Chapter Nine

Celeste fussed and fussed as she tucked Kara away. With wide green eyes, Kara watched her over the bed covers as Celeste repeatedly reassured that she would be fine for the day and could handle the few guests. She’d made Kara a delicious soup that was to relieve her of the cramps, since Kara didn’t have any cramps to begin with, she’d just gone ahead to enjoy the tasty soup before climbing into bed.

This was the perfect plan! Kara tried to hide her smile of relief as Celeste drew her curtains closed and fluffed her pillows once more. It was nearly midday and the family, as Celeste referred to them, would be arriving soon. Kara had made sure to quickly do her morning chores before the ‘cramps’ began, so as to not leave absolutely everything for Celeste to do, that just wouldn’t be fair.

Celeste didn’t mind however and even suggested Kara go and rest after she’d spoken to her a little about ‘the family’. Kara listened to all her tales with eager ears. So this Lucas was in fact François’s younger step-brother. The little piece of information was hard enough to swallow without the realization of just who Celeste had meant when she’d jokingly suggested Kara marry François’s brother. Good God, Kara had been appalled and had turned red at the thought.

As if she could ever marry such a barbaric man! Or any man for that matter!

Kara sank into her soft pillows as Celeste took a final glance around her tidy bedroom and gave a little huff of satisfaction.

“You are comfortable, oui?” she queried.

Kara grinned and nodded. “I sure am. I swear, Celeste, if there was a mother of the year award…”

Celeste blushed and laughed as she waved away the compliment.

“Oh, stop it,” she sighed making Kara laugh. “Okay, they will arrive soon, I better go and check on lunch. I will bring you something to eat in a few hours, yes?”

Kara hesitated. She didn’t want to take advantage of Celeste’s kindness. For crying out loud, she was the house help here, not Celeste.

With a sigh, Kara shook her head. “Don’t you worry about me, I’ll feed myself if I get hungry.”

Celeste looked slightly troubled. “Are you certain? You’re ill…”

“I’ll always get up for food, Celeste,” Kara laughed. “Come storms or period pains.”

Celeste chuckled and nodded. “Indeed, you would. It’s made a healthy difference!”

Kara tilted her head. “What do you mean?”

“Well, don’t you see? Your cheeks, your hair, your buttocks …even your smile.”

Kara laughed, puzzled. “Celeste, whatever are you talking about?”

With a long sigh and a dramatic sweep of the arm, Celeste said, “You have glowing skin when you smile, you are… radiant! Yes. And your hair is darker… shinier. And your buttocks…” Trailing off, she winked at Kara who gasps and tossed a cushion at her, making Celeste laugh.

“My buttocks have not changed! I refuse it.” Kara stated, fighting a grin as Celeste tucked the duvet around her.

“Okay, believe what you will,” she teased. “Off I go now.” She paused at the door. “I will miss you at the table today,” Celeste said.

Kara smiled sadly, also wishing she could join them, but being a little apprehensive since they had guests. She still was just the house help, even if Celeste treated her like a friend. Not to mention the gigantic factor that that big bully Lucas would be there!

“Sometimes, things become a little… off, because of Franç and Luc’s relationship,” Celeste sighed and Kara nodded, seeming to understand though she really didn’t know much about anything.

“But, enough is enough. They are men now and must sort out their differences,” Celeste stated, nodding bravely before marching out towards her mission of reuniting two stubborn brothers.

Kara gave her an army salute as she left, wishing her luck. She knew too well, how uncooperative that Lucas could be. Hopefully he didn’t go tossing anyone onto his shoulders during their lunch-dinner thing.

With a sigh, Kara pushed the bed covers down around her hips. She was alone now and glanced around at her bedroom walls. Stuck. She’d be stuck here for a whole day because of that Lucas! And there was nothing she hated more than not being able to go wherever she wanted. She listened for any sounds around her house, all that reached her ears where distant neighs and cowboy calls from the ranch side on the other end of the property.

She was in true isolation. Well, being bored was not an option, since that’s when she usually stirred up trouble, so Kara climbed out of bed, tugging her sweatpants up as she did so.

It was the first time she’d ever owned, proper, store-bought sweatpants and they were honestly the most comfortable thing she ever felt on her skin.

