“That’s up to you. You could come to my apartment since he’s living there with me.”
She moistened her lips nervously. “When would be a good time?”
“As soon as you can make it. Since I told him, he’s been so anxious to talk to you about your stepsister, he hasn’t been able to settle down.”
“I’ve been in that state since I learned she was pregnant.” She drew in a breath. “Is he free this evening?”
“Yes. I could drive you there and bring you back.”
“That wouldn’t be a good idea. Give me a minute to freshen up, then I’ll follow you to the chateau. After my talk wit
h your cousin, I’ll drive home because I have to help with Alain.”
He nodded. “So be it.”
“I’ll see you out and lock the door, then let myself out the back door.”
Dominic left the pharmacy while she rushed to take off her lab coat and run a brush through her hair. After texting her mother that she wouldn’t be home for a while, she put on lipstick.
Her mom wouldn’t believe it when she heard the news that Alain’s father had been found. Nathalie could hardly believe it either. Finally Nathalie locked up and followed the black Renault to Vence.
It gave her a strange feeling to park outside one of the entrances to the chateau, knowing she would be entering the home of the man she loved with all her heart and soul.
He unlocked the door that led upstairs to his private suite of rooms. The elegance of the sumptuous chateau wasn’t lost on her as they walked down a hall lined with paintings.
When he opened the door at the end, his cousin stood there in the salon waiting for them in a sport shirt and trousers. Raoul was the tall, striking Fontesquieu her stepsister had given her heart to. Naturally, Dominic had alerted his cousin that they were on their way.
Raoul stared at her for a full minute after she walked inside. “You and Toinette might be stepsisters, but you share one similarity. She is a raving beauty too.”
Nathalie was so overwhelmed to have found him, her eyes filled with tears. “You called her Toinette. That was my stepfather’s nickname for her too.”
His handsome features softened. “When I met her, she introduced herself as Antoinette Gilbert. I shortened it.” Raoul held the photo in his hand. “This is the only remembrance I have of her. May I keep it?”
“Of course. We have hundreds at home.”
“If you two will excuse me, I’ll go in the other room.”
Raoul turned to Dominic. “Are you kidding me? Stay! You’re the reason any of this is happening. Please sit down, Nathalie.”
She sank down on one of the leather couches. Nathalie could tell a man had been living here. All the masculine touches proclaimed Dominic’s more modern abode. He sat next to her.
Raoul found a chair and cleared his throat. “Whether you believe me or not, I want you to know that your stepsister is the only woman I’ve ever loved in my life. We knew how we felt about each other by the end of that first night we met at the Guinguet.”
The same thing had happened to Nathalie by the time she’d left the tent that first morning. Meeting Dominic had changed her life forever. She could fully relate.
“Before I’d met her, I’d been seeing a woman named Sabine Murat. We slept together once, but I knew deep down I didn’t love her the way I should, and I ended things. Soon after, Toinette came into my life. I felt I’d been reborn and wanted to marry her on the spot. Then came the nightmare when Sabine phoned and said she was carrying my child.”
Nathalie nodded. “Dominic told me.”
“The worst moment in my life came when I had to tell Toinette the truth.”
“She’d been so deeply in love with you, no wonder she went into depression.”
Pain was written all over Raoul’s face. “Toinette heard me out, then said goodbye to me and I never saw her again. I tried phoning her many times so we could talk, but she didn’t answer. Of course, I couldn’t blame her. No one could overcome such a cruel reality.”
Tears trickled down Nathalie’s cheeks. “Since then Dominic told me you’ve lost a baby.”
“Yes. I loved our little Celine, but I found out recently she wasn’t my daughter.”