Summer Of My Secret Angel (29 page)

“Yes. Julian bought it for me,” I said
quickly. I hoped she didn’t think I’d stolen it from the shop while
she was trying on clothes in the changing cubicle. “I guess he
wants me to wear it for the party. But I don’t feel comfortable in
it.”

“Oh, that was so nice of him. You absolutely
need to wear it,
chérie
. It fits you perfectly.”

Strangely enough, it did. He’d picked the
right size. The dress hugged my body as though it was
custom-made.

“And if it was a present from Julian, he
might be very upset if you are not going to wear it.”

I sighed. “I guess I have no choice
then.”

“Now, come quick. Most of the guests have
arrived.”

I looked out the open window. “They’re here
already? I don’t hear anyone down in the garden.”

“Because we decided to celebrate in the
vineyard. There is more room for the band and the tables.”

“Oh.”
A band?
Just for a small
get-together with a few friends? I directed a questioning glance at
her. But she only waved her hand to hurry me on, so I slipped into
my boots.

“Good Lord, no, Jona! You will not wear
those
with this beautiful dress.” Marie’s accusing finger
pointed at my raggedy Martens.

“I don’t have any other shoes. And I can
hardly walk barefoot, can I?”

“You wait here. I will be back in one
second.” As she swirled out of my room, I could only stare after
her in wonder. She appeared again with a pair of white sandals
clasped to her chest.

She presented them to me. The light in her
eyes infected me with her enthusiasm. “Try these.”

I took the shoes from her, sat on the edge
of my bed, and buckled the straps around my ankles. Taking a few
daring steps across the room, I realized they were the perfect
size. Their short, broad heel clacked on the parquet, making me
feel like I was running down a catwalk.

“Thank you,” I said to Marie, who clapped
her hands together without taking her eyes off my feet.

She ushered me out of the room and
downstairs, where she fetched a cake covered with a plastic
container. My ankles wobbled a bit on the stroll across the garden
and down the rows of vines.

Some three hundred feet away, where the
paths between the yards crossed, a handful of long tables were set
up. People gathered in the clearing in the middle. Some were
seated, others stood in groups of twos or threes. The sun was
setting over the lush vineyards, but lanterns of various shapes and
colors bathed the place with soft lights.

As we drew closer, I even made out what
Marie had referred to as the band. It was Albert with an accordion
strapped to his chest and two other men flanking him. One played
the guitar and the other, with long dark hair, held an accordion
with buttons instead of keys like a piano. Several couples boogied
to their merry song on the square dance floor made of simple wooden
boards.

A call from one of the guests nearby stopped
Marie and me. We both turned in the direction of a tall man, who
carried a toddler on his arm. The little girl wore green flap
trousers and fixed me with her round, deep brown eyes. One arm
wrapped around the neck of the man who carried her, she twisted a
curl of her white-blonde hair around her small finger.

“
Bonsoir, Pasqual,”
my aunt greeted
the man, who cast an intrigued glance at me. He only looked away
when Marie stood on her toes to kiss him and the girl on their
cheeks.

Holding the cake in one hand, Marie shoved
me forward with the other. “
C’est ma niece. Jona. Elle est la
fille de Charlene.”

And it had begun already. Even though her
words were Greek to me, I was sure I’d be shown around all night as
the newly discovered daughter.

“This is my cousin, Pasqual, and his
daughter, Claire,” she then said to me.

Waving at the child, I gave in to my aunt’s
push and stepped toward them. “Hi.”

Pasqual shook my hand with a firm grip.
“
Bonsoir, Jona. Je suis heureux de vous recontrer.”

Yeah, whatever.
I smiled politely but
kept my mouth sealed while Marie spoke. An awkward tension gripped
me. I scanned the crowd for Julian, hoping I could use him as an
excuse to leave Marie’s side. Hands laced behind my back, I only
tilted my head first, but when I couldn’t find him, I pivoted on
the spot.

My heart did a somersault as I caught a
glimpse of the back of his head. His plain white shirt with short
sleeves stood out against Valentine, who had stuffed her round body
into a dress as dark as the wine Albert drank at dinner. The dragon
was also in their company.