Venturing into the bathroom, she turned to the mirror and stared at herself for a few seconds before pulling a funny face. Her little nose scrunched up as she did so and the dark lashes framing her green eyes tilted into a cat-like shape. Her black hair was plait down the back of her head. Kara turned to see where it stopped and gasped at the length as the plait reached the top of her butt. It was a thick plait and she pulled at it, feeling the strength.

She actually had…nice hair. Wow.

Her eyes trailed down to her butt again and she eyed it. Celeste was exaggerating, she thought. Her butt wasn’t changing, was it?

Your jeans did get stuck coming off the other day.

Kara scowled at the thought. She didn’t want her jeans getting stuck or her butt changing. Of course she did like that she didn’t resemble a scarecrow so much anymore, but that appreciation was limited to her fuller face. As for the rest…

Kara’s gaze traveled down to her chest and her hips.

“I don’t know where you think you’re going, but you better stop…” she murmured, poking at her hips. The difference wasn’t large from her previous size, but it was noticeable, which was enough to have Kara blushing into a dark-haired tomato.

With a final embarrassed glance at her butt, she walked out of the kitchen and into her room. Waltzing right past the messy bed, she walked into the living area and glanced pointlessly around, a grin growing on her face.

Gosh, this place was really hers. The whole thing. She still wasn't over it.

With a little shriek of joy, she launched herself at the sofa, landing with a soft thump and bouncing a few times. Kara stared at the ceiling, the smile slowly easing off her face.

She'd come this far, couldn't stop now. She had to come up with a proper plan for her life. Now that she'd run away and had found a good place to hide, somewhere her beast of a father wouldn't find her, she needed to start thinking. She could afford painting instruments now. Maybe she could try and sell her paintings.

If she made enough money, she could get back to the States. She wouldn't need her France papers anymore then. Her father had gotten her perfect legitimate documents when she had arrived. The other girls said theirs were fraudulent and it was because Kara was his daughter.

She scoffed. She never felt like his daughter and frankly she never wanted to, he was a pig.

That place had always been a nightmare for her and she was going to make sure she went back home, as far from it as possible.

But...

What about Celeste and François?

Kara bit her bottom lip. They truly were the best people she'd ever met. That was why they didn't deserve to be saddled with her and her problems, wasn't it? She probably should keep her real name to herself as well. If her father's dogs somehow got to this place and started sniffing, at least her new friends truly wouldn't know anything. They'd be safe from Markov Vilmont's cruelty.

The thought of leaving them, however, still tore at her heart. But it was something she had to do.

With a much better idea on just what she would do in order to return to the states, Kara got off the sofa and skipped into the open plan kitchen. She didn't know what she was doing there, she could hardly cook.

She pouted at the stove.

"Oh, strange machine, have mercy," she said distractedly as she tried to turn it on. When the blue flame appeared, she smiled in satisfaction and turned to grab a pot.

She was going to try and cook something from the groceries she'd bought and if the Universe was kind, she wouldn't poison herself or burn the house down.

After a moment of silent battling with a pack of spaghetti, Kara heard the sound of closing car doors and raised voices of excitement.

They had arrived. Along with ... Lucas.

Kara gulped nervously. If he saw her... if he even got the idea of getting the idea that she was on this ranch...she would be finished.

With care to be quiet, although her quarters were a little distance from the house, Kara pulled out a bunch of ingredients and set about cooking her very first spaghetti and meatballs dish.

******

Celeste breathed a sigh of relief as everyone around her erupted with laughter at something Zavier had done.

This was harder than she thought it would be. Goodness, François and Lucas were stubborn. There had been the most awkward silence just before Zavier came racing out of the stables with the stable master's favorite riding crop in hand. The poor man had to chase after the little boy who was determined to not let the man use his painful crop on the poor horses any longer.

The commotion was enough to distract everyone and Celeste smiled thankfully.

Lunch had been quite great, although François and Lucas hardly spoke a word to each other, choosing instead to communicate with anyone else at the table. It was better than them attacking each other so she didn't complain.

