Rachel lifted her head to ask Luc to translate. Her husband read her mind easily. “It means ‘cool’.”
“It’s very chouette,” Rachel agreed with him.
While they helped themselves to the food, Luc came to stand behind Rachel. He slid his arms around her waist, resting his chin in her hair. “Rachel has agreed to work with Giselle for a while.”
Jean-Marc smiled at Rachel. “There’s no better vintner to learn from than my wife.”
“Were you always a vintner too, Jean-Marc?”
“I worked for another winery in Guebwiller.”
“That’s not far from Thann,” Luc explained. His breath fanned her hair. The sensation made her insides melt.
“One day a package came to the winery meant for Chartier et Fils. The owner told me to deliver it after work. When I walked in the St Hippolyte winery, Giselle was there. We both said hello, and bam, the coup de foudre hit me just like that.”
Rachel’s heart skipped an extra beat. She could relate.
“It didn’t hit me quite as fast,” Giselle said, getting her own back at her husband.
Everyone smiled except Guy. He looked at his mother with sober eyes and asked her a question in French Rachel couldn’t decipher.
“Non, mon fils,” Giselle answered, giving him a kiss on the cheek, b
ut it didn’t make his worried look go away. At that point Jean-Marc announced they were leaving so the newly-weds could be alone.
With Luc’s arm around Rachel’s shoulders, they walked Giselle and her family to the front door to see them off.
When their car disappeared below the crest, Rachel looked at her husband whose expression had grown pensive.
“What did Guy ask that made everyone so upset? I heard the verb mourir in there somewhere.”
Luc breathed in deeply and walked her back to the living room. “He’s at the age where he worries about everything.”
“Like his mother’s baby dying?” Rachel asked.
Luc nodded. “It’s more than that. He’s afraid the baby will die like Paulette’s and mine did, and that will make his maman die.”
Rachel bowed her head. “That poor child, but I suppose it’s only natural when you consider what happened.” She eased away without meeting any resistance. It told her a lot about his state of mind.
“Did the doctor know why Paulette lost the baby?”
“Its heart just stopped. He couldn’t give us a medical explanation, nor could the autopsy. At a time like that, it was too hard for Paulette to hear the priest say, ‘It was God’s will’.”
“I don’t know how you lived through it, Luc.” Her voice shook. “Was Paulette working at the time?”
“No. She liked to shop with her friends and occupy herself with home-making hobbies. We went out to dinner often and enjoyed films. The doctor couldn’t attribute her lifestyle to the baby’s death. It was just one of those things that sometimes happens.”
Rachel looked at him. “Are you worried about our baby?”
His dark gaze slid to hers. “Yes. I’ll admit I’m terrified.”
She bit her lip. “Would you rather I didn’t work?”
He raked a hand through his hair. “Until you deliver a healthy baby I’m going to be holding my breath no matter what you do. So I’d rather see you happy doing something I believe you’re going to enjoy.”
“I know already I’ll love working with your sister. I’ve never been around anyone so effervescent.”
He nodded. “Her bright energy infects everyone.”