Charlene’s astounded face was hilarious as
she spotted me over Julian’s shoulder. She clapped a hand to her
mouth then quickly corrected the awkward move by smoothing the
front of the brown blouse tucked into her black jeans. She appeared
unusually healthy today, and the sheen of her hair suggested it was
freshly dyed a darker shade of copper.

Following my mother’s gaze, Julian glanced
over his shoulder then back at her. It took him only a fraction of
a second to whirl around again. This time, his perplexed gaze
lingered on me for an amusingly long time. Not taking his eyes off
me, he said something to the two women and strode my way.

With each of his steps, my heart pounded
louder in my ears, soon drowning out the cheerful music from the
band. I shifted my weight from one foot to the other.

Less than a foot away, Julian stopped and
raked a stunned glance over me. From my toes peeping out of Marie’s
sandals, to the bare neck I presented.

“I was right,” he breathed in my ear.

“About what?”

“You look amazing in this dress.”

Clearing my throat, I tried to steady my
voice before I spoke, not sure what I should be more embarrassed
about. Being tucked into this light-beam of a dress, or the lustful
glances Julian bestowed upon me while everyone seemed to be
watching us. “Thank you for getting it for me, but you really
shouldn’t—”

“Shh.” He held his hand out to me. “Are you
ready?”

Before I dared take it, I gave him a wary
glance. “What for?”

“Unless I’m totally mistaken, you owe me a
dance.”

“Ugh. Right.” A dance in a dress that was a
magnet for stares.

Julian grabbed my hand and pulled me along,
pebbles crunching underneath my shoes. A fleeting glance around
ascertained that every pair of eyes was set on me, and the guests
started whispering.

I could just hear them in my mind:
Oh,
look at the English girl.

Great.

In the middle of the dance floor, Julian
stopped and turned. His arms closed around my waist. The very
moment his secure hold swallowed me and his sparkling blue eyes
gazed into mine, every ounce of unease slid from me. Being in his
embrace was like standing in our private little corner of paradise.
I closed my eyes, inhaling his fresh, misty scent. The sound of
waves rushing toward the shore claimed my memories.

The merry song Albert’s band was playing
stopped abruptly and turned into a slow, enticing melody. Julian
wouldn’t let me slip away. He pulled me tighter to his firm chest,
swaying me softly to the rhythm.

The skimming of my fingers up his bare
biceps left a line of gooseflesh in its trail. My arms sneaked
around his neck. I enjoyed his hands tight on the small of my back.
The tip of his nose brushed along my cheekbone, then he planted a
mellow kiss behind my ear, triggering a fuzzy reaction inside my
stomach.

“Everyone’s staring at us,” I hissed, though
not really wanting him to stop.

“You’re imagining things. Right now, there’s
only you and me.” He reached for my right hand behind his neck. At
his direction, I twirled in front of him and dived back into his
embrace.

“Did you finally change your mind?” he said
into my ear after another pirouette.

I followed his guide to the left and then
two steps to the right with a turn. “What do you mean?”

“About dancing. You said you didn’t like it
much, but I can’t remember you ever smiling so broadly.”

“Well, it’s not that bad,” I said,
struggling to keep my happy expression under control even for a
second.

He put on a fake frown. “Not
that
bad?” With a swoosh, he waltzed with me then tipped me over
backward, his arm always securely placed on my back.

Squealing with laughter, I held tightly on
to his neck, so as not to drop to the hard floor. I surrendered.
“Okay, okay, it’s really nice.”

Julian tilted over me, and I gaped into his
beautiful blue eyes. He leaned farther down to press his lips on
mine. The taste of his last drink lingered in his kiss. Coconut
cream. I closed my eyes and kissed him back with the passion that
had been rising in me all day.

Close by, the clangor of breaking glass was
followed by feminine cursing. I grinned under Julian’s lips. “I’ll
eat my hat if that wasn’t my mother dropping her drink.”

“Apparently, she has a dramatic streak.”
Julian chuckled, pulling me to a stand.

“You’ve chosen an interesting moment to
expose
us
. She’ll totally freak out.”

