A Slippery Slope (14 page)

‘Lucy. Please. What’s the problem?’

Lucy took a gulp of coffee and glanced at her mother over the rim
of the mug.

‘Etienne didn’t just ask me out again last night. He ... he asked
me to marry him. And I’ve got a dreadful feeling I said yes!’

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

Verity
thought that nothing could ever surprise her as much as finding her husband in
bed with one of his waitresses, but Lucy telling her about Etienne’s proposal
had equalled that – or at least come very close. She couldn’t speak for several
seconds and by the time she could, it was too late. Josh arrived, bearing
Christmas presents.

‘Merry Christmas! May I come in? I apologise for being here so
early but ... er … Am I interrupting something?’

Lucy jumped to her feet. ‘Not at all, Josh. Merry Christmas to
you, too. Would you like a coffee and a mince pie?’

‘No thanks. I’ve already had breakfast. I just wanted to drop your
presents in. I’ve got to head over to Val Thorens. There’s been a bit of a– Is
everything all right, Verity?’

‘What?’ Verity turned to face him and saw the look of concern in
his eyes. ‘Oh, yes. Everything’s fine. I was miles away, sorry. I ... didn’t
get much sleep last night, that’s all. Um. Merry Christmas.’

‘You and me both,’ he said, holding her gaze. ‘Merry Christmas.’

‘You said you’re going to Val Thorens,’ Lucy said. ‘Is Etienne
going with you?’

Josh glanced at her. ‘No. I’ll be seeing him later though. We’re
having Christmas dinner with Louis this evening. Actually ... when you finish
here tonight, why don’t you both drop by? Louis has a sort of open house after
dinner. Not quite a party like last night but several close friends come for
drinks and it often goes on until the early hours. I’ll mention it to him but I
know he won’t mind and–’

‘No!’ Lucy shrieked. ‘I mean ... it’ll probably be a late night
here because we’ve got the full Christmas dinner and ... Mum has organised
games, of course. I’m shattered from last night so I’d like a relatively early
night, to be honest.’

‘Um ... I would too, if you don’t mind,’ Verity said. She could
hardly leave her daughter on Christmas Day and it seemed clear that Lucy wanted
to avoid Etienne for a while after the events of last night.

‘Oh.’ Josh sounded disappointed. ‘Of course. Er … games, Verity?
That sounds fun.’

‘Don’t worry. They’re harmless. Just a couple of games like ‘pass
the parcel’ – or in this case – present – and a ‘guess which Christmas
character I am’ kind of thing. It’s just something silly to keep the guests
entertained between courses that’s all, and after a few drinks, I’m sure
everyone will get into the spirit of it.’

‘I’m sure they will. I’m almost tempted to come here for dinner
instead of going to Louis’,’ he said with just a hint of a smile. ‘Right. I’d
better go.’ He placed the presents on the worktop but he made no move to leave.
‘If … you change your minds about tonight, just call me.’

Verity nodded. ‘We will. We’ve got your present somewhere. Hold
on, I’ll get it.’ She dashed into the sitting room and returned a few seconds
later. ‘Remember, like the photo snow globe, this is really just a jokey
present because we had no idea what to get you.’

‘Thanks, and I love the photo snow globe.’

‘I’ll walk you to the door,’ Verity said. It seemed Josh still
didn’t want to go and for once, she wished he would. She really wanted to talk
to Lucy about Etienne and his proposal.

‘Don’t you want us to open these now?’ Lucy asked, nodding towards
the presents.

‘No,’ Josh said, grinning. ‘I’d rather not be around when you do.
Er ... may I pop in later though, if I get back from Val Thorens in time?’

‘Of course!’ Verity grinned back. ‘We’re always happy to see you.’

‘Hmm. That’s not the way I remember it.’ He laughed as he left the
kitchen.

‘I’ll give you back your dressing gown another time if that’s
okay,’ Verity said as they headed to the door. ‘I’ve only told Lucy a bit about
last night and if she sees me giving you a dressing gown, she’ll have all sorts
of thoughts racing through her head.’

He stopped on the threshold and looked down at her. ‘I’m still
having several of my own.’

She felt the colour rush to her cheeks and she couldn’t meet his
eyes.

