to Jacaranda to give Lawrence advice on how to transform the chalet, no doubt to accommodate her Tempting Delights,' she finished darkly.

‘So he didn't go home for Christmas?' Saskia sounded surprised.

‘No, I thought… hoped he might. He must be splashing out to stay here so long, but it seems Aurelia's got her claws into him.'

‘You mean they're together?' Saskia was shocked.

‘I hope not, I don't think so. I told you I saw him with a woman in pink, but I haven't seen him with her since, but then he probably wouldn't have brought her to Jacaranda, knowing I was there. Despite his faults he never flaunted his other women in front of me and I wonder if he would have come at all if Aurelia hadn't brought him.' Much though he'd hurt her, Eloise wanted to be fair to him.

‘I suppose once Harvey told her what his job was, finding venues for holidays, she latched on to him with her ideas for Jacaranda, no doubt hoping his expertise would help sway Lawrence to her ideas,' Saskia said.

‘Fortunately he was far more concerned with placating Debra over Jerry and Gaby's midnight flit, than to listen to plans to upgrade Jacaranda,' Eloise said.

‘Aurelia's coming tonight, do you think Harvey will come with her?' There was a gleam of excitement in Saskia's eyes that Eloise tried to ignore. She'd become used to it; Harvey, despite now being quite paunchy, still had the gift – or perhaps the curse – of inducing excitement in women.

‘Oh, I hope not.' Eloise hadn't thought of this, she'd seen more than enough of Harvey and she decided now that if he came here tonight, she'd leave, but she didn't say this to Saskia.

Before Saskia could question her further, Quinn appeared dressed in a bottle-green velvet jacket and a navy silk cravat.

‘Ah, the chef,' he said smiling, lumbering over and kissing Eloise. ‘How is it going at Jacaranda? Heard you have quite difficult guests this week.'

‘Yes.' Eloise glanced at Saskia, wondering what she'd told him, but the doorbell interrupted Eloise and Saskia ran to answer it.

Quinn turned, ready to welcome people, and Eloise, suddenly overcome with dread, looked round for a way of escape if Harvey and Aurelia should come in, but the only way out was through the front door.

To her relief it was a couple, Otis and Patsy, who, Eloise saw, were of the same vintage as Quinn, and they remembered Desmond. They told her they missed him and of course dear Maddy, but they'd do their best to get him to come back to Verbier soon. They lived here full-time now, having lived in other parts of the world and decided that Verbier and the mountains was where they wanted to be.

Others soon arrived and then Lawrence, Theo and the party from Jacaranda, but there was no sign of Aurelia or, luckily, Harvey.

Eloise had told Lawrence about her text from Gaby and that they were safe together somewhere. She had left it to him to tell Debra, which she assumed he had done.

Theo, now standing beside her, keeping a wary eye on Debra, as if afraid she'd insist on interrogating him about the avalanche or Jerry's whereabouts or both, said quietly, ‘I've heard from Jerry. He wants to meet up tomorrow to ski, but he said I mustn't tell Debra and Ken in case they turn up and force Gaby to go home.'

‘They can't force her,' Eloise replied, also keeping her eyes on Debra who was talking to Otis and Patsy. ‘Has Lawrence told Debra about the messages I received from Gaby?'

‘Yes and Debra was furious, called Gaby all sorts of names, which didn't please Ken, who I think rather fancies her himself, the old lecher. He said Jerry was old enough to choose whom he wanted to be with. Anyway I hope I can slope off and you too and we can all meet up tomorrow.' Theo emptied his glass so Saskia could refill it as she made the rounds.

‘That would be fun,' Eloise said, ‘I think it's meant to be sunny tomorrow.' She did not add that there were only a few days left for her to ski before she went home and how she'd miss it.