The Little Antique Shop Under the Eiffel Tower (18 page)

Stacked by my computer were dozens of invoices yet to be paid, and confidential papers in relation to my shop. At first I thought he was just tidying, but he held some of them up, studying them.

“Excuse me,” I said, sitting up. “What exactly are you doing?”

He jumped, and put a hand to his chest. “Anouk…you startled me.”

“Why were you going through my desk?” I kept my voice neutral, but if felt like an invasion of privacy. I hardly knew the guy, and here he was going through my paperwork.

A blush rose up his cheeks. “I wasn’t. I was tidying it. Lilou’s a tough task master; she told me to dust everything properly, so that’s what I’m doing.”

I stood, and joined him at the desk, taking my paperwork from his hands, and flicking through it to make sure it was all still there. “You’re dusting,” I said, incredulous. “With no duster?”

“Well, I was about to grab one. I was just making a neat pile of the papers…”

The front door flew open and Lilou sauntered in with a box from the patisserie. “What?” she said glancing from me to Henry, sensing frost in the air. “What’s going on?”

I held the paperwork against my chest. “Henry here was rifling through my desk, but claims he was dusting. I’m really not sure what’s going on… This is what I meant, Lilou, when I told you I like my own space.”

Henry shook his head. “I was about to dust, like Lilou told me to do. Like I just said, I was ordering the stacks, and was about to get the feather duster when you jumped to the wrong conclusion.”

I narrowed my eyes.

Lilou flounced past and put the patisserie box on the coffee table. “Anouk! Don’t be so stuffy. You’re acting like Henry is some kind of spy, or something. Who’d want to go through your paperwork for God’s sake? It’d be enough to send anyone to sleep. Coffee?” she said, changing the subject.

I breathed out trying to force my body to relax. Maybe I had been quick to assume he was doing the wrong thing. I was sensitive about anyone seeing my sales figures, and stock tables. “OK, I’m sorry, Henry. Just don’t tidy my things in future,” I said. “My desk, my bedroom, my bookshelves are fine to be left. I have a system. Just clean up after yourselves, that’s all I ask.”

Henry had his hands raised in surrender and had such a guileless expression on his face I wondered if I’d overreacted. But he hadn’t been ordering the paperwork, I was sure he was flicking slowly through each invoice, reading them. Curious perhaps, and nothing sinister? Still, it struck me as odd…

“Sorry, Anouk. I was only trying to help.”

I nodded and stalked off to my room, hiding the paperwork in a drawer. Amongst the invoices were letters from debt collection agencies, people who were still chasing me for unpaid bills, and on many of the invoices was red writing that shrieked
final warning
. I’d paid as many as I could, and I just needed another couple of windfalls to settle the rest. Some jewelry collections that were unique, and I could find a buyer for, someone I trusted. I didn’t want anyone, especially a stranger, to know my business.

Evening fell and Lilou knocked on my door, peeking her head inside my room. “You’ve been at it for ages.” She motioned to my laptop, which sat open, the screen casting a white glow over me. “Come and have something to eat. I’ve got a box full of delicious morsels from Jean Claude’s Patisserie.”

My mouth watered at the thought of his little edible pieces of artwork.

“Come on,” she wheedled. “There’s a coffee and hazelnut dacquoise with your name all over it.”

“Hazelnut – you’re sure?” I asked. She knew my weaknesses all right.

She waggled her eyebrows. “I’m sure. There’s two in fact. So let’s make a pot of coffee to accompany our cake binge, yes? And you can tell me what’s really bothering you today, because I’m sure it’s not just Henry shuffling a pile of dusty paperwork…”

Shimmying from the bed, I closed my laptop and tucked it into a drawer. Lilou was a lot more prescient all of sudden, and the thought gave me pause. Perhaps my little sister wasn’t the hapless girl about town I mistook her for these days. If only that would filter into her work life.

“I’m fine,” I said, following her to the kitchen. The day had dissolved into night; outside streetlights glowed yellow against the inky backdrop of evening. I’d been so caught up in hunting auctions online, I hadn’t stopped to have dinner, never mind lunch. Suddenly I was ravenous.

Boiling water for coffee, and getting our cups ready, Lilou said, “You aren’t yourself today, Anouk. Is it the shop?”

