A Winter Affair (21 page)

They reached the safely of the village at last, Eloise having to urge Gaby on. She was obviously traumatized by the events, but they had to get down to the village as at this time of the year the slopes iced up early in the day.

Marcus and David offered to drive them back to Jacaranda but Eloise said she had the jeep and she wouldn't bother them further. It was not far to go and she felt up to it.

She wanted to get back to the familiarity of the chalet to process the drama of the morning. She needed to be somewhere quiet to try and come to terms with what had happened.

‘If you're really sure,' David said.

‘Do you need help with the guests… telling them about it, I mean,' Marcus said, ‘and dealing with any problems it might throw up?'

The fear lurking inside her intensified. The avalanche
was
a fact of nature, but Debra – for if anyone was going to take this further it would be her – might twist it and suggest that Theo had led them into danger. Eloise decided not to mention the flags until she'd spoken to Theo about them. Just because he had seemed not to notice them didn't mean he hadn't and had thought that, as the run wasn't closed, it was a risk worth taking.

She'd read of people being bankrupted over cases taken against them, even if they'd won or the case had been thrown out. These things could drag on and on, ruining reputations before they were concluded. Then there were ambulance chasers, people persuading others who might have had even a small accident to push for compensation, killing small businesses – small businesses just like Jacaranda.

She was about to accept Marcus's offer, afraid she'd make a mess of it and put Jacaranda in peril by inadvertently saying the wrong thing, when she heard someone call her name and, to her horror, she saw Debra crossing the street towards them, smiling.

‘Good time skiing?' she said. ‘Are you going back to the chalet now, can you give me a lift?'

She obviously didn't know about the horror that had engulfed them. Gaby gave a little cry, causing Debra to look at her sharply, seemingly annoyed to see her. ‘Is there a problem, Gaby?' she said sternly.

Eloise took a deep breath, ‘Debra… Lawrence tried to ring Ken…'

‘He left his mobile in the chalet, he's say there's often not a signal, though I had mine,' she added as if hers was the important one. ‘We've just had lunch and he and Travis have gone for a walk. I thought I'd go back, was going to take a taxi, but finding you here…' She watched Eloise keenly, ‘Is something the matter?'

‘Yes… but let me explain,' Marcus stepped forward.

Eloise said at the same moment, ‘Jerry is fine, but he and Theo were involved in an avalanche.' Just the word shocked Debra, she stumbled, and Marcus shot out his hand and steadied her.

‘It was a small avalanche and both men are safe, but they've been flown down to Sion to hospital, just to make sure,' David chipped in. ‘Lawrence has gone with them.'

‘Lawrence tried to ring you, Travis and Ken. He managed to leave a message with Ken, but of course if he's left his mobile in the chalet he wouldn't have got it,' Eloise said breathlessly.

‘And you were both there?' Debra scowled at Gaby as if
she
had somehow set off the avalanche. Gaby was very pale, struggling to keep herself together.

‘Yes, we were skiing behind them, they were sort of racing each other, it was lovely powder snow,' Eloise finished, realizing from her expression that Debra had no idea of the magic of powder snow or even what it was.

‘Where's Ken when I need him,' Debra said in annoyance. ‘I can try and contact Travis if he's in range.' She took her own mobile out of her bag then dropped it back in again. ‘More sensible to go straight to the hospital, not hang about for them to come back. Can you take me there at once? I must be sure the doctors are competent, give Jerry X-rays and a thorough check-over. He could have had a head injury, was he conscious?' She had snapped into a commandeering role. No wonder she was so good at business, Eloise thought, few people would dare argue with her. Then to her relief Eloise's mobile went and it was Lawrence.

‘They've both been thoroughly checked and, thank God, there's no harm done. I'll bring them back in a taxi. Are you at the chalet yet?'

‘I'm still at Medran and Debra's here. Ken left his mobile in Jacaranda…' Before she could say any more, Debra put out her hand and almost snatched the mobile from her.

‘Lawrence, what do the doctors say?' Debra demanded ‘I hope they've given Jerry a thorough examination. He probably imagines he's all right but he could be suffering from internal injuries, or a bleed on the brain.'

