“I didn’t say that,” her voice trembled. “But I’ve been guilt-ridden over applying to work at your vineyard in order to look for him.”
“Why did you think to come to our vineyard of all places?”
“Because at the beginning of the summer I l
earned he worked at the Fontesquieu vineyard. I planned to take my vacation around the harvest so I could apply for work. By some miracle, you hired me.”
The revelation racked him with pain. He studied her profile. “Did this man disappear?”
“Yes, as if he’d been wiped off the face of the earth.”
Dominic’s brows furrowed. “What does he look like?”
She let out a troubled sigh. “All I can tell you is that he’s a Provencal.”
That meant he was probably dark haired and dark eyed. At this point Dominic was shattered. “If you were in a relationship at the time he disappeared, did you contact the police?”
“No. He wouldn’t have gone off like that if he’d wanted to be found.”
Nathalie... “Yet you’re still looking for him.”
“Yes. I—I just wanted to know why he disappeared.” Her voice had faltered again.
She’d been in love with him! That was why she hadn’t married the guy she’d met in pharmacy college. “If you find him, what will you do?”
“The question is no longer relevant. I’ve given up trying to find him. That’s why I quit my job at your vineyard. There’s no place else to look and I’ve decided to let it go.”
He slid his arm along the back of the seat, refusing to let this alone. “I take it your guilt over what has been happening between us is the reason you don’t want to go on seeing me.”
She nodded without looking at him. “I can’t have a relationship with you.”
“Why? Deep down do you still hope to find him one day?”
“If only to have closure.”
There were degrees of pain. “If you’ll tell me his name, I can run a search by my vintner sources and possibly find him.”
“I would never ask you to do that, and couldn’t anyway because he never would use his name. He was so secretive I’m convinced he was hiding who he really was. I wish I knew the reason. He was around for a month, then he was gone for good.”
Dominic rubbed his jaw, tortured by everything she’d revealed. “But in that time he made a lasting impression.”
“Yes.”
“Nathalie... How long ago did he disappear?”
“It’s been two and a half years.”
“That long?” He was incredulous.
She nodded. “That’s why it’s absurd for me to keep looking. For all I know he’s been in another part of the world all this time.”
But at this point Dominic was frozen in place.
Two and a half years ago, Raoul had been forced to break off with Toinette.
Was it possible? Raoul was a Fontesquieu... All the men in their family were tall and dark. Provencal. That’s how Nathalie had described him.
No...