“No one sent me, Your Highness,” Antoine denies. “Henri isn’t big on updates, so I took the initiative to come and get the news directly.”
“Well, there’s not much to report,” Henri says, a defensive edge to his voice.
Antoine doesn’t give up. “Then report whatever little there is.”
“The search team didn’t find anything,” Henri says, his tone flat. “And our own efforts after they left haven’t fared any better. That’s it.”
As I watch the interplay between the brothers, the emotional chasm between them glares right back at me. Antoine isn’t the easygoing type, but he seems genuinely interested and forthcoming, and he’s kinder to Henri than what I’ve seen from their parents.
Henri, on the other hand, is an extravert by nature, full of charisma and warmth. But all that is replaced by a frosty aloofness. The cordial lord of the manor has relapsed into the withdrawn outsider he was last week in Pombrio.
It’s hard to believe what the presence of a family member, including a nonantagonistic one like Antoine, can do to this man!
“May I ask why that key is so important?” Antoine inquires of me. “What does it open?”
Ugh!How do I tell him that he and his brother—yes, even my Key to the Key—are in the group that “doesn’t need to know”?
Finally, I say, “I’m afraid it’s classified.”
Well-bred as he is, Antoine moves on to more innocuous questions about the bloggers’ retreat and the truffle business. But even on that safe terrain, Henri is still ill-disposed to answer Antoine’s inquiries. When he does, he downplays his achievements and overstates his challenges. Throughout that ping-pong between the brothers, one eager to connect and the other determined to keep his distance, I witness a relationship so dysfunctional it makes me sad.
Finally, Antoine runs out of questions. Henri doesn’t suggest his brother should stay for the day or even for lunch. And so, Antoine bows to me and walks out into the rain.
For a moment, Henri and I just sit there, both staring out the window. I listen to the soft gurgle of water in the gutters. My eyes follow the raindrops racing each other down the glass.
You shall not sympathize with Henri!the voice of reason in my head commands.Just yesterday, he denied he ever had feelings for you!
My lips move against my will. “It boggles the mind how self-deprecating you become around your family.”
Henri blinks, taken aback.
“You should be proud of what you’ve achieved in the last few years,” I continue in a surge of earnestness. “You’re running a successful, multifaceted business. You’ve become the custodian of this magnificent estate, a part of the local community…”
I trail off, expecting him to take umbrage to my pep talk. But what I see in his brown eyes doesn’t look like offense.
And so, I add, meaning every word, “You’re living a life many can only dream of—a life you’ve chosen and built for yourself.”
Henri’s eyes mist over in a display of vulnerability he’s never let me glimpse before, not once during the fourteen months of our relationship.
“I—” He coughs, clears his throat. “It’s embarrassing how sentimental your words made me feel.” His gaze plunges into mine. “You won’t believe me, but no one’s ever spoken like that to me.”
“Your grandma, surely?” I search his face. “You were close and she loved you. Didn’t she ever praise you?”
A wistful smile touches his lips. “She loved me, yes, but she never spared me a compliment and never overlooked a flaw.”
Before I can respond, he stands abruptly, extending his hand toward me. “Enough of that! Come, there’s something I need to show you.”
I take his hand. “Please tell you you’ve found the key!”
“No, I haven’t,” he says as he leads me downstairs.
“What is this about, then?”
We cross the lobby toward the main entrance.
“You,” he says. “It’s about you.”
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
