A Winter Affair Read Free Page B

are still quite enclosed and private.’
    The Verbier she remembered was a charming village, still inhabited by local people, farmers who grazed their cows on the grassy slopes in the summer and even tucked them into their chalets in the winter as they’d always done. Time moved on and there were bound to be changes, but she hoped the place had not lost its charm.
    It was early afternoon and the winter light would soon be fading. They drove on a little further and then turned onto a track and ahead she saw a line of fir trees strung with garlands of silver lights, picking out the dark, rich wood of Jacaranda, surrounded by pure white snow. It looked comfortable and stalwart in its place, old and distinguished among the more orange wood of the newer chalets.
    â€˜Here we are.’ Theo pulled up and jumped out, Bert followed quickly behind, disappearing into the trees. ‘Welcome, Eloise,’ Theo grinned at her. ‘Welcome back.’
    He unloaded her suitcase and she followed him up to the door of the chalet, her memories of the few times she’d been here before jostling in her mind, first as a child herself, then later as a married woman and mother of small children.
    Theo opened the door and ushered her to the hall, where coats and jackets huddled together on the wall and the old cuckoo clock that had amused her as a child was still ticking beside the staircase. Alerted by the cold blast as the door opened, a man came out of one of the rooms to greet them, he was tall, his auburn hair gilded by the sun, his face lean and tanned. For a long moment he studied her, his grey eyes searing into her, as if judging whether she were indeed unattractive enough to be invisible to his randy guests.
    He said briskly with the semblance of a smile, ‘Eloise, good to see you. I hope you had an easy journey. Theo will show you to your room and then we’ll discuss menus. Sorry to rush you, but we’ve a party of six arriving tomorrow and we need to get in the shopping. My office is downstairs; Theo can show you if you can’t find it yourself. The place has probably changed quite a bit since you were last here.’
    â€˜It has.’ The outside and the hall was much as she remembered but there was a different feeling to the place. Looking over Lawrence’s shoulder, she saw the room behind him had been enlarged and was smartly decorated and gone were the mishmash of pictures and old but comfortable chairs and sofas. She remembered the fun and laughter when Desmond and Maddy were here. When every day had been magic, surrounded by mountains, and skiing and warm, informal supper parties with games and music among friends and family, but then it was a home and now, she must realize, it was a business.
    Perhaps guessing her thoughts, Lawrence shrugged with a small, regretful smile as if to say, that’s how it was, life moves on.
    She felt way out of her comfort zone. Lawrence, she guessed, had thoughts only for his business; he’d give her no time to settle in, take things slowly.
    Her fears were confirmed when halfway down the stairs to the lower floor, he turned back, ‘I’ve invited some friends for dinner tonight, so if you can have everything ready for 8. He disappeared from sight before she could protest.

Three
    Theo led the way upstairs to the first floor, carrying her case. The last time Eloise had been up here, she remembered, the landing had been a jumble of people’s possessions lurching out of their bedrooms. The doors to their rooms often left open as they scrambled to get ready for ski school or the slopes before the crowds descended, or into the bathroom before anyone else hogged it. Now, with no one here, it was an empty space, with all the doors closed, and a solitary beautiful blue and pale green rug lay in the centre of the landing.
    On the wall in front of her, by the staircase leading to the upper floor, hung a collection of stunning photographs of sculptures