Chapter Seven
"Jean-Claude! What are you doing here?" Rosie was surprised to see him.
He was the last person she expected to be here. Strangely, she felt no bitterness or anger towards him and she knew the reason why. Ian had healed her heart. She glanced at Ian with a tender reassuring expression on her face and in that moment, Ian knew he had nothing to fear.
"I'm staying at my family chateau for a few days. I'm here for a little R and R, as you Americans say. Beau was kind enough to invite us to dinner. He said that you were in the village, and I thought we might have a little get together later on. Just the two of us."
"Oh, he did, did he?" Rosie turned around and gave Beaua witheringlook.
Ian was watching him as well. Beau was whistling as he turned and walked away into the tavern. Rosie shook her head knowingly at this. Beau would always be Beau, no matter what. She glanced over at Ian and he shot her a "I told you so" look. Rosie stuck her tongue out at him in response, and he laughed at her.
"What brings you back to the village, dear?" Mrs. Potter asked. Before Rosie could answer, Chet and a little girl ran by.
"Is that who I think it is?" Rosie asked them. The group hesitated not knowing how to answer this. Henri started to say something when the two came back.
"Chet, is that you?" He turned and Rosie recognized him immediately. "It is you! I didn't recognize you until I heard that laugh of yours. Look how grownup and handsome you are! I bet you're very popular with the ladies, huh?"
He blushed at that while the others laughed. "Why if I was a few years younger-"
"Hey, now!" This came from Ian. He still hadn't stepped forward to meet the others.
"Or married-"Rosie quickly added.
Jean-Claude's heart sank when he heard the news. There would be no second chance for him and Rosie. She looked so in love. Who was the lucky fellow?
"Married?!" the others gaped at her, unbelievingly.
"Yes, I'm married," Rosie beamed proudly. "Oh, that's right. You haven't met my husband. Ian, would you please come over here? There are some people I'd like to introduce you to."
He strode to where Rosie was standing and nodded to everyone there.
"Everyone, I'd like you to meet my husband, Ian McKendrick. Ian, this is Jean-Claude DeVincent, an old friend, that's Henri, Cheri, Montgomery or 'Monty' for short, Mrs. Potter and her son, Chester or 'Chet'."
"Pleased to meet you, everyone. Rosie's told me a lot about all of you. It's finally great to meet you face to face."
"Ah, so you're the famous Ian. We've heard so much about you from Rosie. It's a pleasure to finally get to meet you. Well I guess this means congratulations are in order to you both," Jean-Claude told them, his true feelings hidden.
With that, the group gathered around the newlyweds to offer them their good wishes. While everyone was hugging and kissing Rosie, Jean-Claude pulled Ian aside to wish him well and to tell him how truly lucky he was.
"Thanks. Don't I know it?" Ian replied humbly but proudly as both of them watched Rosie, each with a different expression on his face.
Why don't we continue this inside? I'm sure every one is hungry," Rosie said after all was calm again. "That way we can talk while we're eating. We can catch up on what every body's been doing since I left to go back to the States."
"Good idea, Rosie. We've got a lot to talk about. After you, everyone. Ready, Rosie?" Jean-Claude asked her, extending his arm to her. Rosie turned and looked quizzically at Ian. He nodded in approval and Rosie took her old beau's arm. They all started to go in Le Bistro when Mrs. Potter realized something.
"Wait a minute. Adeline is missing!"
"You're right. Where is she?" exclaimed Cheri.
"Adeline, Adeline, honey! Where are you?" Mrs. Potter called out. Jean-Claude looked frantically around for his daughter.
Henri and Monty started to head out to look for her when they heard, "We'll help you look for her." This came from Rosie. Everyone turned and looked at her, astonished.
"Rosie? Did you just say what I think you just said?" Jean-Claude asked her, shaking his head in disbelief.
"What happened between us occurred long ago; it's in the past. What matters now is that we find your daughter and return her safely to you," Rosie told him. "Let's go! We've no time to waste!"
"Looking for someone?" Ian walked up to the group, with Adeline in his arms. He had gone off to look for her as soon as he heard that a child was missing.
"Yes! Haven't you been listening?" Jean-Claude, very agitated, turned around and asked him.
The others turned to look at him in amazement. It was Rosie who realized that Ian was carrying Adeline and pointed this out: "No, wait! Look, he found Adeline."