I helped make coffee, and got some plates from the cupboard. Henry was nowhere to be found. I was glad for the sisterly privacy. Lilou didn’t know too much about the financial debt I faced. Firstly, I hadn’t wanted to burden her, and secondly, I didn’t think she’d understand the magnitude of it anyway. At the time when she’d asked, I brushed it off, saying it was a bump in the road, and I’d just work harder and everything would be OK.

“It’s not the shop, not really.” We sat at the table with the box of petit fours between us. “I want to throw caution to the wind, live for the moment, be free of the things that hold me back, but I just don’t know how to do it. I’m always thinking of what could go wrong, or if I’ll be hurt again, and no matter what, I can’t switch that off. It’s exhausting.”

She poured two steaming cups of strong coffee. “Is this with a guy, or business?”

“It’s a bit of both.” I expected her to grill me for intimate details but she didn’t. Instead, she took her time stirring milk into her coffee.

“It’s like anything, Anouk. It just takes practice. The longer you try something the more natural it will become. So you might find it hard to switch off all that angst now, but eventually it will come naturally if you keep at it. I know the whole Joshua saga from reading your diary don’t forget, but letting him dictate the course of your life in this way means he wins, yet again.”

I frowned. “He’s not dictating my life at all…”

She sighed. “He is, because you’re letting what he did stop you from living now. Whether you realize it, you’ve changed, in such a huge way. Every decision is now fretted over, because of money, trust, and every other niggle you can think of. I know he hurt you emotionally and I’m guessing financially, but he’ll keep hurting you if you base your choices on what he did. Not everyone is like that. In fact, most people aren’t.”

Tears stung my eyes. I’d thought I’d hidden my innermost feelings well. To hear her say I’d changed so dramatically hurt a part of my soul, I really hadn’t thought it was obvious to anyone. Instead of acting bereft I always shrugged it off to people as a lesson learned. Maybe I had tunnel vision…

“What if I let all my fears go, though, and it happens again? I don’t think I can handle that.”

“But what if it doesn’t happen again? What if you find love and even cloudy days seem sunny? Can’t you take a chance, and put it all down to experience?”

I sipped my coffee, amazed at the change in my sister. This was a girl who took off when the wind blew, who loved someone new every third week. “I suppose I could try,” I said, feeling suddenly like a teenager in the throes of puppy love. “What’s the worst that could happen?”

Chapter Fifteen

The evening of the May Gala arrived. It was being held at Hôtel d’Évreux, a private mansion by the Place Vendôme. In the daytime the salon was bathed in light from its domed glass ceiling, but tonight we’d be showered with the spectacle of the constellations in the night sky.

Nervously, I pulled at the ruching of my red satin gown to center it, and glanced at my reflection. The strapless dress with a love-heart bust exposed my décolletage, before draping around the middle, and cascading to the floor. I slipped on heels, and clipped on a pair of ruby raindrop earrings, deciding against the matching necklace; because the gown was formal enough it didn’t need accessorizing.

There was a knock at the door. With one final look, I spritzed on some perfume and hurried to answer it.

“Bonsoir, Dion. You look handsome!” He gave me a meek smile and I grinned back.

“Madame Dupont is in the car. She insisted I wear the full tux, flower and all. I really do feel like a penguin. How are you supposed to walk casually all bundled up like this?” he lamented, but his eyes shone with happiness.

Dion was transformed with his newly shaved face, a haircut, and brand new suit that looked like it had been tailored especially for him. Shiny black shoes and a pink peony finished off the outfit. “She was right, you look amazing, very suave.”

He ducked his head, embarrassed to be the center of attention.

“Shall we?” he asked.

“We shall.” He took my elbow and we made our way slowly down the stairs.

In the balmy evening, he opened the door to the limousine, and gestured for me to hop in first. I gave Madame Dupont a cheery wave.

She practically shone in the dark of the limo, wearing a midnight blue satin dress complete with diamond earrings and tiara. “You’re the picture of elegance, Anouk. Ravishing, if I do say so myself.”

“Likewise, Madame. You’re breathtaking in blue.”

I sat down and took a proffered flute of champagne, and Dion went to the front of the car to drive.

She waggled her eyebrows. “I hear that Saint-Tropez was more about a certain man, than antiques. Does the grape vine lie?”

