pulled up in the drive, he appeared at the side of the car and opened the door for her. Dressed in all his gear for a night climb, her heart did its own version of a tremor.
“Thanks for getting here so fast.” His voice sounded an octave lower than usual. “The guest bedroom is waiting for you.”
She nodded. “Please be careful.”
“I’m always careful, ma belle.”
“Don’t joke, Raoul. Not about this.”
“Are you telling me you’d miss me?”
Her heart was in her throat. “You know very well how we’d all feel if you—” She couldn’t say it and said instead, “If you got into trouble. It could happen.”
“I’m not talking about how everyone else would feel,” he growled. “I’m talking about you.”
Heat swept into her cheeks. “Of course I’d miss you.”
“That’s all I wanted to hear. Keep thinking about my offer and we’ll talk about it when I’m back.”
She’d already thought about it. It was more out of the question than ever.
“I don’t want to be in the program if Uncle Raoul isn’t going to be there.”
The school Christmas performance was about to begin. Philippe had no idea the kind of agony Crystal was in right now dealing with two crises, both of them of earthshaking proportions. The thing she’d hoped would never happen, had happened.
No one had seen or heard from Raoul since Thursday night. Though it didn’t alarm the family because dealing with emergencies was a part of his life, her son didn’t understand that. As for Crystal, she was in turmoil fearing that something awful had happened to him.
It was now Saturday afternoon. She’d had a struggle getting Philippe in the car so she could drive him to school to get ready. “You have to carry on, honey. Your teacher has been so nice to let you go to class with Albert. If you were to let her down, that wouldn’t be fair to her.”
There was no response. “Your grandfather is coming just to see you.” Still no reaction. “Do you think it would make your uncle happy to know you quit at the last minute?” Maybe that argument would help since nothing else had worked.
She was looking at him through the rearview mirror. He put his head down. “No.”
“Uncle Bernard’s going to be taking movies. That means your uncle Raoul will be able to watch them after he gets home.”
“What if he died like Daddy?” Out of the mouth of a child. Philippe had just voiced the fear lurking in her heart ever since Raoul had phoned about the emergency. With two deaths already in the family, it wasn’t hard to make the leap to a place too awful to contemplate.
“That’s not going to happen,” she said matter-of-factly. Fate wouldn’t be so cruel. “It’s his job to help people. He’ll be back as soon as he can, so cheer up. Today’s a happy day. I can’t wait to see you in the Christmas program. Just think. Now that you and Albert will be out of school, you can play together all the time.”
She pulled into the parking lot. With all the visitors arriving, it was filling up fast. Crystal turned off the motor. “Look—there’s your grandmother’s car and Uncle Bernard’s! That means everyone is here. Come on. Let’s hurry inside so you can get into your costume.”
“I don’t see Uncle Raoul’s car.”
“Tell you what. When we get inside your room to put on your costume, I’ll phone him and see if he answers.” Finally she’d said something to strike a chord because he undid his seat belt and got out of the car.
Together they walked inside the building and headed for his class. The boys’ teacher had put the costumes out on the tables. Their angel outfits were white with gold trim and a gold halo. He and Albert looked adorable in them, but a certain six-year-old wasn’t acting that way.
“Did you call him again?”
“Yes, but he’s not answering. He will when he can.”
Vivige knew what was happening and flashed her a commiserating glance as she fastened up the backs of their costumes.
“Attention. It’s time for the parents to go to the auditorium.”
At the sound of the teacher’s voice, Philippe’s face started to crumble. “I don’t want to sing.”
Crystal couldn’t force him. Her son’s heart was breaking for fear something had happened to Raoul. Those feelings ran deep in his psyche.
She got down on her haunches and smoothed the tears from his cheeks. “All right, honey. You don’t have to be in the program. Will you at least come with me so we can watch it together?”
“Yes,” he croaked.
“That’s good because Fleur and Lise are going to be singing with their classes, too.”
She stood up and caught Madame Fillou’s eye. The teacher could see something was wrong and nodded.
Clasping his hand, Crystal started walking them behind Vivige. When her sister-in-law opened the door into the hall, Philippe’s cry rang throughout the room. “Hey—you’re back!” He let go of Crystal’s hand and literally flew into Raoul’s arms.
One of the mothers smiled at Crystal. “Your son is certainly crazy about his good-looking father. I never saw anything like it. Lucky you.” She winked.
Crystal smiled back, but her emotions were in chaos. She’d never seen anything like it, either, as she watched the two of them hug. It wasn’t the normal hug a nephew gave an uncle coming and going. This was her son who’d been suffering trauma since discovering his uncle had gone on a rescue mission—the uncle Philippe had known from birth and had turned to whenever Eric hadn’t been there.
Through the years a bond had been forged and another truth had to be faced. All the time Eric had been a part-time father, Raoul had done the heavy-duty round-the-clock parenting. Somewhere along the way he’d become the daddy.
If Suzanne had lived and they’d had children, things would have been different. But, the reality was, Philippe had drawn close to Raoul and her little boy thrived on the love he gave him.
“Philippe, honey—your teacher wants you to get in line.”
“Okay.” His uncle’s appearance had turned him back into a sweet angel.
Raoul put him down. “We’ll be out in front watching you.”
Crystal blew him a kiss, then hurried to join Vivige.
They made their way into the auditorium where the rest of the family were saving seats. Crystal sat next to Jules with Vivige on her other side. Bernard had the camera ready.
Out of the corner of her eye Crystal saw Raoul sit next to his mother. Jules wore a permanent smile. For the next hour they were treated to a wonderful Christmas program. All the cousins performed
