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Nicole hovered near the tall French doors of the 18th-century drawing room, desolate because Jean-Jacques hadn't arrived. The Christmas program was about ready to start. She was afraid he'd decided to stay away after what had transpired at her apartment. Her pulse raced to hear her mother's voice coming from the foyer.

"Jean-Jacques! How wonderful to see you after all these years! Please come in."

"Merci, Madame Giraud. The pleasure is all mine. Joyeux Noel."

"What is this?"

"Nicole once told me you liked to collect Pere Noels. I found this wood-carved version of Father Christmas in a little shop in town. I rather like the dark blue velvet of his elegant capuchin hood and cloak."

He remembered! Moved beyond words by his unexpected kindness to her mother, Nicole fought to get her emotions under control. When she heard her mother's cry of pure pleasure, she was lured out of her hiding place to join them.

Her mother caught sight of her. "Darling ? come and look at what Jean-Jacques brought us. Isn't this Pere Noel exquisite!"

"He's wonderful," Nicole said in a trembling voice. You're wonderful, her heart cried as her gaze sought Jean-Jacques's, but he refused to look at her. If they'd been alone, she would have forced him to acknowledge her.

"Thank you, mon fils." Clearly thrilled, her mother raised up and kissed him on both cheeks. "As you're our guest of honor this evening, would you be so kind as to hand the children their gifts after the program? Their names are already on the packages."

He nodded. "Of course."

"Nicole? While I put Father Christmas in his own special place on the mantel, why don't you show Jean-Jacques to his seat."

With the greatest of reluctance his glance darted to Nicole. She looked like a heavenly angel in a stunning white wool suit with a jeweled Christmas tree pin attached to one of the lapels. Around her neck she'd tied a white chiffon scarf. She seemed part of the magic of the night. This was the first time he'd been inside the fabulous Giraud villa, which had been decorated to look like a holiday wonderland with decorated trees, swags of garlands, and pots of fresh red flowers everywhere.

He felt as though he was in a dream and Nicole was this exquisite doll who'd come to life from beneath the huge Christmas tree with its colored balls and pink and white lights. Avoiding her eyes, he whispered, "After you, Nicole."

Following her voluptuous figure, he forced himself to smile and nod as they passed parents and staff seated on the Louis XV chairs and love seats. The group had assembled before a makeshift stage complete with a roofed stable, a wooden manger filled with straw, and a baby. Behind the manger stood several life-size cardboard cows and sheep. In the soft light, they looked real.

This was all Nicole's doing. Jean-Jacques was so proud of her he could hardly swallow for the lump in his throat. There was no other woman in existence like her. Debilitating pain shot through him because he was standing inside her world for the first time and had never felt so far removed from it.

As he took his place up in front, she gestured to the accompanist at the grand piano. Then the shepherds, followed by the three wise men in their homemade costumes, began to enter, singing, through the tall mirrored doors.

Next came Mary and Joseph, then the young narrator, who stumbled over his crook before taking his place at the microphone. The parents started to whisper and chuckle as each child made his or her appearance and waved.

Hot tears stung Jean-Jacques's eyes because he couldn't remember a time when he didn't want Nicole to be the mother of his children. It was never going to happen. Deep in agony, he didn't realize what was happening on stage until he heard Joseph cry out, "I want to hold the baby Jesus, too!" Suddenly there was a tug of war between him and Mary who was clutching the baby for all she was worth. The audience broke into laughter.

Nicole flashed Jean-Jacques a signal of distress. He bounded out of the fauteuil and rushed up to the children. Kneeling behind them he whispered, "You can both hold him. Joseph, put your arm around Mary. That's right. Now just stay like that till the play is over."

When Joseph finally did his bidding, Jean-Jacques released the breath he'd been holding and raised his head. Nicole's shimmering gaze fused with his, thanking him for saving the evening from disaster. Her loving expression was too much to handle.

Jean-Jacques couldn't wait any longer for Dominic to return his phone call. Tonight he would tender his resignation to Auguste Giraud. The older man was seated by the French doors. It would be a simple thing to seek him out.