I blushed to the roots of my hair. Public displays of affection were usually reserved for teens. And there we’d been kissing by the bar on the beach when I knew full well half the circuit would’ve seen.

Damn the gorgeous man for making the world around me vanish.

“There may have been a few kisses stolen, and that is it. Oh, look, we’re here.” I flashed her a smile thanking the Parisian traffic for being smooth and easy for once. Madame Dupont couldn’t grill me now, because we’d have to circulate with other guests and she would be rushed by starry-eyed people hoping to be in her spotlight.

“You little minx,” she said, laughing. “I’ll meet you in there. This no-smoking inside thing is so tedious. I’ll get my nicotine fix and come find you.”

I watched Dion lean over to light Madame’s cigarette and smiled as I took the invitation from my red clutch to hand to the security guard at the door. Inside clusters of people stood chatting, their voices reverberating in the cavernous room.

A waiter approached with a tray of champagne and I took one, thanking him.

“A vision in red,” a voice whispered, sending a thrill down my spine. “Care to dance?” Tristan said circling slowly around and stopping in front of me. With his blond hair, and bright blue eyes, he stood out from the other men in the room, who all blended into one in their black suits with their dark hair.

I usually held up a wall at these events, discussing the latest auctions and networking until it was an acceptable time to leave. But this dazzling man had other ideas, and with him staring deeply into my eyes, I thought the hell with it. “Let’s dance.” I drank my champagne in one mouthful, enjoying the effervescence as it flowed through me.

He grinned, and took my hand, leading me to the dance floor where couples swayed to the sounds of a piano. Tristan pulled my body tight against his, and wrapped an arm protectively around my back.

“I haven’t been able to stop thinking about you,” he said.

“Oh?” I said, enjoying the feeling of him pressed against me.

“Oh is right.” He laughed. “I’d like to spend more time with you.”

“Sure,” I said, feeling as light as air. “But promise me one thing.” I gazed up at him starry-eyed. “Promise me you’re trustworthy.” I surveyed him closely for a tic that would give him away, a muscle tensing in his jaw, or his gaze flickering, but his expression stayed the same.

“That snake really did a number on you. I can see why you’re hesitant.” He murmured and leaned forward to capture my lips in a kiss.

“Let’s not spoil the night talking about him.”

The room and its inhabitants faded away as we waltzed our way through each song, murmuring and staring at each other. I wanted the night to go forever, a first for me at one of these events.

“Sometimes,” Tristan said, “I want to gather you up and escape with you. Would you come?” he asked.

“And where would we go?”

“Somewhere far away where no one could find us.”

I lifted a brow. “Your log cabin in the woods?”

“Yes. Why not? We could fish for our dinner. And eat by the fire…”

The image of such a place made me woozy. I was a homebody, there was no question about that, and I liked the vision of the secluded cabin in the woods, and the couple inside…

“Sure,” I said, enjoying the flirtation. “I’d love to hide out with you for a little while.” Even saying such a thing sent shivers of desire down the length of me. What could be nicer than getting to know someone in their world, with only nature for company?

“Great,” he said, pulling me closer, and dropping his face close to mine. “We might just do that. Soon.”

Were we pretending? Our lives were so very different and no matter what, his job would beckon soon, and he’d fly away. Was he alluding to a long-distance romance, where we met at his cabin, and stole some time? Or was it just a fairy tale? Whatever it was, for that moment, I imagined us in that place, with a roaring fire, as we lay entwined, satiated after a long day and being together. I was gone, I knew it then. I wanted the fairy tale to come true.

It was only much later, once I was home in bed, still dizzy from the music, champagne and his closeness that I realized he hadn’t answered my question about being able to trust him. He’d deflected it to Joshua. Was that his protective instinct or something more?

Chapter Sixteen

The end of the week crept closer and with it the hold on my composure. Tristan had canceled our first official date the night before, begging off for work, which I understood. I’d been so busy sourcing stock for the shop – I hadn’t had a moment to myself either and was looking forward to the empty morning stretching out in front of me. Until I wandered into the kitchen and found it in disarray once more. Even the threat about telling Papa didn’t work on Lilou anymore. She was back to being a complete slob around the apartment, claiming she was working late, and needed to sleep in, so there wasn’t time left to clean.