Page 79 of Mountain Struggle

He looked up and met Tess’s green gaze—they shared an amused look.

Damien walked around the house and out onto the backyard, exchanging a couple words with every guest. The yard had been set with a series of chairs and tables. In one of them, his father chatted animatedly to his poker friends. Damien smiled. It seemed Tess and Jamie had extended invitations to half of Chamonix.

He held a beer bottle in his left hand—his right was still heavily bandaged. Apparently, dirty knives weren’t the best thing to get stabbed with, and hands were delicate as hell.

The doctors had had to dig around inside his hand twice to remove dirt and prevent an infection—not a pleasant experience. They were hopeful he’d get full use of his hand back, but were waiting for his hand to heal enough to start physical therapy in order to know for sure.

Damien forced himself to relax. His hand’s recovery was fully out of his control at the moment, and it was also not an injury he would ever regret. If he hadn’t managed to stall Dubois those few seconds, Drake might not have gotten there in time to save his son.

Damien looked around his backyard, enjoying the warm late summer evening, grateful beyond words that they were all safe.

A body sidled up to him. He recognized Isolde Durant, though she she’d changed the dark pantsuit she normally wore to the office for a long, flowing deep blue summer dress.

“So … she said yes,” the curvy psychologist said. He looked in the direction her eyes were looking, at the glinting diamond on Tess’s hand. Damien had waited two weeks, until she’d recovered physically from the shooting, before driving to Annecy with her and putting a ring on her finger.

Tess had said she didn’t need a ring, but seeing it on her finger now, glinting in the evening light, Damien was glad he’d insisted.

“You still think Jamie’s okay with this?”

Isolde looked at him, as if debating how much she could share with him, always mindful of doctor patient confidentiality even though Jamie wasn’t formally her patient. She wasn’t a child psychologist.

“You were there when we spoke about it, Damien.” They’d had a talk together, the three of them, where Damien had asked Jamie how he felt about he and Tess getting married. “Jamie loves Tess. He’s already planning his list of people to invite to the wedding.”

Damien groaned. He didn’t want a big wedding. Tess, Jamie and himself, at the courthouse, would suit him just fine. But if this surprise party was anything to go by, that wasn’t the way things were going to go.

“Relax, Damien. It’s going to be okay. Jamie’s going to be okay.”

“Is that your professional opinion?”

Isolde shook her head. “Just the opinion of a friend,” she said.

Damien caught sight of Drake, standing a few feet away, an intense expression on his face.

“Drake,” Damien said, calling to his friend.

Visibly shaking himself, Drake walked over. “Great party, Damien. Dr. Durant,” he said, inclining his head towards the doctor.

A pinched look crossed Isolde’s face, then her features were smooth again.

“Thank you for the suggestion that we take Jamie climbing, Isolde,” Damien said. “He and Drake have been bouldering at Medonnet a few times, and I think he’s enjoying it.”

“Jamie’s an amazing kid,” Drake said.

Isolde’s dark red lips relaxed into a smile. “I’m glad. He doesn’t need to be coddled, Damien. He needs you to be there for him, and he needs to feel confident in everything he is able to do.”

Damien nodded. He understood now, perhaps better than he’d ever done before, what lack of control could do to a person.

She turned to Drake, her look assessing. “Drake helped save his life. Jamie will trust him. It’s good that he’s involved in rebuilding the boy’s confidence as well.”

Damien nodded, struggling to keep his expression neutral. He still woke up at night sometimes, sweating, thinking how different things could have turned out if Drake hadn’t made it to the terrace on time. He’d been back to the mountain hut a couple times since the incident. What Drake had done was an amazing physical feat—nothing short of a miracle, with the time and equipment he’d had on him.

He’d said thank you to his friend—the words as true as they were inadequate. He knew Drake didn’t want nor expect his thanks, but even if Damien lived to be a hundred years old, he’d never be able to pay his friend back for what he’d done.

Out of the corner of his eye, Damien watched Jamie playing with a small group of boys and girls. His friend Xavier was there, as well as several neighborhood kids. They were running circles around a patient Bailey. Her black coat shone in the soft evening light. Damien looked around, knowing if Bailey was here Hiro couldn’t be far away. There he was, one of the few people who didn’t yet have a drink in their hand.

“Looks like they’re trying her patience,” Damien remarked to Hiro.

“Don’t worry about them, she’ll take good care of them. Bailey loves kids and has a soft spot for your son, anyway.”