Page 66 of All the Gossip from Paris
Camille gave a brief nod of acknowledgement. “Hang on one second, Mama. Sophie’s just arrived.”
She moved the phone away from her ear. “It’s Papa. He had an accident on the ski slopes late yesterday. He’s in hospital.”
Oh god.
“How bad?” asked Sophie.
Camille’s bottom lip quivered. “Bad. He’s been medevacked to the main hospital in Lausanne. They are going to operate later today. He’s broken some bones, and there are internal injuries as well. Mama has organized a helicopter to fly us to Lausanne. It will be here at ten o’clock. Can you please go pack a bag?”
“Yes, but first I’ll go find Ryan and Liam. They will need to come.”
As Camille went back to talking to their mother on the phone, Sophie headed for the door. “This is Papa. He is made of sturdy stuff,” she muttered to herself.
Racing out of the chateau, she made for the winding path which led down to the river.
Sophie checked her phone. There were several missed calls from her mother. Marina had tried to call her as well as getting in touch with Camille.
She hit dial on Liam’s number, but hung up as soon as she caught sight of him and Ryan. They were making their way back to the house. “Thank god.”
Rollo came bounding up to her, shaking the mud from his shaggy hair. Sophie bent and gave him a friendly ruffle behind the ears. “Bonjour Rollo. Quel beau garçon.” She wanted to savor this moment of normalcy before the long emotional day which loomed ahead of them.
Rising to her feet, Sophie took a hold of Rollo’s collar. They were flying to Switzerland within the next hour. She’d have to take Rollo to the home of one of the staff who lived permanently on the Royal estate. Ask them to look after the family’s beloved pet until she returned.
“Papa has been badly injured in a skiing accident. We have to fly to Switzerland this morning. We may need to stay for a few days,” she said.
Her words were spoken in a calm and even voice. Beneath her steady exterior Sophie’s heart was racing. Thoughts of an uncertain future kept whirling around in her head.
Please don’t let the last words I said to my father have been those spoken in anger and disappointment.
The confidence in Liam’s stride as he made his way to her, gave Sophie a welcome sense of reassurance. That as long as he was with her, everything would be alright. “How badly injured is François?” he asked.
Camille now appeared. “It’s not good. Mama says he was cut off by an inexperienced skier who had no business being on a black run at night. Papa landed badly. That shouldn’t have been too much of a problem, but the snow in that part of the resort was still patchy. He hit a rock. The doctors are talking about him spending weeks in hospital. Possibly not being able to fly home before late January.”
She met Sophie’s gaze. “Which means there will have to be some changes to the January Haute Couture show. Papa wants to talk to you before he goes into surgery.”
Haute Couture Week had slipped her mind entirely. Now it loomed large. If François was out of action, surely, they would cancel the show. And if they did, the impact on the family business would be enormous.
But what if he doesn’t want to cancel. What if he wants me to take over?
She’d made her pitch to be given more responsibility. But he’d said no. In the aftermath of his accident, had François finally seen reason?
I won’t fail you, Papa.
Ryan took hold of Camille’s hand. “Let’s go pack a bag. I’ll cancel our dinner reservations in Paris for tonight. It’s New Years Eve. They should be able to fill our table without any problem. What do we need to do about travel arrangements?”
Camille had been right when she’d said her husband was the master of organization. The second a problem had presented itself, Ryan had moved into solution mode.
“Mama has already got a helicopter booked to come here and pick us up. We just need our passports, and some personal items,” said Camille.
It was a little after nine o’clock. The helicopter was due here at ten, which meant they had roughly forty minutes to get ready. Sophie took the dog’s leash from Ryan, and clipped it to Rollo’s collar. “I’ll go take him to the groundskeeper then come back and grab a few things.”
Turning to Liam, she asked, “You are coming with us, aren’t you?” They might have been spending their days and nights together, but she didn’t want to presume.
“Of course I’m coming. I want to be there for you, Sophie.”
Her heart swelled with gratitude. Tears clouded her sight. Thank heavens for Liam. She couldn’t imagine facing this without him.
The eighty minute helicopter flight from the chateau to the Swiss city of Lausanne was the longest flight of Sophie’s life. Every minute seemed to last an eternity.