She knew that her husband had a problem with the life Luc had chosen to live, having preferred for him to be as involved in their family ranch as he was. But Lucas wasn't interested. As far as he was concerned, the ranch was something that François's father had left behind for François. He never treated the man like his father when he was still alive, so Lucas refused to lay claim on anything Jaques Olivier left behind for his children now that he was dead. To him, that was hypocrisy.

François had long since stopped trying to convince him that step-son or not, their father had loved him like his own and would have wanted him on the ranch. Or at least involved.

Celeste never understood how something that seemed so simple and petty had turned into such a violent disagreement between the two brothers.

With a sigh, she rose with a wriggling Liana in her arms and invited everyone into the cool balcony dinner area. The sun was inching towards the horizon and she just wanted them to experience the peace and beauty of the sundown over a lovely meal. Perhaps the setting would melt the iceberg wedged between François and his brother and everything would be okay.

****

Dinner was starting off well as Celeste and Isabelle passed down bowls of delicious food. Everyone was debating over whether Zavier got his naughty streak from his mother, with Isabelle strongly opposing the hypothesis.

"Raphaël is way worse than me, he's just low-key, I promise," she argued, making Raphaël chuckle dryly.

"Yeah, right. You're like Madeline, Louise and Kevin all rolled into one," he said and Celeste grinned.

"All my favorite classic Christmas movie characters! They were adorable," she cooed, passing Luc a bowl of meat stew to set on the table.

"They're adorable monsters," Luc added.

Isabelle scoffed. "Don't you start, for all we know, Zavier could be learning his mischievous elf ways from you."

Lucas raised an eyebrow. "I'm a saint," he stated smoothly and everyone around the table snorted, especially Isabelle.

Just then François walked in from his phone call outside.

"Maybe now you are, but when you were younger, you most definitely must have been the most devilish of all kids! I'll bet my best shoes," Isabelle said making Celeste laugh.

Luc denied it.

"You're lying," Isabelle countered. "He's lying, right, Franç?" The question made Lucas tense. Dammit, Isabelle.

François rubbed his jaw as they all sat to eat.

"Uhm..." he shrugged. "I don't really..."

Lucas glanced at him for a second before rolling his eyes. Trust François to make everything fucking awkward.

"Just answer the fucking question, man," he muttered audibly. François glared at him for half a second before turning back to his food.

"He was a brat," he said finally and Lucas snorted.

"I stood up for myself and did what made me happy, as i still do. Doesn't make me a brat," Lucas said, busying himself with arranging food on his plate.

François looked at him with a frown. "Throwing a tantrum over everything and refusing to follow the simplest rules sounds like a brat to me," he countered.

Celeste inwardly groaned. Oh, no.

Before Lucas could fire back something that everyone knew would include a couple of F words, Celeste shot out of her seat, covering a large plate of food in her hands.

"Poor Karen has been in bed all day, I'd better go and make sure she eats," she said, signaling to Isabelle and Raphaël to try and talk to the two brothers as they'd secretly agreed. But before she could take another step, Lucas got up and took the plate from her hands.

"I'll take it," he said darkly and stormed out, leaving Celeste looking crestfallen. Damn. That had been a great opportunity for her plan to take effect. With a silent huff, she sat and resumed eating, noting how Raphaël was glaring at Isabelle for her initiating the questions. Isabelle only rolled her eyes at him and sipped her wine.

Celeste sighed. Great night, wasn't it?

****

Lucas clenched his jaw as he walked around the large house. He could hear the kids making a noise in the TV room as he walked below the window.

He felt his irritation rise and it wasn't even at François. It was at himself.

Why the hell did he always let his brother's words stir anger in him? Why did every conversation have to be a damn argument?

He blew out a breath in annoyance, before drawing in a deep one to calm himself. The cool air did him good.

Reaching the large cottage he knew from his teen years to be the maid's quarters, he balanced the hot plate on one hand and knocked with the other.

He would hand this Karen her food and go back to the table to behave like the adult he was.

Lucas bit his bottom lip, annoyed at himself still. The door was still closed and he knocked again before holding the hot plate with a better grip.

Why wasn't she opening? Celeste said she was sick, had she died in there perhaps? Luc had begun to wonder if he should break the door down when it finally swung open... and the world froze.