“No, she won’t. Not tonight.”

“What’s special about tonight?”

But before he could explain, Albert and his
friends began strumming a new song behind us, one that was
recognizable around the world and made me turn toward the band with
confusion.

“Is it your birthday?” I asked Julian, but
he said nothing. His hand wrapped tight around mine as he led me up
to the longest table, where several people had already taken their
seats.

Everyone joined in singing along with the
band. Valentine and Henri scooted down the bench to make room for
us, while my mother, at Marie’s urging, lowered to the chair at the
head of the table.

My aunt then rushed to the makeshift bar to
retrieve the cake she’d brought. Only now it was lit with a sea of
candles. She placed it in front of my mother’s beaming face.

Shit
.

My stomach slid to my feet. This must be an
evil joke. They couldn’t possibly have brought me to my mother’s
birthday party. “Why the hell didn’t you tell me?”

Julian placed his hand on my thigh, trying
to soothe me. And it almost worked like when he’d touched me
before. But this time I wouldn’t let it happen. I shoved his hand
away.

“It was hard enough to make you agree to
come when you didn’t know,” he said with a stern face. “If you’d
suspected it was a party for your mom, you would have never even
considered showing up.”

“Damn right! And you shouldn’t have tricked
me into it.”
Not today.
Not after the beautiful time we’d
had together.

And suddenly, it clicked into place. He’d
lured me away from the house so I wouldn’t notice them preparing
for the celebration. Hadn’t I also overheard him forbid Marie and
the others to talk to me about it? What a bloody betrayal!

As the birthday song ended, everyone
applauded my mother. I folded my arms over my heaving chest.

Marie then insisted on her making a wish.
Charlene’s glance traveled to me, hope filling her features.

Even though her perfect make-up brought out
a beauty I’d long since forgotten about, the evidence of her
illness lay just underneath. Her eyes, sunken and troubled, and her
cheekbones standing out reminded me of a starving woman. Although
tonight, it felt as if she was starving for something other than
food. She was starving for forgiveness. I realized then that I had
a powerful instrument in my hand. It was like I could play God and
decide whether this woman would be happy or suffer from
immeasurable pain.

I didn’t know what brought this on—spending
too much time in Marie’s love-filled house, or having found a place
in Julian’s heart at last—but in that moment, I hated having this
power. Over Charlene. Over Marie. Over anyone who tried to get near
me. All I wanted was to be left alone. For the first time in a long
while, I didn’t wish my mother anything bad, precisely. But I was
also far from giving her what she wanted.

“I wouldn’t waste a wish on that one,” I
said under my breath as she blew at the candles. It earned me a
poke in the ribs from Julian, and I winced.

“Be nice,” he said.

Rising from her seat, Charlene drew a deep
breath then spoke loud enough for those in the last rows to hear.
“Thanks to everyone for coming to celebrate with me tonight!”

Her glance lingered on me. The fact that she
spoke in English and not in French, the language of most of the
guests, left no room for interpretation. I narrowed my eyes to
irritated slits and clamped down on my teeth. However, my rage was
directed at someone else tonight.

When Charlene started to cut the cake, I
seized the moment and rose from the table.

“Where are you going?” Julian’s hand around
my wrist caused me to slump back onto the bench.

“A walk. I need some fresh air,” I
hissed.

“We’re outside. Where would you find air
fresher than this?”

Leaning in a little closer, our gazes met
from only three inches apart. Words came out in a sinister growl.
“I’ll find a place where I don’t have to sit next to a
traitor.”

I jerked my hand out of his hold and stormed
off into a part of the vineyard that wasn’t illuminated by all
those icky birthday lanterns.

Away from the lights and the crowd, a chill
trailed down my arms. Heading for the house, I stumbled along the
path between the vines, guided only by a soft beam of moonlight.
Julian, calling my name, followed me. The entrance to the garden
was still about fifty feet ahead when he caught up, grabbed my
hand, and spun me around.

“Don’t you dare touch me,” I spat at his
pleading face. There was no need to pull my hand away. My warning
loosened his hold in an instant.