Everyone gathered around Ian and Adeline, wanting to know what happened. He handed Adeline to Mrs. Potter and took his place beside Rosie.
"I found her in the bookstore, where else. She takes after someone we all know and love very much," he glanced at Rosie affectionately as he said this.
"As for me helping, it's part of my job. I'm a firefighter back in our hometown. I've also served in the Marines and my father's a retired army officer. It's been ingrained in me just how important the duty of protecting and helping those in need is. I answer the call of help whenever or wherever someone's in trouble. It's what I've been trained to do. Now I don't know about the rest of you, but I'm ready for something to eat. I'll go ahead and let them know that our party's here."
He walked away, heading towards the restaurant, leaving the rest of them to stare at him in amazement. They then looked at Rosie for an explanation.
"Unbelievable! He almost could pass for Beau, but he definitely doesn't sound like him, "Henri said.
"Astounding! A complete opposite!" Monty remarked.
"Rosie, you lucky girl, you! Wherever did you find him?" Cheri inquired.
"He's my best friend. We grew up together. As for his demeanor, he's always been like that. Ian's not one to show off or grab the spotlight for himself. That's one of the many reasons I fell in love with him. Ah, I see Ian waving to us. Our table must be ready. Is everyone hungry?"
"Wait, Rosie. You two should be alone. We can get together some other time," added Monty.
"Yes, after all it is your honeymoon. We'd best leave you two lovebirds alone," Henri told her.
"Come on, every one. Let's go home. Rosie, it's been great seeing you again. I only wish we were meeting under different circumstances," Jean-Claude added with a wistful smile.
"No, please, wait! Join us, won't you? We'd both love it if you were to join us for dinner," Rosie responded.
"Are you sure, dear?" asked Mrs. Potter.
"Yes." This time it came from Ian. "Please join us, I insist. Rosie's spoken so highly of you all through out the years. I've always wanted to meet you. Besides this is our last night here. We're heading home tomorrow and our plane leaves at ten a.m. That means we'll have to depart from here fairly early in the morning."
"Then, by all means, we accept, and will be glad to join you," Jean-Claude told him. The two men stepped forward and shook hands.
"Well, then let's go eat. Ready every one?" Rosie responded. And with that, they all entered Le Bistro.
Meanwhile Beau was in the tavern. This day hadn't turned out so terrible after all. The immediate expressions on everyone's face, especially Rosie's, had been satisfying. However what had soured the moment was the lack of reaction on the part of Rosie once seeing her old beau. Rosie was so deeply in love with her husband for it to matter too much. He was boasting to his drinking buddies and laughing about the stunt that he had pulled earlier that evening. It was at this time that one of his cronies spotted the McKendricks coming into the tavern after their meal.
Rosie and Ian had just said goodbye to their dinner companions. There was much carrying on as this would be the final farewell for Rosie and Ian were leaving in the morning. Rosie hugged everyone, promising to write and stay in touch. The men made Ian promise to treat Rosie with dignity and respect and bade him farewell. Rosie and Jean-Claude embraced as old friends and said their good-byes to each other as if the rift between them had never occurred. Then it was over, with every one went their separate ways.
"Uh, Beau. You were saying."
"I tell ya. It was priceless, the look on Rosie's face. You should have seen it," he boomed.
"Oh look, there's Rosie and Ian," Monique pointed out. "Don't they make a great looking couple?" she sighed.
"Rosie! Ian! Over here!" Louis called to them, motioning for them to come over. Ian and Rosie, seeing it as an invitation, headed over to where he and the rest of the group were.
"Hey! What's the big idea, Louis?" Beau asked.
"Bonjour, everybody. How is everyone's evening going?" Rosie asked. Ian just nodded to the crowd in front of him. In return all nodded and smiled back in response.
"Good. And what are you two up to this evening?" Monique replied.
"Just taking in the night and spending time with people dear to my heart," Rosie responded, "Especially this guy," she motioned at Ian.
"We just finished having dinner with a few old friends of mine. It was great seeing them again. You know, Beau, that was really a dirty trick you pulled on us at first but if not for you I probably wouldn't have seen them, so…"
She walked over to where he sat, leaned over and kissed him on the cheek. "Thank you," she told him.
