Chapter 42
“Are you sure you need another one?” Luc glances between the basket full of painting supplies and the three paints in my hand I’m about to place in the basket.
“Does anyone need another anything?” I wave him off, rolling my eyes as I let the paints tumble into the basket. The first basket I filled is already sitting by the counter. “Besides, isn’t this supposed to be a date?”
“Yeah, I thought it would be fun to take you to your favorite art shop since you asked me a while ago, Impératice. I don’t know if I have enough car space for all this.”
“Sure we do.” I shrug. “You could always just wait here while I drive the stuff home?—”
“No,” he cuts me off before I can finish my sentence.
“So I guess that settles it.” I nod. “You can be the passenger princess and make sure all my art supplies are safe.”
“Nice try.” Luc dots my lips with a kiss. “But the only passenger empress in my car is you.” My stomach flutters, he changed the saying to my nickname.
Luc finishes paying for all my supplies, and the amazing boyfriend that he is, he carries all the bags back to the car. The storm has passed, but the sky remains overcast. I’m just glad the rain has stopped.
“Aurora, Luc?” Timothé’s voice rings from behind us. I subtly take a step closer to Luc, needing him to act as a shield, tucking my hand in his elbow.
“Timothé,” Luc greets as we turn to him.
“Doing a bit of shopping?” Timothé nods to the bags in Luc’s hands. This small talk is making me more uncomfortable. My gaze flicks up to see the sign for the law firm Timothé works at, like a fricken Santa Stop Here. Of course we ended up right under his nose.
“I’ve been meaning to come by now that you have nearly finished the renovations. Aurora, did you end up finding my lost jewels?” He casually tucks his hands into his suit pocket.
“No,” my reply is too quick, I hope it doesn’t raise suspicion.
Luc side-eyes me, before nodding. “We haven’t found anything yet, but you will be our first call when we do.”
Timothé pokes his jaw out, not convinced at all, but finally relents. “Be sure to let me know,” he says and leaves.
The moment Timothé’s out of earshot, Luc says, “What have you done with them.”
My eyes dart around the sidewalk. I did end up finding a new hiding place for them, I just haven’t told Luc about it. I try to play it cool. Take a page from the Book of Aurora. Luc just eyes me up and down. Waiting. Damn it. He knows me too well. I guess that’s what happens when you find your soul’s other half. “Not here,” I tell him and pull him toward the car.
Only after Luc starts the car and reverses it from the parking spot do I start talking. “Remember how I mentioned I found them a couple of months ago.”
“Yes…and you’ve conveniently been keeping them a secret since.”
My lips thin. With everything that happened with the chateau, it kind of slipped my mind. “To be honest, I don’t really know what to do with them. I don’t think they belong to Timothé like he says.”
His eyes flick to me before returning to the road. “How well do you know Timothé?” he asks.
“Before meeting him a few months ago? I didn’t even know he existed.”
“So not very well.”
“Nope.”
“And the jewels?”
“I don’t think they’re his.”
“Are you sure?” he asks.
“My gut is telling me yes.”
Luc waits for a few beats of anxious breath and nods. “Then maybe we should put our devious heads together to find out the truth.”
After our long drive back, I show Luc where I’d kept the hidden box in my studio. It was the safest place I could think to hide them.
“I can’t believe it.” He gasps at the giant necklace.
“I know,” I reply. “They’re stunning.”
“More like I can’t believe you’ve been keeping these priceless items in your studio.”
“That too.” I watch as Luc takes the necklace out of its case. He moves my hair aside and clasps the heavy jewel around my throat. “It’s gorgeous,” I breathe, staring at myself in the mirror.
“It is.” Luc’s eyes aren’t on the mirror, they’re firmly placed on the side of my face.
“Why do you think he wants them so badly?” I ask, my fingertip running over the diamonds leading to the giant middle stone.
“I guess that’s what we’re about to find out.” The sound of the box snapping shut pulls me from the trance. Reluctantly, I undo the necklace and hand it to Luc to hide. I message Timothé saying we might have found the jewels—convenient that it’s right after we just saw him, but I want to leave that part out. When Timothé arrives, we’re going to give him the empty box and wait for his reaction.
Right on cue, Luc and I spot Timothé’s car bounding down the driveway. My eyes light at the sight of his car. “Showtime.”
Luc grabs my hand, threading my fingers through his, the empty box in the other hand. “You ready?” he asks.
“I don’t think I have much of a choice.” Luc bends slightly and takes my lips in his in a warming kiss. As long as I have Luc, I know I can face anything. I release his lips first. “Let’s find out why these mean so much to Timothé,” I say before leading us to where Timothé is already getting out of his now-parked car.
“I’m so glad you called.” Timothé smiles, clasping his fingers together. That makes one of us.
“We were cleaning out the attic and came across this box, we haven’t opened it or anything, we called you straight away in case it was what you’ve been looking for.” The lie rolls off Luc’s tongue so easily, goose flesh makes the hairs on my arms rise.
A leery grin pulls at Timothé’s lips, his heated eyes not leaving the box in Luc’s hands. “Thank you, I really appreciate you doing that.” His tongue darts out, wetting his lips as he reaches for the box. My grip on Luc’s hand tightens and my face ticks as I wait for Timothé to open the box.
His face slackens when he peers inside. “It’s empty.” He turns the box around, showing us the deep blue velvet.