Her list of prognoses spooked Gaby, who started to cry again.

‘Let me talk to Jerry,' Debra was saying and the moment he was on the line she began to question him, barely letting him answer before she fired out the next one. Where were they skiing, what were the conditions like, did they know there was a danger of an avalanche? When he had answered as best he could she demanded to talk to the doctor. She had to hang on while he was fetched before she interrogated him as if she doubted his qualifications, demanding to know every test and examination he had carried out.

Marcus took Eloise's arm and pulled her aside. ‘The Swiss doctors are very thorough, they are used to seeing hundreds of skiing accidents and will have taken all precautions,' he said.

‘I know but, well,' Eloise glanced at Debra, dropped her voice, ‘I'm worried for Theo, in case she blames him for taking us there.'

Debra clicked off the mobile, having reluctantly agreed to Jerry's discharge, and handed it back to Eloise. ‘I'll have to get this looked into,' she said. ‘Why were you anywhere near an avalanche, Eloise?'

Her mouth felt dry, her worst fears were coming true. If she said after a heavy snowfall and at certain times of the year there was always a slight chance of an avalanche, Debra would pounce and remind her that there was a heavy snowfall last night and turn the blame on to Theo. She said, carefully, ‘We did not know we were near one, it's just one of those hazards of the mountains.'

To her relief David broke in. ‘If the sécurité des pistes thought there was a real danger they would have closed the runs. They check the main runs every day and…'

‘But they weren't on the main run,' Debra said. ‘Were you?' she accused Eloise.

‘Theo took the precaution of asking a guide if it was safe before they set off and he said it was, though one must always take care while on the mountain,' Marcus said. ‘If a run's not closed, people can make their own decision whether to go on it or not. That particular run is well known to the regulars and, after a snowfall, Theo would know that it usually has the best powder snow.'

‘It doesn't sound safe, you can't ski where you like in Canada,' Debra said.

‘Perhaps not, but you can here in Europe,' David said.

‘I'll get my lawyer to look into it.' She caught sight of Gaby's tear-streaked face. ‘Why are you crying? Is there something you're keeping from me?'

‘No,' Gaby said, ‘I'm just scared, it was such a shock, one minute they were there, the next… and I… I didn't love him enough.' She blurted out in shock as if it was time for a confession.

‘Well that much was obvious,' Debra said coldly. ‘So you can leave him alone now. I suppose planes fly tomorrow, you can go back to London, get out of his life.'

Gaby gasped but Debra turned her back on her as though that was the end of it and as far as she was concerned she'd cut Gaby out of her life. ‘I'd like to go back to the chalet, now,' she said to Eloise, ‘and wait for Jerry to return to see for myself if he needs another check-up. I can take him to Geneva tomorrow if I have to, they have the top doctors there.'

Marcus opened his mouth to speak but thought better of it. Eloise too knew there was no point trying to talk Debra round, and anyway she was so shocked that Gaby was to be sent home, she turned to her instead and put her arm round her in support.

Marcus and David asked again if they could do anything to help, but Debra dismissed them with a flick of her hand and the three women piled into the jeep.

Eloise drove them slowly back to the chalet, forcing herself to concentrate on the road and not be distracted by Debra trying to get through to Travis, grumpily asking why he wasn't picking up as she needed him to look into this incident. She felt drained, wrung out not only by the experience on the mountain, but also by Debra's determination to take further action to attribute blame. She was not going to let this go easily and Eloise worried that Jacaranda would be in the firing line.

Pippa and Radley were already in the chalet having just skied back, when Eloise, Gaby and Debra returned. Debra immediately cornered Radley, spewing out the details of what had happened, as if she had been there herself.

‘Jerry could have been killed or at least disabled or brain damaged for life,' she said it as if the avalanche had somehow been arranged, poised on the rocks to fall on him just as he passed. She didn't mention Theo – the fact that he had been taken to the hospital too to get checked over – as if he were of no consequence.