‘Yes, well, we should just be grateful that Mistral returned my
shoes when she did.’

‘You may be grateful but I’m definitely not. I’ve given her a
stern talking to this morning, I assure you.’

Verity lowered her head even further. There was humour in Josh’s
voice but she could feel the chemistry between them bubbling just beneath the
surface.

‘In French I hope,’ she joked, trying to keep the conversation
light. ‘She didn’t seem to understand English.’

‘Actually, I’ve written an information pack for her. She’s at home
reading it as we speak.’

Verity chuckled and finally looked up. ‘You should’ve brought her
with you.’

‘To my ski chalet!’ Josh said in mock horror. ‘I was going to but
I’m heading straight to one of my chalets in Val Thorens. I think it’s best if
she stays where she is. I’ve asked Etienne to pop in and check on her.’

‘You’ve spoken to Etienne? Did ... did he say anything about last
night?’ She hoped she didn’t sound as anxious as she felt.

‘Don’t worry,’ he said with a smile. ‘I just told him that I
brought you home. He doesn’t know I took you back to my place first or that I
wanted to have my wicked way with you.’

‘That wasn’t what I ... mean, thanks. Um. Did he say if he had a
good time?’

Josh gave her an odd look. ‘Yes. He said he had a very good time.
He’ll tell me later I expect. Is there something I don’t know?’

‘What makes you say that?’

‘Your tone for one thing and the fact that I thought I’d walked in
on an awkward situation this morning between you and Lucy. Is everything all
right?’

Verity smiled and tried to act casually. ‘Everything’s fine. Lucy
just had a bit too much to drink and she couldn’t remember much about last
night, that’s all. Like mother, like daughter.’

Josh smirked but he didn’t seem convinced. ‘I hope you’d tell me
if there’s a problem. I’ve known Etienne for years and he’s a really nice guy
but I think you’d have to be blind not to realise that he’s very keen on Lucy.
I know he’s been asking her out because he told me, and he also told me that
she’s been saying no. If it’s upsetting her or anything, then all she has to do
is say so and he’ll stop. Honestly. He will. He ... he is crazy about her but
the last thing he’d want is for her to feel ... under pressure or anything.’

‘Oh! I didn’t realise you’d been discussing it! Anyway, it’s not that
exactly. She likes him ... rather a lot I think but ... this business with me
and her father has upset her and she ... she’s just feeling a little unsure,
that’s all. She doesn’t want to rush into anything.’

Josh visibly relaxed. ‘I can understand that. And so will Etienne.
If that’s what’s worrying her all she has to do is tell him. I promise you.
There’s really nothing to be concerned about.’

‘Thanks, Josh,’ she said as he turned towards his car. He clearly
hadn’t heard what happened last night then, she thought.

‘Verity?’ He glanced back at her with a rather serious expression
on his face. ‘The same goes for me, you know. I know I kissed you and I
shouldn’t have, and last night ... well, I think we both know what I wanted to
do last night but I would never ....’ He ran a hand through his hair and
sighed. ‘Let’s just say that you don’t have anything to worry about as far as
I’m concerned either. And if you want me to leave you alone, you only have to
say so and I will. I’d hate you to think that because you work here, I think I
can–’

‘I don’t, Josh! I know I said that you behave as if you own me but
I didn’t mean it ... not like that anyway. I know you’d never try to ... take
advantage of me. And I would never do anything I didn’t want to, you can be sure
of that.’

‘That’s good.’ He smiled a little warily. ‘This is a rather
serious conversation to be having on Christmas morning, isn’t it? But whilst
we’re on the subject – do you? Want me to leave you alone, I mean?’

The question took her completely by surprise. ‘I ... I … My
husband has just left me, Josh and my life has completely changed. I have no
idea what I want at the moment.’

She saw his expression harden just a fraction and the warmth in
his eyes seemed to cool slightly.

He nodded. ‘I understand.’ He smiled briefly and walked to his
car. ‘Just tell me if you do. Merry Christmas, Verity. I hope you and Lucy have
a really good day.’

A moment later, he was gone.

***

Verity returned to the kitchen where Lucy was shaking her present
from Josh.