The others looked at each other in amazement and then at Ian. He appeared to take it all in stride.
Beau was startled, but then he regained his composure and asked Rosie, rather smugly, "So how is your old flame doing?"
"Jean-Claude's fine, as is every one else. They're all doing well."
"We see them from time to time, but never get to talk to them. That's good to hear," Monique told her.
"What about the little one, the daughter? How is she?" Marie asked.
"Marie!" the rest of the group said in unison.
"Well, someone had to ask the question, because we were all curious about it," protested Marie. Her sisters just shook their heads in response.
"Adeline? She's adorable. What a little charmer! Such a cutie. Just like her adopted father."
"He's not her real father?" Michèle asked. "But I thought he was. All of us did. You were crushed when you found about her."
"I was, but that was years ago…"
"Yeah, yeah, yeah. Life goes on. Now back to Adeline and the juicy details," Monique said, voicing the opinion of the crowd.
"Well, turns out while I was dating Jean-Claude, he was seeing Adeline's mother, Suzette, which I knew nothing about. I was kept completely in the dark about his little rendezvous with her. Even the servants had no idea what was going on either, to be fair to them. Now it just so happened that while he was seeing her, she was cheating on him with Adeline's father. They didn't find that out until much later when Suzette confessed and told Jean-Claude that he wasn't Adeline's real father in fit of rage to spite him. Then she left him for another man and moved to Switzerland, I think, leaving Jean-Claude with her daughter. He got over it and adopted her as his own. Needless to say, everyone was shocked. I do feel a little sorry for him because of that… "
"Well, I don't." Ian interjected. "Anyone, who has hurt you, on purpose or not, isn't worthy of you," he stated plainly.
Every one glanced at Beau, as Ian's statement seemed directed at him. Beau just glared at him. Monique, seeing there was some tension in the air, quickly changed the subject.
"So, Ian. Rosie told us all about you two and what attracted her to you. Now it's your turn. So, what was it? What attracted you to Rosie? Was it her beauty?"
"Well, you might say that."
"Ian!"
"You can't deny it. You are very lovely, but this time I was referring to your inner beauty." Rosie smiled at her husband. Beau rolled his eyes at this.
"I think what attracted me to Rosie is her independent and passionate nature, as well as her intelligence. She's book-smart as well as street-smart. Rosie can take care of herself but she also knows when she needs assistance most of the time."
"Most of the time, Ian?"
"Yeah. Sometimes you can be headstrong, strong-willed, and just downright stubborn."
"Really? And do you want to know your faults are, honey, sweetie-pie?"
"Not right now, babycakes, but thanks anyway."
Beau nudged Ian and winked at him, "Now I know why you like Rosie's feisty nature. It's more fun for a guy that way. A girl who plays hard to get makes it more challenging. It's more of a sport for us." He chuckled. Ian joined in the laughter, until he saw Rosie giving him the look.
"Whoa! Looks like the honeymoon could be over for you, fella," Beau told him.
"Why don't we change the subject and go in a different direction?" Michèle asked.
Rosie and Ian answered "Good idea!" at the same time. They looked at each other and laughed. Everybody sighed his or her relief as the tension was over.
The conversation continued for a little while longer. Rosie yawned and glanced at her watch. She, seeing it was so late, then tapped her husband's shoulder to get his attention. "Come on Ian, Since we have an early day tomorrow, we'd better get going."
Ian turned and addressed the group saying, "You know I'd like stick around a little later, but I guess it's time to turn in. Rosie wants to head off to bed. She just can't keep her hands off me…Oof!"
This last was said when Rosie jabbed him in the side with her elbow. She smiled sweetly and batted her eyelashes at her husband. With that she hopped up out of her chair and headed for the exit. Halfway there she turned and bade everyone a good night, sashaying out the door, keeping her eyes on Ian all the while. Ian watched this for a moment and then went after his bride in eager pursuit. The rest of the group watched this in silent amusement. The quiet was broken when all three sisters sighed.
"Aren't they the most perfect couple you've ever seen? We're so happy for them!" they said in unison, staring at the door. Silently they were all thinking, Oh when will that be me?
"I bet they're going to have great looking kids," Marie said. Everyone else nodded in agreement. Beau glowered at her, then got up and left the tavern without saying a word to anyone.
"What I'd say?" Marie asked in response.