alt="Paragraph break image "/>
The most spectacular firework display Stacey had ever seen was accompanied by classical music. The combination of fire in the sky and the passionate strains of a full orchestra turned a spectacular event into a spellbinding affair. She couldn’t resist watching for a while, though tensed when Luc joined her. She didn’t need to turn around to know he was there.
‘Enjoying it?’ he asked.
‘It’s amazing,’ she confirmed. ‘But shouldn’t you be spending time with your guests?’
‘Shouldn’t you?’ he countered softly.
‘Of course, señor—’
‘For goodness’ sake, don’t call me that. And no. Stay with me,’ he commanded, catching hold of her arm when she started to move away. ‘I want to watch the display with you. My guests won’t care with all this going on.’
‘I guess not,’ Stacey agreed as a starburst of light exploded high in the night sky over their heads. Luc didn’t speak as he came to stand close behind her. He made no attempt to touch her, but that didn’t stop all the tiny hairs on the back of her neck standing to attention. She could almost imagine his heat warming her, and she found herself wanting to forget their differences and start again. More than anything she wanted them both to throw off the shackles of the past and express themselves freely to the extent that Luc took her in his arms and kissed her in front of everyone, and she kissed him back. But that was never going to happen when a muted ‘Congratulations’ was the best he could manage at the news of their child.
He wanted to drag her into his arms and kiss the breath from her lungs, but not with so many interested eyes on them. It hadn’t been easy for Stacey to build a new life, and the last thing he wanted was to cast the shadow of his so-called celebrity over her, bringing her to the world’s interest. Her childhood and early teens had largely been composed of fantasies, Niahl had told him, and that was to block out the fact that she felt invisible at home. Stacey’s only fault was being a reminder of her mother. She’d tried hard to shake that off, but in doing so had ended up feeling disloyal to her mother’s memory. She couldn’t win. From the youngest age she hadn’t been able to do right in her father’s eyes, and that had stripped her confidence bare. She had worked hard when she left home to build up her self-belief, and he could so easily destroy it with a few misjudged words. Everything he said to Stacey had to be weighed carefully, and, unfortunately, like her, he was a man with a tendency to spit things out.
Deciding there was only one way around the problem, he knew that it wasn’t enough to rejoice in the fact that they were having a baby, and that Stacey would always know he was holding something back. The only answer was to unlock the darkest secret from his past and confront it, but that would have to wait, as the torchlit descent in which he was taking part was about to begin.
‘I’m sorry… I have to go,’ he explained. ‘My job is to ride shotgun and make sure no one falls or gets left behind.’
‘I understand,’ she said with a quick smile before glancing back at the chalet. ‘And I need to make sure that everyone’s glass is full to toast the parade as you start off.’
‘You’ll be okay if I leave you here?’
She shot him a look and smiled. ‘I’ll be okay,’ she confirmed, but her gaze didn’t linger on his face as it once had, and he knew that if he lost her trust it would be gone for ever. Stacey was a survivor who knew when to cut a hopeless cause loose. He ground his jaw at the thought that he was in real danger of falling into that category, and right now there was nothing he could do about it. The ski instructors and other advanced skiers were waiting for him on the slope. He was one of the stewards, and the torchlit descent couldn’t begin until he was on his skis, ready to go with them. ‘Don’t get cold,’ he warned Stacey.
She laughed. ‘Don’t worry. I won’t. I’ll be far too busy for that.’
After making sure all the guests had a drink, and a blanket if they needed one, Stacey chose a good vantage point. She had selected the music to accompany the skiers’ decent in a sentimental moment, asking the guitarist from Barcelona, where she had so memorably danced with Luc, if he would agree to play live with a full orchestra, and he had agreed. Everyone around her commented on the passion and beauty with which he played, and as the other instruments swelled in a crescendo behind him her eyes filled with tears at the thought that special moments like these could never be recaptured.
But they would live on in the memory. Cling on to that…
She must not cry. This wasn’t the time or the place, so she bit down hard on her bottom lip. Luc’s guests relied on her to entertain them and their evening wasn’t over yet. Personal feelings were unimportant. She’d be better off without them, and must certainly never show them. Maybe she had revealed too much to Lucas, because what had he shared with her? He kept more hidden than he revealed.
Her thoughts were abruptly cut short when everything was plunged into darkness, signalling the start of the descent. The murmur of anticipation around her died. Nothing was visible beyond the ghostly white peaks. Then the lights of the same snowploughs that had brought the guests up the mountain blazed into life and it was possible to see the skiers assembling with their torches like tiny dots of light. She wished Luc safe with all her heart. It reassured her to know that the chief mountain guide always led the procession, as no one knew the ever-changing nature of the trail better than he. Skiing at night at speed always held some risk, and there had been fallers. Not this year, she prayed fervently as she fixed her gaze on the top of the slope.
The long snake of light with its accompanying music was an unforgettable sight and Stacey was as spellbound as the rest. As if one party wasn’t enough, there would be another in the village square to welcome everyone safely home. Transport was waiting for Luc’s guests, and as she moved amongst them it was wonderful to feel their upbeat mood. The feedback so far suggested this was the most successful event Party Planners had ever arranged. It was just a shame the lights went out at the end of it, Stacey reflected, pressing her lips flat with regret.
The snowplough was approaching the village, where she could see that every shop and restaurant was ablaze with light. There were bunting and bands in the square and so many food kiosks they were banked up side by side. This was the first real fun people had been able to enjoy since the village had been snowbound, and everyone was determined to make the most of it. And it didn’t take long, once they had been taken down, to learn that the roads were clear, and everything was on the move again.
She glanced around, but couldn’t see Lucas. Quartering the square in the hope of finding him proved useless; there was no sign of him. None of the guests had seen their host and the torchlit descent had ended some time ago. So where was he?
‘Some people peel away and ski home before they reach the village,’ a ski guide still pumped with success and effort told her. ‘Maybe Lucas is one of these. He’s very popular…’
As the guys around him laughed Stacey walked away, red-faced, but she couldn’t give up. Maybe Lucas had gone home with another woman, but that was his business. She just wanted to know he was safe. And it didn’t seem likely that he’d desert his guests. At last, she found someone who’d seen him.
‘He stopped on