“Oh,” I squeak and quickly screw my lips shut. I have a terrible poker face at the best of times, and I’m liable to accidentally indicate where Luc has placed the jewels for safekeeping.
A pinched expression falls over Timothé’s face as he pounds a closed fist against the car door, making me jump. “Maybe he left them somewhere else?” My voice wobbles despite my best effort to try to keep it as steady as possible.
Timothé’s eyes flick up to me. “No, it doesn’t surprise me. He said he was going to make them hard to find.”
“Why do you want them so bad?” Luc asks. The question I was supposed to ask.
“Because I married his sister; they belonged to me.”
My jaw falls open, and I hug closer to Luc. “What do you mean you married his sister?”
Louis had two sisters one who was my grandmother and the other who he looked after due to her illness.
Timothé widens his stance and crosses his arms over his chest, lifting his chin. “I mean, I’m your grandfather, Aurora.”
“What?” I gasp, almost fainting from the volume of oxygen I inhaled. “How?”
“I was Louis’s friend, we’d been through a lot together, he hated that I’d fallen for Celly—it was like I’d broken some secret oath. But neither of us cared, we loved each other. We got married in secret; Louis was furious. He offered me the jewels if I would leave her alone, but I just couldn’t do it. I loved her.” My grip on Luc tightens to the point I’m almost bear-hugging him now.
“I’d just started working at the law firm, and I was working crazy long hours. I guess Celly didn’t like it. She wanted to have more fun being young. Then she came to me and told me she wanted a divorce. It devastated me, but I signed it because that was what she wanted.”
I shake my head, tipping my head back and looking up at the sky. “Did you know I existed?” I can’t believe this man—the man who changed my life—is actually my grandfather.
“Yes,” he replies, and I wipe the stray tear that falls with the sleeve of my shirt.
“But how can you be my grandfather, we have different surnames?”
A ragged breath tears from Timothé’s lips as Luc rubs slow circles on my back, an unwavering pillar of support.
“After the divorce, Celly moved to America, and I didn’t find out she had a son, my son, until he showed up on Louis’s doorstep. It seems she remarried in America and changed her and élliot’s last name, but she still honored my family, you see, my dad was élliot.”
I wipe another tear. “So why do you want the jewels?” I ask.
“Because I wanted to be the one to give them to you. I know life hasn’t been easy for you, especially when your dad died so young, but know this. Once I knew he existed, I didn’t waste a moment not learning every single thing about him.” His eyes bore into mine. “Or you.”
My chin wobbles. Luc tucks a strand of hair behind my ear. “If you want, I can tell him to leave, and when you’re ready to talk to him again, we’ll let him back,” he whispers right in my ear, giving me the option to hole myself up with the mixture of emotions running through my body like a bubbling pot. It’s like he read my mind. But that was the old Aurora. The old Aurora would run and hide and lick her wounds. I’m not her anymore. Of all the things I was expecting Timothé to say, learning he is my grandfather is not one. I continue to stare at his face, and it dawns on me why his nose is so familiar—I stare at it every single morning, I committed the shape to memory when I was painting my dad. It’s my nose. I can’t believe I didn’t recognize it sooner.
I give a subtle shake of my head. “If you knew about me, why didn’t you tell me sooner? Why didn’t you tell Dad sooner?” I ask, the question burning an acidic hole in my stomach.
“I didn’t know how to tell him the man he grew up knowing as his father wasn’t…and honestly, do you think he would’ve believed me? As for you, that is a conversation you would need to have with Susan. When I approached her that I wanted to be included in your life she told me not to bother. That you didn’t need me in your life. I’m sorry Aurora. I should’ve tried harder, but I wanted to respect her wishes, she’s still your mother.”
Fucking Susan. My hands curl into fists. She’s done everything in her power to rule my life how she saw fit, and it’s never been for my benefit, only for her own. The old Aurora tolerated it, and let it happen, but not anymore. The new Aurora, has found her voice, and she’s not afraid to use it, whether she’s my mother or not.
“Just before Louis died, I informed him of you. He was intent on letting Luc inherit the chateau, but after some convincing he agreed to change the will to include you in it. I figured you’re old enough now, you can decide whether you want me in your life or not.”
“Thank you,” I reply, and I truly do mean it. My life wouldn’t have changed in such a way had it not been for this chateau. Knowing that Timothé played a part in it makes me eternally grateful.
“I know I can’t ask for a relationship. But if you’re ever ready to just talk, you have my number.” His eyes flick between where Luc has taken a protective stance, slightly shielding me with his body.
“I do.” I disentangle myself from Luc and close the distance, wrapping myself around Timothé. “I spent my whole life thinking I didn’t have a lot of family. Thank you for showing me that isn’t true.”
He nods, his hand stroking my hair. “You were always on my mind, and I’m glad I could finally do right by you.”
This chateau has been home to many secrets, I’m glad that isn’t the case anymore. I take a step back and wind myself into Luc’s arms, nuzzling my head into his chest. Life took a giant detour, but somehow I ended up better than I ever thought possible. We watch my grandfather get into his car. Wow, does that sound weird. Over six months ago, I was a lone balloon drifting through the sky, but now I have an amazing home, a man who loves me, a family who completes me, and a grandfather.
I lean my head up. “I love you,” I tell Luc. The corner of his lip kicks up and my belly rolls. Fuck, I can’t believe this man is mine. Eventually I will tell Timothé we’ve found the jewels, but for right now, I prefer that we use this time to catch up on a lifetime of each other.
“I love you, too, Aurora.”