‘It doesn’t make a noise,’ Lucy said, ‘and neither does yours.
I’ve tested it. That was a lengthy goodbye, wasn’t it? We should’ve got some
mistletoe and put it over the front door. You could have insisted he kiss you
then. Or ... did he anyway?’

Verity tutted. ‘No, he didn’t. I was trying to find out if Etienne
had told him anything about last night. Josh has spoken to him this morning but
he clearly doesn’t know about the proposal, so either Etienne can’t remember
that he proposed, or he realises it was all a bit sudden and he’s having second
thoughts.’

‘Oh, I’m not sure whether to be pleased or offended,’ Lucy said,
grinning with evident relief. ‘I’ve been thinking about it and I’ve decided the
best thing to do is phone him and tell him I can’t remember a thing about last
night. I can say that I just want to have fun, or something like that. That
way, if he just said it because he was drunk, he’s off the hook but if he said
it because he meant it, then he’ll realise that it’s not the right time and he
won’t mention it again ... I hope.’

Verity nodded in agreement. ‘That’s a good idea. And I’d do it
soon if I were you.’

‘I’ll do it as soon as we’ve opened these presents.’ Lucy tore at
the wrapping paper on hers. ‘Oh look! These are the ski gloves I told Etienne I
was going to buy out of the money I get from Grandma. He must have told Josh.
Wow! They’re
really
expensive, Mum.’ She broke the tag holding them
together and slipped them on, twisting her hands to admire them properly.

Verity opened her present and burst out laughing. She held up a
white T-shirt – not unlike the one she’d been wearing the first day she and
Josh had met – but this one had a cartoon illustration on the front with
several lines of writing underneath. The image was of a rather buxom and dishevelled
chalet girl wearing a tight-fitting low cut top. She was on her knees, cleaning
the floor with one hand and stirring a bowl on a table with the other, whilst
pots boiled over on a stove in the background. The inscription read:

This chalet girl believes:

My boss is always right.

It is wrong to argue with my boss.

I should obey my boss in all things.

I am very lucky to be a chalet girl.

My boss is the best!

‘The cheeky devil! He’ll pay for this,’ she said, still laughing
as she turned it around to show Lucy.

Lucy laughed too. ‘Great minds think alike! He obviously got it
from the same place we got the one for him. The girl evens looks a bit like
you, Mum!’

Verity twisted it back so that she could see the picture again.
‘Very funny! Her hair’s the same colour as mine but the resemblance ends there.
Unfortunately. How odd though that we bought him a jokey T-shirt too!’

‘Great minds think alike! I know we got the one that said: “
World’s
Best Boss – In My Opinion
” and had that smug cartoony face, but what did we
have printed on ours? I can’t remember.
Chalet Girls Do It My Way!
Was
that it?’

Verity nodded. ‘Yes. I was feeling a bit nervous about it to be
honest because it suddenly occurred to me that the sentence had ... sexual
connotations and he might take it the wrong way, but having seen this, I think
it’ll be okay.’

Lucy grinned mischievously. ‘I thought that was how you meant him
to take it! What else did he get you?’

Verity opened one of the two other presents, which had been
wrapped inside the one containing the T-shirt. She laughed again. ‘I am
definitely going to kill him! Where did he get this from though? It must be a
book he had at home, I suppose.’

‘
The Chalet Girls’ Cook Book
!’ Lucy said. ‘Oh. Because you
told him last night that you couldn’t cook. Yeah. It looks several years old so
perhaps he got it when he first started his chalet business, to see what sort
of meals his staff should cook. What’s the third one?’

Verity unwrapped the smallest of the three presents and gasped
when she lifted the lid of a beautiful gift box. Inside was a delicate, silver
bracelet of interlinked cut-out hearts with a small, silver filigree charm in
the shape of a snowflake dangling from the clasp.

‘Wow!’ Lucy said, taking the box from her mother to get a closer
look. ‘This is gorgeous! Are you ... crying?’ She gave Verity a half-smiling,
half-questioning look.

Verity wiped away the stray tear trickling down her cheek. ‘No!
It’s just that it’s so beautiful and ... well, quite a surprise after the other
two gifts. It’s far too much though. I can’t accept it.’