Gaby had retreated into herself; she stayed silent, took off her boots and went upstairs to her room. Eloise followed, longing for a hot shower and some sleep and to escape from Debra's torrent of accusations, not wanting to be dragged into any interrogation. She was also worried about Gaby.

She passed her room, and seeing the door was ajar she went in. Gaby was lying on her bed. ‘So I'm to go home,' she said, ‘the old cow, she hates me being with Jerry.'

Eloise sat down on a chair facing her. ‘You did tell her you didn't love him, Gaby,' she reminded her gently. ‘Maybe because you thought he'd been killed it made you feel…' She was about to say guilty, but perhaps that was too harsh just now. ‘I suppose it made you admit that you don't love him enough to marry him, but you're fond of him aren't you?' she asked. It was obvious that Jerry loved Gaby but she did not love him in the same way and the accident had made her face up to her actions and she felt guilty about using him. She must work out how to deal with it herself, though Eloise would support her as she would her own children, if she asked for it.

‘I don't know why I said it to her,' Gaby said with a sigh. ‘I didn't mean it to sound as if I don't care for him; I do, but not as much as he wants me to. I feel ashamed of myself now that I'm using him, but I don't want to be sent home, though perhaps it is best that I do go.'

‘You must do what you think best, Gaby, though I'll miss you,' Eloise said. ‘But Debra might calm down when she sees that Jerry is all right'

‘I doubt it. She's like a dog with a bone – once she's got her teeth into something she never lets it go.'

‘What will Jerry say if you
do
go home?' she asked, Gaby's remark filling her with fear.

‘He won't want me to; though he might have changed his mind after this. If Debra makes enough fuss he'll fall in with it, probably hate me for using him, I don't know.' She shrugged, looking miserable. Eloise took her hand. Gaby would have to sort this out for herself. ‘Perhaps I should break it off with him.' Gaby faced her. ‘I'd have hated it if he'd died as I'm fond of him, he's a good person, but I don't love him as I should, and this was perhaps my punishment for taking his money and not loving him enough to want to stay with him for life, have his children.'

‘It's your decision, Gaby, but you've had a terrible shock, so perhaps it's best to wait until you're calmer before you decide, and wait until Jerry gets back, talk it over with him.' She got up. ‘Why don't you have a long, hot bath to relax. I can't believe it's Christmas day, I've got the dinner to see to, though I wonder if anyone is in the mood to eat it.' She bent over and kissed her. ‘Try not to stress too much .It will probably all sort out in the end,' she said with a confidence she'd didn't feel.

She had a sudden longing to talk to her children. Lawrence had said she could use the landline and she crept downstairs to go to Lawrence's office. The door to the living room was ajar and she could hear Debra speaking on her mobile. ‘I'm well aware it's Christmas day, Travis, but I need to speak to Hugh at once, see if there is a case to answer.'

Afraid Debra would see her and pull her in, Eloise scuttled back upstairs, she'd ring the twins later.

In the bathroom, Eloise stood under the hot shower for ages hoping it would wash away her fears; it warmed her body but not the turmoil in her heart. Would the avalanche be the end of Jacaranda if Debra made trouble? Even if she didn't have a case against Theo, she could involve lawyers and Lawrence would have to do the same, and it would cost him a fortune, and she could make trouble with the agency, which would affect Jacaranda's reputation. Eloise couldn't bear to think of it. She dressed quickly and went downstairs, and to her relief found that Lawrence had just got back with Jerry and Theo.

Debra immediately snatched up Jerry, who seemed perfectly well, and she took him into the living room, firmly shutting the door behind them.

Theo grinned at Eloise. ‘Rather hairy time,' he said, as she went to hug him. He hugged her back, the warmth; the living bulk of him comforted her. She released him, blinked away her tears.

‘I suppose you're hungry,' she said to hide her emotion.

‘You bet, we missed lunch,' he said, following her to the kitchen.

Lawrence said something about seeing to the champagne and came with them. He seemed subdued, gentle with her. He said, ‘I hope you're none the worse, Eloise. It must have been a very frightening experience.'

‘It was, but I'm fine now, relieved no one was badly hurt.' She wanted to say something about Debra trying to get hold of a lawyer but he went on.