By tomorrow morning Jean-Jacques planned to be long gone from the woman he loved....

While Jean-Jacques passed out the presents to the children, who were jumping up and down with excitement, Nicole worked with the maids to make certain the food and marzipan treats were ready in the dining room.

As soon as she could leave, she fixed a heaping plate for Jean-Jacques, then moved into the drawing room to find him. She had plans for them. Depending on the outcome, they'd never be out of each other's sight again.

But as she scanned the crowd, she couldn't see him anywhere. When she asked her mother, she said he'd gone to the library with Nicole's father. Uneasy because they'd disappeared during the festivities, she handed the plate to her mother and dashed out to the terrace. After walking the length of it past the music room, she stood outside her father's study at the other end of the villa.

She waited for several minutes but when it didn't seem that they would be leaving any time soon, she knocked on the door. "Papa?" she asked before entering the room to discover her father alone at his desk. "Where's Jean-Jacques?"

He sat back in the leather chair, eyeing her through shuttered lids. "After we concluded our talk, he said he had an important engagement and left by the balcony stairs."

"No!" She dashed back outside and leaned against the wrought iron railing to watch for movement in the sunken garden below. But she couldn't see or hear anything except the gentle rustle of the night breeze.

By now he could be anywhere and would make certain she couldn't find him. Pain as real as if someone had repeatedly stabbed her left her immobilized. A deep sob welled up inside of her until she was convulsed.

"Nicolette. Tell me what's wrong."

Her father was a cold man. It had been a long time since he'd reached out to comfort her. For once he'd caught her off guard.

She spun around, wiping the tears that dripped off her cheeks. "Tonight was the company party. What was so important you had to bring him in here?"

"He said he had to talk to me in private. Dominic has been unavailable, so Jean-Jacques resigned to me." "Resigned —"

"Yes. He didn't give me a reason."

"Dear God — I've got to find him!"

"Nicole — there's something you should know. Five years ago I offered Jean-Jacques a scholarship to go to Paris to study chemistry with the proviso that he work for the company after graduation."

Shattered, she looked at her parent in horror. "You paid him money to break us up? My own father?"

But it all made sense to her. Jean-Jacques had come home the new CEO of the company, a prize more coveted than the love of any woman. What man who'd expected to work in the flower fields all his life could have resisted such temptation? So why had he resigned?

"Non, ma fille. I was acting under your brother's orders."

She blinked. "What are you talking about? Dominic doesn't have a treacherous bone in his body!"

"I agree," he said quietly. "Only once after the day he disowned me as his father did he ask a favor of me. Out of my love for him, I obliged without questioning it or his motives."

Nicole couldn't take it all in. "Dominic wanted my relationship with Jean-Jacques ended?"

"If you want answers, you'll have to ask your brother. For Dominic's sake, as well as my own selfish reasons, I'd rather your mother were kept in the dark. But before you're too hard on him, just remember that Jean-Jacques didn't have to take the offer."

Nicole blinked back tears as she turned and ran the entire distance to her suite of rooms to phone Dominic. But with every step, her father's last words rang the death knell in her heart. Just remember. Jean-Jacques didn't have to take the offer.

Jean-Jacques left the cathedral with his sister and her husband, bundling little Paul against his shoulder for the walk to their cars. During the midnight mass, the baby had fallen asleep on his shoulder.

While they made their way through the crowd, he was loath to give up his nephew's comforting warmth. Heaven knew he needed something to prevent him from thinking about what he was going to do now that he was no longer the CEO.

He was terrified that no matter where he went, no matter how many miles he put between them, Nicole's memory would haunt him to the end of his life.

He felt a nudge in his ribs. "What is it, Brigitte?"

"Don't look now but Nicole isn't far behind and gaining on us with every footstep. Why don't you ask her to join the family for the réveillon. Everyone loves her. You want her to come. Admit it."

Jean-Jacques knew Nicole would attend mass with her family. But he hadn't expected her to search him out in this crowd. He should have known that leaving the villa without saying goodbye was exactly the wrong thing to do.

"Leave it alone, Brigitte. There are things you don't understand. Tell Maman I'll catch up with all of you at the farm.…"